Sunday, 15 June 2014

Things to know about the Transformers film series


The purpose of this article is to provide further understanding about the robots in the Transformers film series, to prepare for the upcoming sequel, Age of Extinction. Readers should have a clear understanding about the origin of the Transformers after reading this article.


For my review of Transformers: Age of Extinction, please visit the link below:


Note: The following article is written based on information provided in the films, online transformers fan sites such as wikia, tfwiki, tfw2005, seibertron.com. The pictures are taken from google, the previously mentioned online sites and the three films as well (for the transformers designs).


Allspark/’The Cube’
The Allspark is a large, metallic cube carved with ancient Cyberglyphics. Its origins are unknown, lost to the distant past. It seems to possess a consciousness of some kind and carrying out the will of a higher power. The AllSpark contains life-giving energies, capable of creating worlds and fill them with life. The Allspark cannot be destroyed and the Cube’s physical form is just a shell. Once the shell is destroyed, the energies remain will seek for a new vessel to inhabit. Any small fragments/shards of the Allspark would still possess all the powers that the original object did.

Dynasty of Primes
The Allspark was responsible for creating life on the planet Cybertron and make the world suitable for habitation for its creations, a race of massively powerful beings capable of traveling between dimensions - the Dynasty of Primes. The Dynasty of Primes was formed by the Seven Primes. The AllSpark sustained Cybertron and the Primes through its continuous generation of energon, but the Primes soon discovered its vast power was finite, and the only way to repower the Cube is by destroying suns.
The Seven Primes could travel dimensions by opening space bridges at will, but they needed help to locate stars and the Allspark responded to their need by creating the Transformers, a new race of shape-changing robots to serve them – the Seekers, to search for suitable stars and Constructicons to build massive Star Harvesters to harvest energon from those suns.
  
The Primes could not transform, but they and their transforming descendants possessed powers beyond that of the average Cybertronian. They couldn’t be killed, except by one of their own and their descendants. The Primes ruled Cybertron and protected the Allspark for eons while exploring the galaxy and searching for stars to harvest with the Seekers. They were once considered gods by the Cybertronians. Each Prime and their descendants have an ancient Cyberglyphic mark/symbol that etched on their body.
Mark of a Prime

Cyberglyphics –ancient language of the Primes
The ancient language of the Dynasty of Primes and the oldest surviving written language on Cybertron. The Cyberglyphic symbols show the heritage of the Transformers. Much of the language is poorly understood and many of the symbols are remained undeciphered, unknown or have hidden meanings. Many of the symbols are carved in the Allspark. There are several Transformers in the film have Cyberglyphics etched onto their heads or bodies.

Star Harvesters and Matrix of Leadership
The Primes with the Matrix of leadership

Once a Seeker discovered a suitable star, it would inform his masters and the constructicons to build the star harvester. The Allspark created a ‘key’, called the Matrix of Leadership to activate the harvesters and transfer energon from the harvester to it. Knowing that the harvesters will have devastating consequences for worlds without stars, the Primes set out a rule to never destroy a star with worlds inhabited by sentient races. The Primes guarded and protected the Matrix of Leadership to prevent misuse of it.
 The Fallen with a star harvester in the Great Pyramid of Giza on Earth
A star harvester in construction on Earth

However, one of the Primes, the strongest of them all, grew frustrated with the Dynasty's restrictions. The Fallen secretly constructed a star harvester on a primitive small world with organic life of which he deemed inferior - Earth. After the other Primes found out his betrayal, they fought him. Unable to convince or defeat their brother, the Six Primes stole the Matrix of Leadership needed to activate the harvester and hid it in a tomb made of their own bodies and sealed it with their own spark (life essence), so that only a person worthy of the Matrix can find it. 
Tomb of the Primes

In the Revenge of the Fallen film, Sam Witwicky briefly obtained the ‘knowledge’ of the Allspark after touching a fragment of the seemingly destroyed Allspark and started to have visions of ancient Cyberglyphic symbols. When his heart stopped after an attack by Megatron, Sam conversed with the sparks of the Six Primes that’s within the Matrix, who had judged Sam worthy of holding the Matrix and instructed him to merge the Matrix with Optimus. The Matrix revived Sam and the ‘knowledge’ of the Allspark was ‘transferred’ into the remains of the Matrix, restoring it to allow Sam to bring Optimus back to life. It is also shown in Dark of the Moon when Optimus uses the energy of the Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel Prime.
The Fallen exhausted much of his energy and withdrew to heal. The Fallen dispatched the Seekers to find the Matrix, but to no avail. As the millennia rolled by, the Transformers formed a new society and The Dynasty of Primes becomes a myth. The cube itself was forgotten and lost beneath the surface of the planet. Without a supply of energon to replenish the Allspark, Cybertron's energy began to diminish. One of the Primes’ descendants, Sentinel Prime managed to find and re-energize the Cube. Cybertron becomes a habitable world once again.
Cybertron

