The Intergalactic Highway

Dude, I loved that brief scene toward the end of season two when we finally meet the legitimate rulers of the Predacons, the mysterious and much dreaded Tripredicus Council! They were the employers of Tarantulus and Ravage, and used both of them as tools in their plan to dispose of Megatron and his insurgent faction of Preds. I heard that their names were supposed to be Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, and Ramhorn (and I think they were all generals, or at least Ramhorn and Sea Clamp were). They were named after the only Predacon gestalt toys, but their likenesses and names were never used on the show ( a shame really, would have liked to have seen more of these guys...and of course, BM also ruined any chance we'd ever have of seeing more of these guys). We also know thanks to Tarantulus that he and the Council members are descended from Decepticons who were not part of Megatron's original crew, or at least were not stranded with him aboard the Ark. Megatron also referred to Tarantulus as "unicron's spawn," indicating that he and the Council members have possible ties to the old planet eater (though he could have simply been insulting Tarantulus by comparing him to the treacherous being who used Galvatron for his own purposes during the great war.)
However, if Megs was serious and Tarantulus and his masters were descendants of Unicron, I wondered how this could be. My theory is this, that Tarantulus and the Tripredicus Council are descended from Galvatron's old shock troops, The Sweeps, who fought under the guidance of Scourge. The Sweeps were Decepticons born from the nearly slagged forms of the Insecticons, who as we know were not on board the Ark with Megatron and the his troops when it crashed (they instead escaped the crashing Nemesis in the escape pods). In short, I think the insecticons and the Sweeps are the ancestors of the Tripredicus Council and old eight legs, cause since the Insecticons were reconfigured into the Sweeps, they could be construed of as Unicron's Spawn. Plus, the destruction of the Ark and all its Autobot and Decepticon occupants (the ultimate plan of Tarantulus and the Council) would not effect the Insecticons/Sweeps or their descendants since they weren't on board the ship. This is just my theory, I could be dead wrong (for all I know you guys read info in a BW book somewhere that proves otherwise or have already discussed this topic in an older post and come to a different conclusion). However, if this topic hasn't be discussed yet and the origins of eight legs and his Tripredicus leaders is still open to debate, then please do feel free to add your own theories or to agree or disagree with my origin theory idea. Peace out!

"And what are this Agent's orders should he find Megatron up to his old tricks again?"~ Cicadacon

Ramhorn grabs over hanging lamp light and says menacingly "Terminate, with extreme prejudice."

I believe one of the BW writers said that the line was just meant as an insult, but if you follow the 3H Primeval Dawn/Universe comics, Tarantulas is shown to have some connection to Unicron.

I think another theory that was in one of the BW writer's head was that Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council descended from G2 Jhiaxus' Cybertronian empire.

The Tripredacus Council make a brief appearance in The Gathering. I'm hoping that if there is a sequel mini-series to the Ascending that we'll get to see them in action.

It isn't necessarily stated that Megatron destroyed the sparks of the Tripredacus Council in BM, so it could be possible that they return after BM. Though, it is very unlikely they'd appear in anything official.

Thanks again Biffy Primal! your input is ultra gear! lol, I'm such a nerd.

i have their toy XD

i wonder if they could join up in their non beast warrior mode

BiffyPrimal wrote: G2 Jhiaxus' Cybertronian empire.

who is that?

im not familiar with tf history

Jhiaxus is a decepticon warlord who came to power and built his own cybertronian empire while optimus prime and megatron were fighting back on earth (he and his own view Megs and optimus as evolutionary throwbacks since they are so many generations separated from them and can reproduce themselves instead of building new bots). Jhiaxus only existed in the comic books so I don't think he's canonical with the beast wars universe (megs and prime join forces to defeat him)

actually, one of the two writers wanted the Vok to be another aspect of the G2 comics.

The way the writers did it, was that they combined both the G1/G2 comics AND the G1 cartoon. Which seemed to work out very nicely, says I.

The whole story with Jhiaxus was fairly simple. From the time from when the Ark crashed, up until the end of the G1 comics, Jhiaxus and his own branch of "Cybertronians" (As he believed that the war was over, and there were no Autobots or Decepticons), and went about the universe. If a species couldn't help him, he wiped them out, and formed the planet into a look-alike Cybertron. By the time Optimus Prime and Co. realized what was going on, they had discovered at least seventeen Cybertrons. Ultimately, Jhiaxus' army was so superior, that Megatron and Optimus had to join up. But even then it was an uphill battle. In the end, The Swarm, a sentient swarm of Microbots (At least, I think. I haven't read the G2 comics in forever), came along and easily made work of Jhiaxus. Funny note: The writers of BW had the Vok as descendants of The Swarm.

I am one of the people who believes that Tarantulas and the Tri-Predacus Council are decendants of Jhiaxus' faction.