A ton of character arcs in Transformers: Prime are egregiously unfinished or full of wasted potential; but the ones that irk me the most are definitely Starscream and Knockout (individually and together).

Starscream's character arc was set up well but never finished; Knockout's was set up poorly and finished in a rush. Their relationship is interesting because the way Starscream treats Knockout in season three is relevant to both of their arcs, in different ways.

So let's start with Starscream. In my opinion, TFP Starscream had the opportunity to be the best-written Starscream out of the shows I've seen (which isn't all of them, but a lot of the major ones). Prime is one of the few shows that treats Starscream's abuse as, well, abuse. Not only that, but they started to set up an arc for him about the cycle of abuse.

Starscream spent most of season one being beaten and insulted by Megatron. Even small mistakes were met with rage, and Starscream was frequently seen flinching away or cowering. No one on the Nemesis ever attempted to intervene or expressed shock or surprise, which implies to me that this treatment is not new. Also, Starscream is the only one treated like this. Knockout is threatened or intimidated by Megatron, but Megatron never lays a hand on him; and there are two Vehicons that Megatron pushes off the Nemesis, but I'm hesitant to compare that to Starscream's long-term abuse because this was one instance, he was trying to get them to follow the Autobots faster, and he thought both of them had flying alt-modes (one did not). It's just as bad, yes, but it's not the same as Starscream being regularly subjected to physical and verbal abuse designed to keep him afraid and obedient. They're very different situations.

In season two, Starscream became bitter enough about his situation to desert the Decepticons. During season two, he struggles to scrap together enough energon to survive, has no one to patch him up, and even has to resort to making an alliance with M.E.C.H., who have demonstrated their clear intent to pick apart and vivisect all Cybertronians regardless of affiliation. Starscream attempts to solicit medical assistance from the Autobots in exchange for information, but finds that they simply collect their information and leave him to rot. He also finds himself betrayed by M.E.C.H. when he can't deliver on his promise of a t-cog for them to experiment with.

While he does do remarkably well for himself, in the end, Starscream is a non-aligned Cybertronian on an organic planet where all known sources of sustenance are controlled by one of two factions, neither of which want anything to do with him. He can't survive for long on his own. Starscream realizes this and decides to return to the Decepticons, beg forgiveness, and pray to Primus that Megatron lets him live. He puts on a grand show of terror and forgiveness, kneeling and cowering at Megatron's feet and begging the warlord to spare his life. He promises to be loyal and dutiful if the great and powerful Megatron will just give him another chance. Starscream, as we know, has little to no respect for Megatron, so we can assume this is entirely sucking-up in an attempt to be let back into the faction he hates.

Season three then shows Starscream acting bitter and resigned. He's on his best behavior towards Megatron, practically begging for his approval, knowing he's on thin ice from his desertion. He also has to compete with Shockwave, who can easily make him look bad by being more competent. He doesn't try to assassinate Megatron, and instead stalks around acting bitter and jaded. He's clearly at his lowest point; he tried to escape his abuser, only to realize that he had no other options for survival. He's realized at this point that he can't get rid of Megatron, and he can't escape him, either. It's at this point that he begins lashing out in ways he didn't in previous seasons.

Starscream has always been sarcastic and a bit mean, but his attitude in season three gains an element that it never had before: he starts to lash out in acute rage, the way Megatron lashes out at him. He snaps at his inferiors, uses his body to intimidate, and even starts to get physical with them. One moment that stands out to me and always will is this scene where he puts his hands on Knockout in a violent way for the first time. Starscream lashed out in a way he never had before, and Knockout looked at him with complete shock on his face. You can tell from his reaction that Starscream had never done this before off-screen; this was absolutely meant to be the first time Starscream ever hit Knockout. This, I believe, impacted Knockout's character trajectory in ways I will elaborate on later in this post.

Anyways, from this overview I hope I've made it clear that Starscream's arc over the entirety of the show was gearing up to be about the cycle of abuse; Starscream was treated badly, realized he had no escape, and then began to take out his own anger and frustration with his situation on people he had power over, in exactly the same way Megatron did to him. (Side note: perhaps Megatron treats Starscream as his personal punching bag partially because he's not winning the war, and it's easy to pin the blame on his second-in-command, which gives him an easy way to take out his frustration on someone? Just a thought.)

The issue is that this arc never got an ending. We only see the beginnings of Starscream treating others the way he's been treated; it never causes problems that he's aware of in his relationships; and he never becomes self-aware, much less remorseful. His arc is unsatisfying because it spent three seasons building up to something that never happened. Starscream is left in limbo for the foreseeable future, with the audience having no idea if he will improve, get worse, become self-aware, or anything!

