Are Transformers taking Optimus Prime down a dark path with their new continuity? We think so.

NOTICE! Spoilers for Transformers #15Optimus Prime may be heading down a dark path in Energon Universeas Transformers the new continuity continues to hint that something is up with the Autobot leader. The latest issue of the Skybound reboot sees Prime going on a rampage, before stopping before he goes too far.

Coming from the creative team of Daniel Warren Johnson, Jorge Corona, Sarah Stern and Rus Wooton, Transformers #15 shows the Decepticons attacking the city of Tacoma to bring the Autobots out of hiding and attack.

The Decepticons' gamble works, as Optimus Prime, Wheeljack and Jazz arrive in the city to help, but are attacked by frightened humans who don't know the difference between an Autobot and a Decepticon. Prime's eyes briefly turn purple, and the The Autobot leader attacks a nearby tank in a completely unnatural rage.

What's going on with Optimus Prime in the Energon Universe?

The Autobot Leader Got Darker

Jazz manages to stop Optimus before he goes too far and completely destroys the tank, but the Autobot leader is still shaken by his own explosion. Interestingly, Optimus' violent act occurs after he receives another strange vision, this one showing what appears to be Spike Witwicky was enveloped by a strange mass of horrible technology. Optimus confides in Wheeljack that he is having these strange visions after Sparkplug Witwicky sacrificed his life force to the Matrix of Leadership, reviving a battered and defeated Optimus Prime in the first arc of Transformers.

Since Sparky's sacrifice, Optimus has been receiving strange visions that appear to merge his own memories with those of the human Witwicky. Wheeljack suspects that the combination of organic and technological materials within the Matrix could be contributing to some kind of breakdown in Prime's neural network. Energon Universe Fellow Title Void Rivals has been making connections between the organic life and technological life forms of Cybertron, as it was recently revealed that the Agorrians and Zertonians were derived from Transformers biology.

However, organic/technological connections happen in the Energon Universe, whatever is happening to Optimus Prime is having a direct effect on current events. Optimus previously let his anger get the best of him in the second arc of Transformerswhich eventually culminated in the Autobot leader killing Shockwave by crushing his head. After his attack on the human tank, Optimus again confides in Wheeljack that he feels like the older version of himself, when he was “full of rage and blind with revenge.” Wheeljack promises to do more scans on Optimus to find out what is causing these uncontrollable tantrums.

Optimus Prime continues to have disturbing visions in Transformers

Sacrificing Sparkplug Witwicky May Have Adverse Effects

Optimus' comments about his dark past reflect the PTSD that Sparkplug Witwicky displayed in the first arc of Transformers. When readers first meet him, Sparky is barely holding it together, dealing with the trauma of his time involved in the war, as well as the loss of his eldest son. Although the elder Witwicky was slow to trust these new transforming alien robots, Optimus and Sparky end up bonding over their status as war veterans. Optimus reflects on his own version of PTSD left over from his early days in the Autobot/Decepticon war, once again suggesting that the Autobot leader has a dark past he is not proud of.

By entering the Matrix of Leadership to give Optimus Prime a supercharge of power, Sparky apparently fused a part of his human soul to Prime's spark. This fusion would explain the visions Optimus has been experiencing since Sparky's death, which apparently mix the older Witwicky's memories of watching his son Spike grow up with Optimus' own memories. Given that each of Optimus's violent outbursts was accompanied by these visionsIt's clear that this is somehow related to what's contributing to the Autobot leader's current condition.

There is also the possibility that taking Megatron's arm could have adverse effects on the Autobot leader. Transformers It was recently revealed that Megatron had the ability to control those who held his alternate mode like a pistol, as the Decepticon leader forced Starscream to make his first kill while holding Megatron's weapon mode in his hands. Knowing this, it would be easy to see how Megatron may be exhibiting some sort of control over Primealthough the Decepticon leader has kept a low profile since breaking free from his imprisonment in Cobra-La's occult society.

Is Megatron's arm infecting Optimus Prime in the Energon Universe?

The Decepticon leader may be behind Prime's dark turn

Whatever is going on with Optimus Prime, it's clear the story isn't over yet. It's yet another compelling subplot unfolding in the larger story of the Energon Universe, and Prime's dark turn could set up even more important stories to come. Codename: GI Joe was recently formed for the express purpose of dealing with emerging and dangerous technologies, with the arrival of the Transformers being the reason the elite strike team was formed. It's easy to see how Optimus' attack on the human tank could put the GI Joe team in jeopardy, since they don't know the Autobots are on their side.

Optimus Prime has a lot to work on in the coming months, but with a new faction of bots led by Starscream entering the fray, the Autobot leader will have his hands full. And now that Arcee and Beachcomber have set out to find the missing Ultra Magnus, the Autobots are even outnumbered and after the Decepticons' weapon. There is also several other imminent threats waiting in the wings: Cobra-La has officially declared war on the Cybertronians, which will likely be factored into future stories, not just in Transformersbut throughout the Energon Universe.

There's also the looming threat of Megatron, who will be seeking revenge after his confrontation with Optimus Prime millennia ago when the Ark crashed to Earth. Readers learned in Energon Universe Special #1 that Prime was responsible for chopping off Megatron's arm with his Energon Axe, so the Decepticon leader coming after Prime to get his cannon arm back seems like an epic story in the making. Either way, Optimus Prime's dark turn unfolds, Energon Universe fans will have to keep reading Transformers to find out.

Transformers #15 is now available from Skybound Entertainment.