Thread of Thoughts, Questions (and Maybe Even Answers) That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread

[Donocropolis]

Saw this question posted on Facebook and I realized I had never thought of it this way.

Was there anything special about Hot Rod that made him "the chosen one?" Or was it just that the Matrix was created for a specific purpose and was only ever going to open inside of Unicron, no matter who was holding it? Ultra Magnus couldn't open it on Junk, but that wasn't the right place or time. Maybe if it had been Magnus confronting Galvatron at the end of the movie, it would have opened for him then. Heck, for that matter, if Galvatron had kept hold of the Matrix and decided to use it to destroy his master, would it have opened for him?

Sure, Hot Rod got the "Prime" upgrade when it opened, but that was a special circumstance and doesn't really indicate that it's a sign of him being the chosen one. After all, it wasn't the Matrix that turned Orion Pax into Optimus Prime, that was just a physical rebuild by Alpha Trion.

 

[Sabrblade]

Saw this question posted on Facebook and I realized I had never thought of it this way.

Was there anything special about Hot Rod that made him "the chosen one?" Or was it just that the Matrix was created for a specific purpose and was only ever going to open inside of Unicron, no matter who was holding it? Ultra Magnus couldn't open it on Junk, but that wasn't the right place or time. Maybe if it had been Magnus confronting Galvatron at the end of the movie, it would have opened for him then. Heck, for that matter, if Galvatron had kept hold of the Matrix and decided to use it to destroy his master, would it have opened for him?

Sure, Hot Rod got the "Prime" upgrade when it opened, but that was a special circumstance and doesn't really indicate that it's a sign of him being the chosen one. After all, it wasn't the Matrix that turned Orion Pax into Optimus Prime, that was just a physical rebuild by Alpha Trion.

It was basically an analogy of King Arthur being the one born to wield the sword Excalibur; the destined one chosen by divine right to pull the sword from the stone and become the one true king.

The problem at the time that Hasbro was oblivious to was the fact that people liked Optimus more and wanted him to be Arthur instead of Rodimus.

 

[Xaaron]

Saw this question posted on Facebook and I realized I had never thought of it this way.

Was there anything special about Hot Rod that made him "the chosen one?" Or was it just that the Matrix was created for a specific purpose and was only ever going to open inside of Unicron, no matter who was holding it? Ultra Magnus couldn't open it on Junk, but that wasn't the right place or time. Maybe if it had been Magnus confronting Galvatron at the end of the movie, it would have opened for him then.

According to the Story of Binaltech, that's exactly what happened with Ultra Magnus in that timeline. He lit the darkest hour because he was the only one available who could.

 

[Donocropolis]

It was basically an analogy of King Arthur being the one born to wield the sword Excalibur; the destined one chosen by divine right to pull the sword from the stone and become the one true king.

The problem at the time that Hasbro was oblivious to was the fact that people liked Optimus more and wanted him to be Arthur instead of Rodimus.

From the point of view of it being a movie (with all the narrative tropes that that implies) and with the distinct goal of making you care about the NEW toys instead of the OLD toys, yes. But my question was more "in universe."

According to the Story of Binaltech, that's exactly what happened with Ultra Magnus in that timeline. He lit the darkest hour because he was the only one available who could.

Ah, interesting! As deep as my love of all things Alternators is, I'm not really too familiar with the Binaltech storyline.


That all said, it would be interesting to see a continuity where Galvatron used the Matrix to destroy Unicron. Does the power of Primus "cleanse" Galvatron of Unicron's influence and turn him into an upgraded Megatron? What does he do after that?

 

[CoffeeHorse]

A lot could have been cleaned up if they made Ultra Magnus the doubtful one, but he usually seems like pretty decent leader material. It seems like pure chance that Hot Rod happened to be in the right place at the right time to destroy Unicron.

Maybe 'right place at the right time' is just what the Matrix likes in a leader.

 

[Sabrblade]

When Magnus did it in the Story of Binaltech, however, he had to plead for the Matrix to please let him wield its power in that moment, as both he and it recognized that Magnus was not the Chosen One meant to bear the Matrix, so it was more of a case of "desperate times call for desperate measures" with the Matrix being forced to make an exception for him due to the circumstances of history having been altered by Ravage, which made it so that Hot Rod was no longer positioned to be in the right place and time to inherit the Matrix and unleash its power on Unicron as destiny had intended. In other words, things didn't play out according to destiny because of Ravage steering history off its intended course and ruining everything.

