Spoiler: Question on Prime's Melee Weapons

I'm wondering if any of you guys know this, perhaps described better in the novel?
I notice that during the first fight, when his trailer transforms into his Battle station, he grabs sword and shield which are blazing orange. When he throws down his weapons, they seem to almost be ordinary pieces of metal. Same too with his battle axe towards the end. It's almost like he 'energizes' the weapons somehow, or perhaps it's a superheating effect blazing the metal orange. In any case when he has no use for them they somehow seem to just be normal metal weapons.
I notice that during the first fight, when his trailer transforms into his Battle station, he grabs sword and shield which are blazing orange. When he throws down his weapons, they seem to almost be ordinary pieces of metal. Same too with his battle axe towards the end. It's almost like he 'energizes' the weapons somehow, or perhaps it's a superheating effect blazing the metal orange. In any case when he has no use for them they somehow seem to just be normal metal weapons.