dlvr.it
Optimus Prime: Awakening Review - Can Optimus Break the Cycle? (Spoilers)
Optimus Prime Awakens in a Dark New Chapter for G1 Transformers
Created for the 40th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, Optimus Prime: Awakening is an approximately 12-minute animated short that revisits one of the most defining and, for many fans, traumatic moments in Transformers fiction: Optimus Prime's death.
This is not a lightweight nostalgia piece. It is a serious, visually impressive, and occasionally strange new story that explores Optimus Prime, the Matrix of Leadership, and the cycle of sacrifice that has always followed the Autobot leader. I am not sure I fully understand every idea it presents, but it is awesome, and it left me wanting much more.
*** SPOILER WARNING!!! ***
Major spoilers for "Optimus Prime: Awakening" follow.
Revisiting Optimus Prime's Death
The short opens by returning viewers to Optimus Prime's deathbed. Perceptor delivers the grim diagnosis that Prime's wounds are fatal, and Optimus passes the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus.
This is not simply footage from The Transformers: The Movie. The scene is newly reanimated, immediately bringing viewers back to that devastating moment. Its slightly dreamlike look evokes the memory-like quality of how Optimus Prime's death has lived with fans for the past 40 years. The animation is slick: a modern computer-animated update that is stylized without losing the visual language of the Sunbow-era G1 cartoon.
As far as I could tell, the dialogue from the original death scene is reused, while the music and some sound effects appear to be new. That can feel a little strange at first when the scene is so deeply familiar after four decades, but the change in perspective makes it work. The focus stays firmly on Optimus Prime. As the Matrix falls from his hands, Hot Rod catches it and passes it to Ultra Magnus in the blurred background. The camera, however, remains with Prime, allowing us to watch his final moments from a different angle.
The camera eventually pulls back for an overhead view of the room, showing Perceptor, Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, and Kup surrounding Prime. Blurr is notably absent, but Daniel's absence is more surprising. For me, Daniel's presence in the original scene helped make the moment hit especially hard as a kid; he gave younger viewers someone through whom to experience the shock and grief of losing Optimus Prime.
All Are One and the Larger Mythology
From there, a bright, white comet-like light rockets through space, presumably Optimus Prime's spark, though it is never explicitly identified. The light is joined by dozens of others, suggesting a visual interpretation of "Till all are one." Optimus Prime's body floats through space until a bright light consumes him. Audio clips of Prime's "One shall stand" and Rodimus Prime's "Till all are one" play over the sequence.
A voice tells Optimus, "Awaken, Autobot," leading into the finger-twitch teaser moment from the 40th Anniversary Apology Tour trailer. Optimus' damaged body regains its color and appears to heal, or return to normal. He then lands upon the same blue, swirling, rainbow-like bands of light that accompanied the sparks moments earlier.
Optimus stands before a giant orb. That visual reminded me of Optimus Primal's encounters with the Oracle in Beast Machines. As Optimus questions what is happening, a voice emanates from the presence before him.
In the next moment, Optimus asks whether this is a dream or the end. That hit me harder than I expected. Knowing this is Peter Cullen's final performance as Optimus Prime following his passing just last month, it was difficult to hear Optimus himself ask whether this was the end.
The orb is credited as "The One" and voiced by Simon Henderson. It identifies Optimus as Orion Pax, Convoy, and Bringer of Light, but not Optimus Prime in that moment. Hearing "Convoy," the Japanese name for Optimus Prime, in a Hasbro-produced Western Transformers story is an especially unexpected touch. When Optimus asks who it is, the presence responds that it is what comes after "all are one." That gave me chills. We have never really seen anything quite like this in Transformers mythology before.
The One challenges Optimus to break the cycle. It argues that he is more than simply the leader of the Autobots and that, if he returns, he will only die for them again. The short flashes through several other incarnations of Optimus Prime, including Transformers Animated, Transformers: Prime, and the live-action films, as the presence tells him that he has sacrificed so much, yet nothing changes.
Optimus responds that he swore an oath to protect the Matrix and liberate Cybertron. It is a strong moment, though I found myself expecting that thought to continue. Something about protecting the innocent, or even his defining "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" principle, would have made the statement feel more complete.
Still determined to return, Optimus finds himself on a moon-like landscape, where he is attacked by Soundwave, Kickback, Shrapnel, and Starscream.
He fights his way through the Decepticons, only to hear a familiar voice and recognize an alarming final opponent: Bumblebee. This darker Bumblebee carries Megatron's fusion cannon, has red eyes and exaggerated horns, and brandishes a Decepticon badge on his shoulder. He appears to have abandoned everything Optimus taught him.
Optimus refuses to fight his friend and pleads with Bumblebee to let him help. Bumblebee insists that he has all the help he needs. Flanked by the other Decepticons, he combines with them into a towering gestalt that grabs Optimus and accuses him of poisoning them with false hope by leading them into a war they could never win. Where is my Decepticon Bumblebee toy?
The vision abruptly ends, returning Optimus to The One. This is where the story becomes a little harder to follow. Optimus seems to interpret The One's demand as being asked to turn his back on everyone, while The One argues that the Decepticons will simply be replaced by another enemy. The core idea is compelling: Optimus is caught in an endless cycle of conflict, sacrifice, death, and return. Even if some of the wording and intended meaning felt unclear to me at first, that larger point does come through.
The One tells Optimus that his obsession with the Matrix, Earth, and Cybertron has blinded him to his greater purpose. If Optimus refuses to break the cycle, all of existence is doomed. Optimus is then shown a vision of Earth with Unicron in planet mode and Cybertron completely filling the sky. Something launches from Unicron and obliterates the town before him.