In time, The Fallen encountered Megatron and directed him to form the Decepticon army, promising him the powers of a Prime in exchange for his loyalty. Optimus, following the discovery that he’s also a descendant of the Primes, formed his own army of Autobots to fight with Megatron. The war destroyed Cybertron. Sentinel Prime developed the Pillar technology during the final years of the Great War on Cybertron with hundreds of such machines being created. The intention was to use these advanced devices as a means of winning a war against Megatron's newly formed Decepticon faction. However, the Decepticons attacked and seemingly destroyed the Ark (a spaceship boarded by Sentinel). Eventually, Optimus was forced to launch the Allspark into space, as a desperate attempt to keep it from Megatron’s reach.  Once launched into space, the Allspark began searching for a planet with a harvester and made its way to Earth and found by the humans. 
Without the Allspark, Cybertron becomes a barren wasteland. The Autobots and Decepticons abandoned their planet to search for the Allspark, for different reasons:  The Autobots hope to use its power to restore Cybertron, the Decepticons hope to use its power to build an army.

Protoforms
Protoforms are the “base” form that exists inside each Transformer. They are made of an ultra-dense, liquid metal material and are extremely hard to damage. Protoform mode is mainly used to transport Transformers on intergalactic journeys. When a Transformer is engaged in interstellar travel, they will shed their existing exo-structure and return to their protoform and transform to an armored, comet-like shape. Upon landing on a new world and transforming back into a protoform, the Transformer immediately begins trans-scanning for new alternate forms to adopt. When one is chosen, the protoform draws on its own ultra-dense substance and any extra matter nearby to generate a new exo-structure disguise.  Young protoforms grow and survive by feeding inside energon wombs.
Decepticon protoform hatchlings unable to survive due to the lack of energon

Many of the Decepticon army remain in their protoforms and did not bother assuming alternate modes to disguise themselves.  Many Decepticon protoforms were hidden on the Moon, and came to Earth via the space bridge in the Dark of the Moon film.

Pillar Technology
The Pillars are advanced Cybertronian equipment that is related to their Space Bridge technology. They are capable of creating a wormhole between two points. As few as four Pillars are capable of linking two points together and hundreds are able to move an entire planet. Two vital components of the Pillars are the Control Pillar and the Autobot who developed the technology, Sentinel Prime. The Control Pillar will only respond to Sentinel’s commands.

Allspark Mutations
The Allspark emits a wave of energon radiation which could allow several nearby Earth mechanical devices to gain cybertronian forms. It creates primal transformers that are mostly hostile and dangerous to humans (think of them as babies). It can bring several electrical kitchen appliances, a Mountain Dew vending machine, Nokia phone, X-Box game console, car wheel and many others to life, as depicted in the film. 


  • When Optimus Prime and his Autobots were hunting down rogue Decepticons around the world, why they mercilessly shoot their heads, decapitate them or destroy their central power core, even after they're unable to fight back? These violent, heartless killings aren't heroic at all.
It was explained earlier that all Transformers have protoforms that are extremely hard to damage. They are hard to kill by any high artillery guns. As long as a Transformer's protoform or Spark - their main power core are not severely damaged and no Energon depletion, a Transformer can easily 'heal' themselves from any internal damages. They can be easily repaired for lost limbs or legs as well. 
In order to effectively kill a Transformer, it is best to completely destroy their Spark (their 'soul'), or decapitate/destroy their head (the main processing power for a Transformer) to prevent them from coming back. Decepticons are shown to be merciless and they're willing to kill weaponless Autobots. Countless Autobots were mercilessly killed during the Great War of Cybertron. So why should the remaining Autobots who witnessed countless killings by the Decepticons, show any mercy for them?


For the Complete List of Autobot Characters in the Transformers film series, please visit the link below:

For the Complete List of Decepticon Characters in the Transformers film series, please visit the link below:




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