'Transformers One' Ending Explained’s More Than Meets the Eye in This Origin Story

Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Transformers: One’

TransformersOnearrives just as the Transformers franchise is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and it’s more than a worthy celebration of the Robots in Disguise.Not only is it a gorgeously animated movie, but it takes a surprisingly soulful approachtoexploring the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron. A large part of that is due to directorJosh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and screenwritersEric Pearson(Black Widow, Godzilla vs. Kong),Andrew Barrer&Gabriel Ferrarisetting the story millions of years in Cybertron’s past, andrevealing that Prime and Megatron used to be friends. But before they became enemies, the two Transformers were known as Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) respectively.

Close-up of D-16 and Orion’s faces looking freaked out

Pax and D-16 work as miners in Iacon City, after a war between the legendary Transformers known as the Primes and the Quintessons drove most Transformers to the surface. It’s a hard life, as they risk their lives digging out what little Energon lies below the surface and are ridiculed for not being able to transform. But the duo stumbles upon a map that potentially leads to the Matrix of Leadership, an ancient artifactthat can restore Energon to Cybertron’s heart. Pax and D-16, along with their fellow miner Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and the talkative B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key), travel to Cybertron’s surface to find the Matrix - but how does this lead to the fracturing of a friendship?

Orion Pax and D-16 Learn a Terrible Truth About a Cybertronian Hero

Pax, D-16, Elita, and B-127 eventually find the map’s final location: a cave where the bodies of the Primes lie. But they soon learn that one of the Primes, Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne) is still alive. Trion tells the four the truth about what truly happened to the Primes - Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) had told them where to strike at the Quintessons to end the war, but when the Primes arrivedthey were ambushed by Sentinel and the Quintessons, who cut them down in cold blood.Sentinel has been trading the energon that the miners were harvesting to the Quintessons, and to make matters worse he took the cogs that would allow them to transform. This is a huge blow to Pax, and especially to D-16 who saw Sentinel as a hero…and sets them on their respective paths.

The Heroes of ‘Transformers: One’ Finally Get the Ability To Transform

Pax decides to travel back to Iacon and show the rest of the Transformers the proof of Sentinel’s deception, but before that,Trion takes the cores of the fallen Primes, giving them to Pax and his friends. This means that they can finally transform (leading to one ofTransformers One’s funniest moments where the four have to figure out how to seamlessly transform), and it’s reflected in their transformations. Pax’s persistent optimism and determination leads him to transform into a truck, while D-16’s slowly growing anger leads him to become a massive tank (complete with the signature arm cannon he’ll eventually wield as Megatron.) A detour leads them to encounter the former Cybertronian High Guard, who broke away from Sentinel following his deception, but makes them prey for Sentinel’s lieutenant Airachnid (Vanessa Liguori), who absconds with D-16, B-127, and the High Guard.

Optimus Prime and Megatron Are Born in the Final Act of ‘Transformers One’

Pax and Elita lead the remains of the High Guard, and the fellow miners, in an assault on Sentinel’s citadel. They manage to free their friends and capture Airarachnid, who has recordings of Sentinel’s various misdeeds. Pax then airs the footage, exposing Sentinel’s lies. But D-16 is out for blood and attempts to kill Sentinel…only for Pax to leap in the way and take the blast, which fatally damages him. D-16 opts to drop Pax into Cybertron’s bowels, before ripping Sentinel in half and taking his transformation core - which belonged to Megatronus Prime, a legendary war hero he admired. Taking things further, D-16renames himself “Megatron” and starts destroying Iacon City.

But even though Pax has been wounded, he isn’t out for the count. The Cybertronian god Primus reveals that he admires Pax’s bravery and optimism,and grants him the Matrix of Leadership, which further transforms him into Optimus Prime. Prime and Megatron then engage in a battle where Megatron is defeated, but Prime decides to spare his former friend and banishes him from Iacon. Before he leaves, Megatron growls, “This is not over, Prime”, hinting at the long and bitter battle the two will eventually be a part of. Prime then uses the Matrix of Leadership to reignite the flow of Cybertron and grant transformation cogs to his fellow Transformers.

D-16, Bumblebee, Elita, and Orion Pax stand shoulder to shoulder against a setting sun on Cybertron

‘Transformers One’ Lays the Groundwork for a New Cybertronian War

ThroughoutTransformers One, the groundwork is being laid for not just Optimus Prime and Megatron’s origins,but for their respective factions - the Autobots and the Decepticons. Most of the Autobots work as fellow miners, including Jazz, Arcee, and Hot Rod.As for the Decepticons, the Cybertronian High Guard is led by none other than Starscream (Steve Buscemi), with Soundwave (Jon Bailey) and Shockwave (Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) as his lieutenants. They decide to join Megatron in his attempted destruction of Iacon City, and leave with him when Prime exiles Megatron. But the end-credits scene shows them branding themselves “Decepticons,” with Megatron saying that he will no longer stand for the “deception” of the Primes.

Likewise, Prime and his fellow minerstake on the moniker of “Autobots”, and Prime pledges to rid Cybertron of the Quintessons. He even names Elita as his commander and asks B-127 - who most fans know as Bumblebee - to work with him as well. In ending with the establishment of the Autobots and Decepticons,Transformers Oneis sewing the seeds for the eventual War for Cybertron that will lead to both factions departing their home planet and landing on Earth. ProducerLorenzo di Bonaventurahas even hinted thatTransformers Onemight shape future Transformers films,tellingComicBook.com,“Josh did such a great job in actualizing the characters in this movie, and it is going to have an impact on the live-action where we can’t not meet that bar…It won’t be necessarily literally a character or an event, but it has an effect on what we’re gonna do.” Whatever the future holds for the Transformers films,Transformers Oneis still a phenomenal animated feature that deserves to be seen on the big screen.