The transition that follows is strange. As the blast's glow and debris wash over Optimus, he insists that he can change this and asks for a chance. His left hand briefly turns human, or appears to reveal a human hand within it, before the scene shifts again. I am still not entirely sure what that image is meant to represent, other than perhaps reinforcing Optimus Prime's human qualities.
Back before The One, Optimus demands to know what it wants. The One tells him to break the cycle, then splits him into three versions: a green Optimus, one in the red-and-orange colors similar to that of Fire Guts God Ginrai, and a purple version strongly reminiscent of Shattered Glass Optimus Prime. After that confrontation, Optimus is thrown into the Cybertronian landscape of the final vision.
A Darker G1 Vision
The One shows Optimus increasingly dark visions of the future if that cycle continues. One of the strongest is a battle on a beautiful Cybertronian landscape that strongly recalls the exterior of Iacon from the opening of "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1."
Optimus sees Megatron shoot down Bumblebee, then rescues him by tackling Megatron and sending all three over a cliff. What follows is an epic Optimus Prime/Megatron fight scene that puts Prime's iconic axe and Megatron's mace front and center. Seeing those weapons again, last used in the G1 episode "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 2," is a real thrill. The Cybertron scenes are beautiful, and this entire sequence is genuinely amazing.
The battle becomes especially brutal. Megatron appears to have defeated Prime before Bumblebee blasts Megatron with Optimus' own ion blaster, allowing Prime to regain the advantage. Optimus comes to the edge of killing Megatron, even cutting off his right arm and fusion cannon, while Megatron taunts him: "There's a killer pretending to be a hero."
Bumblebee urges Optimus to finish Megatron. It is a harsh moment for a character who is clearly a more mature and edgier interpretation of G1 Bumblebee. Before Prime can act, The One declares, "This is not victory. Have you learned nothing?"
At that moment, Optimus understands that killing Megatron would only perpetuate the cycle The One has been warning him about. He pulls away from Megatron, realizing, "To save them, I must leave everything behind."
He removes the Matrix from his chest and casts it over a cliff into what appears to be a smelting pool below. Bumblebee asks, "What have you done?" Optimus can only apologize, telling him that one day Bumblebee will understand. When Bumblebee asks where he is going, Optimus replies, "To light our darkest hour," then walks through a doorway of white light.
The credits begin over a new rendition of the Transformers theme, followed by an end-credits scene in which Megatron finds the discarded Matrix and laughs maniacally. The short then closes with a tribute message to Peter Cullen.
The Matrix moment is still abrupt, and I would have liked a little more time with what Optimus has just decided. But the intention is clearer in context: he is choosing to walk away from the role, symbol, and pattern that have defined his repeated sacrifices. Whether this is truly the answer, and what it means for the Cybertron we see afterward, feels like material I hope gets explored in another story.
Animation, Music, and Voice Performances
Animation and imagery are handled by The Third Floor, and the visuals look fantastic. The studio was founded by artists who worked together on Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and has contributed to sequences including the opening dance scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Quicksilver's kitchen sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and moments from HBO's Game of Thrones.
There are a few minor character-design nitpicks. Bumblebee's rear window is split into two panes at the top of his chest rather than one, which feels wrong for his vehicle mode and kept catching my eye. The ring around the bottom of Optimus Prime's neck is also a little distracting, while something about Megatron's face feels slightly off to me even if I cannot quite pinpoint why.
The music itself sounds good, but it is sometimes a little too constant or distracting. A few scenes might have carried more weight with silence, or with the score pulled back to let the dialogue and emotion do the work.
The voice work is excellent throughout. Soundwave has always been one of my all-time favorite Transformers, and Frank Welker's unmistakable voice is a huge part of why. Hearing Welker back in the role, with that classic Soundwave delivery fully intact, was one of the short's biggest thrills for me. His Megatron sounds different than I expected. It is not bad by any stretch, but it occasionally felt a little off, and I am curious whether that was an intentional choice for this particular story.
Jarret Lemaster's Bumblebee has a more mature quality than the original G1 character, which fits this take on Bumblebee well. His performance reminded me a little of Bumblebee from War for Cybertron, though Lemaster is not the same actor. Scott Law's Kickback and Gray Powell's Shrapnel sound different from their original G1 voices, but both feel appropriate for the characters.
Mathieu Bourassa's Starscream is also good. He is not necessarily my first-choice Starscream voice, and hearing him naturally made me miss Chris Latta, but that is more a matter of personal preference than a criticism of the performance.
And then there is Peter Cullen. His Optimus Prime is classic, if understandably a little aged, and that quality only makes the performance more meaningful. Optimus Prime: Awakening is a proper bittersweet sendoff: Cullen's final original performance as Optimus Prime before his passing. His shoes will be extraordinarily difficult to fill. For many of us, Peter Cullen was the living human embodiment of the character he brought to life.
Final Thoughts
Those are small complaints against an animated short that takes a big swing. Optimus Prime: Awakening is an awesome, visually impressive, emotional, and occasionally mystifying new piece of Transformers animation. It is more serious and more mature than a typical G1 episode, while still respecting one of the franchise's most defining moments.
It also feels like the opposite end of the spectrum from the lackluster, fan-derided Power of the Primes cartoon. This is the kind of Transformers animation I hope Hasbro continues to pursue: a stylish, thoughtful treatment of the franchise's classic characters and mythology that has real weight behind it.
I would absolutely like to see more Transformers stories done in this style.
