The Transformer everyone knows as Optimus Prime originally began as Orion Pax and only obtained the title of Prime after the previous Prime, Sentinel, had just been killed (through the utilization of acid rain, a bolt of lightning and a kamikaze so fierce it ripped him in half). Then there's the little fact that the Matrix chose Orion to serve as Sentinel's successor on account of "the shadows" it foresaw facing the Transformers as the Decepticons continued to rise to power. Ironically, Sentinel initially wanted Ultra Magnus to serve as the next Prime, in part because of his and Orion's failure to see eye to eye. But little good that did him.
In Transformers, the leader of the Autobots is normally bestowed both the title of Prime and the Matrix of Leadership, a conduit for the power of their creator-god Primus. In IDW's 2005 continuity, Sentinel and his successor, Zeta, used a fake Matrix to become Prime, and Orion Pax ironically only came across the true Matrix when Megatron hurled him into the Undergrid where the artifact resided.
IDW's 2019 relaunch sees Orion coming across the Matrix upon Sentinel's mangled body in issue #25. After his last dying words are uttered, the deceased Prime's chest opens, exposing the Matrix, and as Orion proceeds to take the artifact from him to bestow upon Magnus, the Matrix has other ideas and almost violently embeds itself within Orion's exposed chest cavity, resulting in the Transformer falling unconscious and his subconscious going to the AllSpark, the afterlife of the Transformers. There, Orion learns he has been chosen to become the next Prime if he accepts. And, yes, Orion does, although not at first.
Leading to this remarkable turn of events, it almost comes as no surprise that Sentinel's rash actions result in his death, as his past decisions seemed quite foolish, especially when juxtaposed with Orion's more rational and reserved logic. Even before Sentinel returns to Cybertron after being predisposed for a good chunk of the series, Sentinel's shortcomings are discussed at length in his absence, and his eventual return is almost dreaded by the Autobots on account of how they predict he will react to the unrest unfolding on the planet. Their fears are justified on numerous accounts upon his return (not without Orion trying to defuse each situation Sentinel creates), and eventually, his poor decision-making proves fatal, though understandable.
At the time, Megatron and his recently christened Decepticons had just seized and suspended the senate, a violent overthrow that involved the imprisonment of Orion, Sentinel and the other senators. To make matters worse, Megatron soon announces the fall of the senate and the end of the oppressive Autobot rule. So upon their rescue, Sentinel decides to respond to Megatron's broadcast by making his own, rather than staying at the Autobot fallback point. All Orion can do is yell for his leader to wait as Sentinel flies off towards his doom at the hands of the Decepticons' Rainmakers. With Orion Pax now the Autobots' newest Prime, one question remains: will Optimus Prime and Megatron meet in Transformers #26?
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December 28, 2020 at 04:24AM
