Transformers: Prime - The past of Cybertron

Season1 Episode 26
Narrator : Ratchet

[Benthino]

The music and narrating by Ratchet, one of the most beautiful and epic combos.

[DiomedesIsHit]

Suffering under the heel of Unicron, for a few beautiful moments, Megatron was reminded of his origins, battling and suffering for the tyranny of others. He was reminded of the good man he was, and the great hopes he had held before his revolution turned into the very same evil he had grown up opposing. As a gladiator, he was the first Cybertronian to look upon the suffering around him and say no. And given a second chance at life, he again said no. He has a chance to be the one he was again, in his exile. He has rediscovered himself, changed himself, redeemed himself. The evil has been destroyed in a way not even his death achieved.

[racoobi]

It annoys me how younger audiences judge Transformers by the films, and haven't witnessed what it really is, and THIS is what it is.

[Klipik]

Congratulations, you just got the entire history of cybertron as told in a 300-ish page book and two several-hour video games (War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, Exodus) in 2 minutes.

[donellebullock]

More shows like this need to be made for audiences. This had great stories, characters, ideals, and Imagery.

[Shadow_Symphony]

“The sparks, and minds of the council were moved by Orion’s words. Here for the first time since Cybertron Golden Age stood someone worthy of being a Prime.” God that’s so badass. The delivery on that was incredible

[jordanbonn]

This is one of the best backstories for Transformers and the battle on earth since the IDW version.

[CosplayDreams]

Okay...now I understand why Megatron hates Optimus so

[Draftsman_MC]

Funny how his name literally means best prime and his initials as orion and Optimus are OP

[different]

Many forget that Ratchet was part of the second chaste and didn't know about the oppression of the third chaste which Megatron was part of. You can notice this when he refers to the time as the "golden age" even though it ended years ago when the space bridges were blown. The actual age was the "age of rust" where a chaste system was put in place. Megatron was a miner and decided to end the oppression that the third chaste was subjected to and became a gladiator to gain attention as many of his chaste did but mostly for medical attention which none of the miners received. Often they killed eachother to gain spare parts. His audience were the ones who gave him the name "Megatronus" and finally "Megatron". And the meeting between Megatron, Orion and the high council did kind of go that way except for one thing. Megatron didn't show his "true colors". The high council were corrupt and wouldn't name someone who would force them to give up their priviliges a prime. Therefore the better option was Orion Pax, member of the second chaste, who wanted a more peacefull approach. Megatron never had any ties to cut with the high council. But as for Orion, Megatron simply didn't trust him. Remember, Orion is part of the chaste that supperessed his kind. And do you think any priviliged group would simply give up their priviliges after some negotiations? It isn't clear who began the war. Some cybertronians just started to bomb eachother and both autobots and decepticons assumed it was the other. Even in the show this can be seen when Dreadwing blames the Autobots for cybertron's destruction. The Autobots consisted mostly of first and second chaste bots while the Decepticons were mostly part of the third chaste. It was somewhere during the war where Megatron became a corrupt tyrant himself, but his original intentions were just the same as Optimus'. The original decepticon cause is reflected in Breakdown and Dreadwing.

If you came to the end, thanks for reading. You can find more infos on the channel "Emperor Kumquat". He explains it better than I.

[alexramey]

Imagine a live action film based on the origins of Orion Pax and Megatronus... A mentor and an apprentice. One of the mind. One of the sword. One who would stand as a patriarch of hope, one who fall by the seed of his own hubris. Both brothers, bound by a ruinous path of tragedy.

One: A fiery, charismatic, ambitious revolutionary. A brutal warrior born from nothing, but rose as a gladiator, and became a symbol of Cybertronian freedom. A man of action over words, and a believer that Cybertronians should not be judged by their class in society, but by their class in will and strength.

The Other: A stoic, scholarly, conviction bound activist. A once timid clerk who kept only to his work, but chose to stand up and speak out in light of Cybertronian inequality and the minds of the complacent. A iudex of liberty and justice, and a believer that it's the open mind, not the bloodied blade, that is the key to forging a better world.

Both bound by a desire to make a difference, but ultimately divided by their ideals.

On a serious note, despite being a franchise whose only purpose was to sell toys, I really do believe you could make a Megatron/Optimus focused Transformers film that's both fun and action driven, appeals to both fans, critics, and moviegoers alike, but also delves deep into the story, the lore of the world, and what makes the characters compelling. It's could be a mix of the brother-turn-on-brother tale with war movie elements and political intrigue. Neither the Autobot nor Decepticon cause is wholly pure nor wholly detestable, leaving the audience to choose for themselves which side they're on if any (kinda like Civil War). It could even take the Deadpool rout and cut from the origin story during pre war Cybertron to the trenches of the now ruined Cybertronian battlefield. That being said, these are just some of my ideas, and I'd love to hear other people's ideas if you have any.

[thumbamumba]

Seeing the flashbacks in Prime shows how deep the Transformers mythology is. If they made an animated movie based on Megatron as a revolutionary and the idw version of Optimus Prime (who used to be a cop) It would a good prequel for the Great War and be 100x better than the live action movies.

[SuperGodzilla]

i would love it if they made a series about this, to see Orion Pax and Magatron working together to help Cybertron, now that would be great to see

[MrGhostx]

"Orion did not believe in violence" *tears Megatrons head off*

[rathchick]

The strangest and coolest part of optimus' past is the fact that he is the 13th prime

[uonglientam]

This's one of the Best Part in Transformers Prime!!!

[plasmusdogmatic]

I feel like it needs to be acknowledged that Cybertron was engulfed in global war and eventually rendered inhospitable, all because of a clerk and gladiator.

That's a pretty wild thought.

[patroclusilliad]

It's an interesting relationship this Optimus and Megatron have. Megatron was Optimus' mentor before he became a Prime and you could assume Optimus' beliefs stem from Megatron's teachings (weird I know) but then Optimus is everything Megatron wanted to be, a Prime, no matter what Prime has the legal, religious and cultural right to rule Cybertron and Megatron will always be just a usurper. Megatron more or less made his Nemesis and for Optimus his Nemesis was his best friend/mentor. It's like if Luke had to fight Obi-wan after he turned to the dark side.

[thestooge]

This is superior to the bay films in every way possible

[TheJboy]

This is probably the best backstory I've seen in any version of the Transformers characters.

If only because it provides a legitimate connection between Optimus and Megatron, which always manages to make their conflict carry more weight.