Transformers One is the newest addition to Transformers universe. A look how Orion Pax became Optimus Prime and how D-16 became Megatron. Orion is voiced by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth; and D-16 is voiced by Brian Tyree Henry. Things seem mostly comfy on the Cybertron, the home world of the Autobots. Sure, they are having to mine energon from the core of the planet, and Sentinel Prime keeps going to the surface to find the Matrix of Leadership to save them…but otherwise, comfy, right?
Spoilers ahead, me mates!
Well, maybe a little to comfy. Orion Pax wants more in life and keeps pushing for it. He pushes D-16 into a race which is fun for them; but they are miners. They don’t transform. They haven’t earned cogs so they can’t transform which makes the race very hard. They get a meeting with Sentinel Prime, their hero, after the race but then they get banished to sub levels they didn’t know existed. Here they meet B. He comes with them to escape and they end up on the surface. A cowboy land of danger with creatures and storms and more.
Soon, they find Alpha Trion in a sleeper state and bring him out of it. He informs them of how bad their world is. This whole life has been a lie. Sentinel Prime isn’t a prime. He has subjugated himself to the Quintessons to gain power as the only prime. He can’t find the Matrix of Leadership because it has hidden itself away and awaits someone worthy of it. Not only has he been giving their energon to the Quintessons, but he has been removing cogs from all transformers when they are born. This is the worst possible thing to do to a transformer. These are the parts that enable them to transform. They go in the center of the chest close to where we might put a heart. It allows these cybernetic living creatures to change between humanoids and cars or flying machines of various types or more. Cogs are not something Orion and Allita-1 and B should have to earn. They are something every transformer already has at birth; but Sentinel is having the cogs taken out before the Transformers are activated.
We also live in a world filled with deception. I’m not talking about fake news or stupid social media scams. We were originally created in the Image of God and that still holds true. Yet we are also infested with our own innate sin. Without our connection to our Creator, we have propensity toward selfishness and rebellion. There is an enemy who is happy to keep us lost in this state of sin. Anything to frustrate or even annoy the God he can’t even touch. So, he took out our cogs. But in order to do that he convinced us to give them up. We call that the Fall. When Satan tempted Eve and Adam and they chose to give up their cogs due to the lie that they could be like God on their own. Then to keep us bound, he started encouraging us to try to earn our way out of this. By tempting us to sin the enemy encouraged us to take out our cogs. He then took our cogs away. Then as our own souls lacked this connection with God we are created for, we lost our ability to transform into the amazing creatures He means for us to become. The minions of this enemy lie to us and tell us we have to earn our cogs. You see this in so many religions. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism; even some groups claiming to follow Christ take grace and his transformative work out of the equation. Yet our propensity for good is afflicted with the rest of our minds and hearts. It is strong, but not strong enough. So the enemy makes us think we can “repay” for our wrong or that we are good enough on our own. Sometimes he does the opposite. He makes us think we can’t be good enough and never will be. He builds despair to point us away from redemption.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Our sin didn’t just annoy God, it broke His heart. He set out on a plan. His Son, a man called Jesus, came out of eternity into a humble birth to bring us out of this deception. To heal us, to redeem us just like a ransom. He paid for our sin on the cross and provides salvation feely to all who will admit their need for Him, accept it and recognize His Lordship. We cannot earn our way to redemption, but Christ offers it freely. We may not be enough, but He cleanses us, so we don’t have to be enough. We were not created for low-definition forms to sit with a hole in our hearts.
We had a cog. We had a relationship with the God who created DNA, stars, zebras, and all creation. When we gave that up, God set His plan in motion. Now, Christ is meant to be our cog. To transform us from sinful into redeemed, growing, grace-filled new creations that spread His love and walk in repentance and hope. All you need to do is accept Him. To stay connected with Him, you can read his Word, the Bible, and you can get connected with other Christians at a church or small group. He will use all of this to transform you into His image again. Parts might come quickly but other parts of your transformation will take a while. That is okay. Christ won’t leave you alone in this.
More movie spoilers ahead!
As Orion Pax and D-16 sought to deal with this, Orion went into rage and revenge. Orion sought to end the deception without revenge or violence. As D-16 shot Sentinel, Orion stood in the way and took the bullet for his enemy. He was then awarded the Matrix of Leadership for this act of selflessness; and a new name: Optimus Prime. Jesus stepped into the way of punishment for us. He also holds a role of leadership as he sits at the right hand of God the Father in the Throne Room of Heaven. There, He intercedes for us just as Optimus Prime seeks to help his own people. While Optimus Prime was a created being that stepped up to the plate, Jesus stepped away from eternity to come into humble settings and accepted a painful death to bring salvation. You can trust Jesus far more than the inspiring Optimus Prime.