 

[Donocropolis]

When Magnus did it in the Story of Binaltech, however, he had to plead for the Matrix to please let him wield its power in that moment, as both he and it recognized that Magnus was not the Chosen One meant to bear the Matrix, so it was more of a case of "desperate times call for desperate measures" with the Matrix being forced to make an exception for him due to the circumstances of history having been altered by Ravage, which made it so that Hot Rod was no longer positioned in the right place and time to inherit the Matrix and unleash its power on Unicron as destiny had intended. In other words, things didn't play out according to destiny because of Ravage steering history off its intended course and ruining everything.

Ah! That does add another wrinkle to the whole thing. After Xaaron's comment, I went to the wiki and read the quick synopsis of the Binaltech story, but it didn't mention any of that.

 

[LordGigaIce]

It was basically an analogy of King Arthur being the one born to wield the sword Excalibur; the destined one chosen by divine right to pull the sword from the stone and become the one true king.

The problem at the time that Hasbro was oblivious to was the fact that people liked Optimus more and wanted him to be Arthur instead of Rodimus.

The issue is that King Arthur's story is grounded in something not really applicable to Cybertronians. Arthur is the One True King because he's the rightful heir to Uther, who can reclaim his birthright and free the realm from usurpers.

The rank of Prime has never been hereditary, though, and what even does "hereditary" mean? What does "descendent" or "ancestor" or "family lineage" even mean in the context of a race of robots?

Heck, AotP emphasizing "Energon bloodlines" might actually clear that up for the first time ever.

Thing is though, Hot Rod isn't someone's long lost descendent, he's not the rightful heir to something.

He's just who the Matrix chose.

Why? It's never explained.
Personally I like the idea that it's Rodimus, not Optimus, who is the re-incarnated Thirteenth, if they feel they must have the Thirteenth be reincarnated in the modern era. Like the Matrix has been passed from steward to steward, each Prime holding it until #13 re-emerged to claim it, and that was Hot Rod/Rodimus.
It helps explain why, in the classic continuity, there are no more Primes after Rodimus. Once he got the Matrix that was it, the Matrix was finally "home." Optimus being the last of the "stewards."

If that's not your jam then I just view it as Hot Rod being a good dude with the potential to be a great leader, and Primus being all knowing was like "ok that's the guy" when viewing all of creation.

 

[Sabrblade]

Ah! That does add another wrinkle to the whole thing. After Xaaron's comment, I went to the wiki and read the quick synopsis of the Binaltech story, but it didn't mention any of that.

Ravage's timeline tamperings occurred in earlier chapters.

Thing is though, Hot Rod isn't someone's long lost descendent, he's not the rightful heir to something.

He's just who the Matrix chose.

Why? It's never explained.

I feel like Simon Furman attempted to come up with an explanation when he introduced Primus as a character and all his Marvel designs depicted him in a Rodimus-like appearance, as if to say that Hot Rod was like a mortal incarnation of Primus himself.

Personally I like the idea that it's Rodimus, not Optimus, who is the re-incarnated Thirteenth, if they feel they must have the Thirteenth be reincarnated in the modern era. Like the Matrix has been passed from steward to steward, each Prime holding it until #13 re-emerged to claim it, and that was Hot Rod/Rodimus.
It helps explain why, in the classic continuity, there are no more Primes after Rodimus. Once he got the Matrix that was it, the Matrix was finally "home." Optimus being the last of the "stewards."

I get the feeling that, when the concept of the Thirteenth Prime being the original incarnation of an established Matrix bearer was thought up, that it originally was supposed to be Rodimus who would be the reincarnated Thirteenth Prime (while Optimus would instead have been like the second coming of Prima, the first Matrix bearer), but then they got cold feet and backed out of that at the last second to make the Thirteenth be Optimus instead, for fear of repeating the Rodimus hate from the 80s.

 

[Xaaron]

I'm curious to read a full translation of "Binal Time" now. My recollection from the last time I read about that story was that Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus were inside Unicron already when Prime passed the Matrix to Ultra Magnus. It was an "Anyone will do" moment. But the wiki's summary makes it sound like Magnus got the Matrix's permission and took up the quest to kill Unicron before entering his body. Maybe I read an earlier translation.

Either way, it does come down to "Fate was only a suggestion". Especially if Magnus got permission to use the Matrix before that last, most fateful moment. Nothing in BinalTech explicitly prevented Hot Rod from being there, IIRC -- the Autobots just didn't know he was the Chosen One. Instead of granting his request, the Matrix could've just said, "No Magnus, but hand me to that kid on your left."