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It just hit me, after all this time traveling schtck from War Dawn and Beastwars, I think I've got a handle how come Optimus was portrayed as a dock worker or an archivist, two diverging points of origins.

1. Smart @ss reason, heck, it's a cartoon, a convinient plot device so there.

2. A deeper introspective which hopefully I can harmonize. If we are to follow the diverging origin of the Aerialbots, just assuming they were already sentient mechanoids instead of transport vehicles, we can fairly assume that Orion Pax was indeed one of the faceless millions that were maimed or injured by Megatron prior to the Great War and some good samaritan just happened to have come across him and Ariel to send him to Alpha Trion for a massive upgrade.

3. War Within, if this is indeed the official final cannon of G1, we now have Orion called Optronix so where's the beef?

4. Given the fact that cybertronians had already been dabling with hyperspace travelling with the end consequences of time travel, it is highly possible that the datatracks we have all been viewing is a lie, or a little bit of falsehoods.

5. In Beastwars, the theft of the Golden Disc had Megatron instructing his future brethren that just in case they lose, to do something about altering the past to destroy the future, I believe that the Autobot hierarchy had also foreseen this and implanted false datactracks on the precise origins of their illustrious leader aka Optimus. If indeed time travel would have been feasible,why not kill Op before he got the upgrade no?

6.The Decepticons or Predacon's couldn't 'cause they couldn't get a precise or accurate record on who Optimus truely was right?

7. And one more thing bothering me, in Beast Wars Optimal solution, when Megatron the short whacked Optimus' head, a chronal storm erupted because reality itself was threatened and yet when Megatron stole Megatron the Big's spark, why was there no chronal maelstorm running wild? Shouldn't reality itself had been threatened then? Or was it just pre destiny?

8. Planting falsehoods in history may have also been a failsafe device by the Autobot's/Maximals to preserve history or reality itself. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

An interesting, well thought out question...

Just wish I had an answer.

Personally, I always thought that #2 on your list was one of those predestination paradoxes. Namely, it was always the Aerialbots that ended up saving Orion/Optimus, so you have a nice little brain-hurting causality loop. Same goes for the Autobots who got sent back in time during "Forever is a Long Time Coming".

As for #3... I always thought that the various comic lines were all just their own separate continuities anyway.

Lots to think about.

One thing I think I can help with is that War Within is the G1 prequel to the DW and maybe the IDW comics, while "War Dawn" is for the G1 show. 2 (or more) contunities.

A very interesting thought on the Autobots planting mixed records about the origins of Optimus...

Could make for a very interesting "evolutions" styled series where the Decepticons do go back and try to change history by killing Prime, and have to try and hunt the true Prime down, coming back to the present to see if they got him or not!

Uh... they're different... because... they're from completely different continuities?

Chris McFeely wrote:Uh... they're different... because... they're from completely different continuities?

DING DING DING! We have a winner! This question is a bit like asking "How come, in Spider-Man #1, Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Man, but in Revenge Of The Sith, Anakin Skywalker is twisted to the dark side by Chancellor Palpatine?" You're talking about different continuities written by different people.

To Sledge, that would have been option #1. As to the following other options I raised, I am viewing it as if we the viewers are mere observers of the unfolding conflict, kinda like in a secondary perspective.

Comapring Peter Parker and Dart Vader is well kinda loopy though. The Sith Lord and Web Slinger come from waayyyyyy different universes, while Orion and Optronix are both one and the same characters.

Okay, okay, here's a better one, then: It's like asking "Why was Peter Parker bit by a radioactive spider in Amazing Fantasy #15, but in Ultimate Spider-Man #1, it was an experimental spider injected with a wonder drug?" The answer : because they're different continuities, and what happens in one is not the same as what happens in the other. He's Orion Pax in the cartoon continuity, and Optronix in the Dreamwave continuity.

Chris McFeely wrote:Okay, okay, here's a better one, then: It's like asking "Why was Peter Parker bit by a radioactive spider in Amazing Fantasy #15, but in Ultimate Spider-Man #1, it was an experimental spider injected with a wonder drug?" The answer : because they're different continuities, and what happens in one is not the same as what happens in the other. He's Orion Pax in the cartoon continuity, and Optronix in the Dreamwave continuity.

Exactly. Heck, TF series/comics can't even follow their own continuities. Nevermind those of the ones before or after it. That's what's great about Transformers. There is no "official" canon or continuity. Each fan can have their own ideas.

It's like how IDW Megatron is not G1 Megatron. I just read Megatron Origin and it's ovious it is not applicable G1 Megatron. Which is a shame, because as far as I know, G1 Megatron has no origin. I do remember reading something about Soundwave, and 3 other Decepticon taking a piece of each of their sparks and combining them to create Megatron. But I think that was the resurrection of Megatron in the Liege Maximo story. I also seem to remember a scene from G1 where the Constructicons create Megatron, but I could just be dreaming or something.

fenrir72 wrote:To Sledge, that would have been option #1. As to the following other options I raised, I am viewing it as if we the viewers are mere observers of the unfolding conflict, kinda like in a secondary perspective.

Comapring Peter Parker and Dart Vader is well kinda loopy though. The Sith Lord and Web Slinger come from waayyyyyy different universes, while Orion and Optronix are both one and the same characters.

That's exactly the point I'm making. Optronix and Orion are differently-named characters, with different jobs. What makes you think they're the same character? They both end up as a character called Optimus Prime, but the two Primes have radically different experiences. I haven't read any of the comics since the classic Marvel stuff, but I'm willing to bet the comics Prime is quite different from his cartoon counterpart. Yes, there's a baseline in that they're both good guys and Autobot leader. Similarly, Parker and Vader both start out as good kids and a twist of fate changes their lives radically. But these similarities don't mean the characters are the same.

The bottom line, and only real answer to your question, is they are different characters, in different realities, written by different people. The various TF continuities aren't compatible with each other, no matter how hard you try. Even if you resolve the Prime question, you're left with a multitude of others. "How come in the cartoon, Shockwave and Soundwave are loyal to Megatron, but in the comics Shockwave is Megatron's rival and Soundwave is a self-serving blackmailer?" "How can Unicron attack Cybertron for the first time in 2005, when Optimus Prime destroyed him with the Matrix about ten years before?" Etc, etc.

Chris McFeely wrote:Uh... they're different... because... they're from completely different continuities?

That's what I said.

I can answer #7. In Optimal Situation, Prime's spark was dieing. Megatron's spark was simply moved. Much like how Primal took in Prime's spark for that episode. If someone had shot G1 Megs in teh head, a similar time storm would erupt. This is why Primal was so worried about Tigerhawk kiling Megatron in Other Victories (or whatever ep Tigerhawk first appeared). Doing so would destroy G1 Meg's spark and create a time storm as seen in Agenda/Optimal Situation.