zombieheroine:

Well, I appreciate Megatron as a villain in TF Prime in general as the show allows him to be truly scary. He’s cunning, strong, fearless and a true threat, something not often seen in media aimed at a younger audience. He isn’t sent running after every episode; he isn’t defeated; the good guys don’t always get their way. The tension of the show stays high because our main villain is really dangerous. 

But what I really really appreciate is how strong and skilled a warrior he is. The show has multiple occasions of subtly underlining that Megatron is in his own league, my favorite instances being: 1.22 Stronger, Faster, 2.03 Orion Pax prt. 3, and 2.10 Armada. 

There are several other occasions that show him as a cool and capable leader and a strategist, but these episodes are my favorite in how they show Megatron’s skill and strength related to other characters. 

In Stronger, Faster Ratchet gets all powered up on synth-en, and we see how easily he cuts down vehicons, and later how he can now one-up his fellow Autobots. 

And then he goes against Megatron, who laughs at him, underestimates him and gets punched in the face for it. But Megatron underestimates his opponent only once, and after that it’s not even a fight. He easily catches Ratchet’s next attack and the whole thing is over with one punch in a second. 
And additionally, Megatron doesn’t flail over his ego. He just gets serious and then it’s like swatting a fly. 

In Orion Pax prt 3 we see Megatron in serious action again, this time facing off the entire Team Prime (save for Optimus). He seems to be mildly bothered by them while he throws them around like nothing. They slow him down, but it’s only a matter of time before he would start killing them if it weren’t for the interruption: Only Optimus can meet him head on in battle, which he does with the same move Megatron stopped his blade last season (all hype for this call back!!), and then continue their fight one-on-one. Moments like these also remind us of how powerful Optimus is, and keeping the two of them unmatched also keep the stakes and tension of the core conflict high.

Armada is a cherry on top in Megatron’s ridiculous strength. Not only does he take Starscream’s assassination attempt with humor like it’s some mildly interesting addition to his boring day, but he fully intends to take on the entire insecticon swarm on his own, fully confident and in the end somewhat amused.

All in all I appreciate how through visual story-telling Megatron is consistently portrayed as a warrior in a league of his own, consistently being a key word here. His epic and threatening moments aren’t undermined or cheapened with tantrums over bruised ego, and he doesn’t get beaten by opponents clearly below his level. He is confident in his own abilities and ruthlessly uses his strength whenever needed. Only Optimus can tussle with him in their series for epic archenemies, and through out the series this is not only told to us, but also shown.