What's even worse is his final scene in Predacons Rising. This, in my opinion, bears no excuse. It's just insulting.

Starscream's final scene in Transformers: Prime is him cowering in fear before Predaking, who is about to beat him into submission. This puts him exactly where he was at the start of the show—cowering before someone with more power than him, who wants to "put him in his place" with violence. Starscream and Predaking's past relationship is slightly different than Starscream and Megatron's, but the situation is the same, and that breaks my heart. All that work, all that development, and they end the show by putting him right back at square one. I really, really wish they had just not included this scene at all. I'd rather have no idea what happened to Starscream. Making his final scene a mirror of his situation at the beginning of the show is just an insult to all the character development he went through. He didn't become a better person, but he did become a different person, and as a viewer I really want that to be acknowledged.

Now on to Knockout, whom I love, but have less to say about.

Knockout's main arc is about his choice to leave the Decepticons and join the Autobots. In my opinion, it was poorly set up and even more poorly done.

First of all, they had plenty of opportunities to show Knockout becoming disillusioned with the Decepticon faction, which they wasted. Some smaller moments, like Megatron threatening him, or nobody caring that his finish was ruined (which he cares about a lot), but also some really important things like—oh, I don't know—BREAKDOWN'S DEATH? I know this has been said before, but Knockout's reaction to his partner's death was beyond disappointing. Hell, I don't even know why I'm phrasing it that way—there basically WAS no reaction! Knockout having no notable reactions to smaller sleights against him and Breakdown can be forgiven, but I cannot fathom why the writers decided to not show Knockout reacting to the news that his partner is dead. It would have been a wonderful opportunity for him to regret joining the Decepticons, or answering Starscream's summons. They could have rubbed salt (rust?) in the wound even more by letting the other Decepticons' lack of reaction to the news chafe him; Megatron and Soundwave treating him as merely a number going down, no one offering sympathy, Breakdown's existence being all but erased... all of these are great ways to show Knockout becoming frustrated or upset with his life as a Decepticon. Yet... nothing.

The only thing that he seems to really react to is Starscream's treatment of him (as mentioned above). From a Watsonian perspective, I take this to mean that Starscream is one of his most important relationships, and it's only Starscream's actions that can truly make him want to leave the faction. But from a Doylist perspective, I think the writers just didn't handle Knockout very well and wrote him inconsistently.

In the end, Knockout decides to leave the Decepticons and "join the winning side," as he puts it. (I also think this phrasing does a disservice to his character, as they did establish that he felt hurt by Starscream's treatment leading up to his defection, even though they overall did a bad job of establishing his desire to leave.) His switch is done super quickly, in the final few episodes, and the Autobots also seem to accept him way too quickly. It's especially frustrating because of their treatment of Starscream in season two—they wouldn't even fulfill their side of a deal and provide medical assistance to a Decepticon, and now they're willing to accept one with open arms? Knockout was known for being just as brutal as Starscream. They're both demonstrated sadists who openly take pleasure in violence and death. The Autobots know this. Their acceptance of Knockout coming so quickly and with no strings attached makes it feel fake and unimpactful.

In the end, I think both of these characters' arcs could be improved simultaneously, with their changing relationship playing off each others' development and pushing the other's arc. Knockout's arc could be improved by showing more scenes of Starscream's abuse, with his treatment getting noticeably worse and Knockout getting noticeably more upset with him, whether to his face or in private. Knockout seems to be a fairly emotionally closed-off person, so I think he would have these reactions in private, after Starscream has left or turned his back. In turn, this would continue to develop Starscream's narrative. Eventually, Starscream's treatment of him would hit a breaking point, and Knockout would desert the Decepticons. Perhaps he confronts Starscream before he leaves and gives him a piece of his mind, making Starscream realize he's royally fucked up; or maybe Knockout leaves silently, leaving Starscream to wonder why, and eventually realize on his own that it was his actions that caused Knockout to leave in much the same way that Starscream left Megatron in season two. This would kick off Starscream's self-awareness arc, which could lead to him either doubling down on his behaviors and justifying them in his mind, or becoming remorseful and trying to improve. Wherever his relationship with Knockout goes from there, at least his character arc would feel more satisfying and finished. And Knockout, in turn, would have more build-up to his defection, and more reason to do it. Of course, there are still things that could improve both of their arcs further, but I think that this one simple change to the depiction of their relationship in season three would do so much for both characters.