So, on that note, sorry!
Now, moving on:
I really, really enjoyed reading your in depth thoughts about this subject and will bear a bit of the problems on the misconception of the writers.
Studying mental conditions have been a deep and inclusive hobby of mine since I was a young teenager.
I remember how thrilled I was when I got to college and was given access to the best University's in the Province (and some say, Canada) medical texts used to train professionals.(Also, might have actually diagnosed what the Joker might have! Squee, that was fun!)
Anyways, back on topic.
I'll go with option two since you did as well, and that way we're both on the same page.2.) It is possible that our perception of Rampage both being a psychopath and feeling loss over Transmutate is actually correct, and the reason for the paradox lies within the writers of the specific episode.
Yes, it would be paradoxical for him to be that way (either born or created, but we both can agree that the Maximals drove him to this)
First there's his statement when Transmutate's coming out of her (?) pod "Yes, yes, I feel your pain, your desperation. Your Spark is powerful! Fight your way free! Fight!"
Then there's his statement "The darkness of its spark echoes my own. It belongs with me!"
You see, I wish I had unpacked all my books and research but they're still in boxes from last year's fire >_<"We are two of a kind. We belong together."
I'll address those quotes in an of themselves here, because I do enjoy your points on them. Many killers will take on accomplices, though not always for the same purpose. Some are spouses even, many have wives (even the feminist in me cringes at saying that, but disproportional amounts of serial killers and psychopaths ARE male. So I'll address most of them in a male designation) .
Most men will, as I said, have wives girlfriends and mistresses even. Some will be unaware of what is going on (self guided ignorance or self preservation, that's not up for me to figure out at this moment), but there are a small portion that will go along with the absurd and sometimes even deadly desires of their spouse to keep them near (Karla Homolka).
Now, I suppose where I'm getting with this little tl;dr is that Rampage might have seen her as an ally, which is why when Megatron asked for a display of her power Rampage pushed her to not disappoint, to prove her worth.
That could be seen as a way for him to assure her rank within the Predacon (PredIcon? Is it I or A? I always mess that up ><) base. Which would keep her close by, so he could mold her to his desires.
I will be the first to admit that the writers unfortunately didn't peg a huge amount of desire to do deep, meaningful works with the audience (Dark Glass being rejected). And as such, might honestly have just been their own ignorance showing with a 'they won't know..' thrown in for good measure towards our own intelligence.If Rampage was not truly feeling empathy for Transmutate, then, psychopath or not, the writer's would have had to intend that for him the whole time.
Fortunately for us (or unfortunately) we're older now and are looking deeper into meanings that might or might not even be there. Such is our desires
And I think this falls into the idea that if Rampage cared more for her, he would have gone after Silverbolt as well. Like Depth Charge proved time and time again, nothing get's in the way of revenge (or Silverbolt going off the deep end on Tarantulas when he thought Blackarachnia had died).Of course, that argument is double edged- if he would be mad at the Maximals for making him lose a toy, game, or tool, how much angrier would he be at the Maximals for making him lose a kindred spirit?
So I think, at that moment it wasn't showing a loss of companionship. If it had, I think Rampage, above anyone else, would be the first one to go into attack mode.
Hell, the mech does it for shits and giggles already!
He's got the stereotypical intelligent psychopath trope going for him, ala Hannibal Lector, so if we follow the logics of that trope, we'll know that he would have had the high intelligence to plan things around the arrival of this new creature (Transmutate).
He might have even been using those flowery words (for Rampage, they were DAMN flowery) sheerly for Transmutate's benefit.
Think of a man who picks up women and kills them. They have to have some charm and SOME amount of charisma to lure those women away and into their proverbial web. So he might have said those things with her around (for the most part, I notice he does only speak about 'them' in a sense when she's around, though it's been years since I have seen that episode so I could be wrong).
He even goes so far to call her back to him while she's inside the Maximal base.
That could go into the whole manipulation towards her, making her think he needs her. Remember, she has the mental capacity of a child in this show. Any child shown praise and love (no matter the kind) are similar to puppies in that they will go to the one showing kindness. Even if there's a few kicks in between. It's a manipulated loyalty.
And I completely agree that unfortunately he was most likely suppose to be feeling empathy. When if we're to believe with how he'd been portrayed his entire time on screen, that just isn't possible. Indeed, a misconception on the part of the writers.For these reasons, I think that Rampage was meant to be feeling empathy in that episode, and the contradiction in him feeling empathy and still being a psychopath comes from a misconception on the part of the writers.
