Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment in the Bayverse is landing this month! Let’s peak inside!
As the date for Transformers: The Last Knight quickly approaches, I figured I’d dive into the trailers and tv spots to see if I could deduce anything regarding plot outlines and who/what will be seen. I last looked at this in-depth almost a year ago here; let’s see what’s changed.
This is mostly speculation, but I may touch a bit on what I’ve heard on the web. Some may consider that spoiler territory, so here goes…
Secret History
In previous installments of the Michael Bay “reincarnation”, if you will, a big component of the story is how the Transformers history is tied with our own. You’ve got Megatron being unearthed here in the first film after being frozen for over a hundred years. Then it gets deeper, with Transformers interacting with what appeared to be the first human civilizations on Earth in Revenge of the Fallen, and the famous moon landing in Dark of the Moon. This movie will be no exception. In fact, it’s upping the game. Significantly.
Transformers: The Last Knight looks to tackle the “why” of it all. Why do they keep coming here? Does Earth play a part in their distant past? Series newcomer Sir Anthony Hopkins, directly asks Cade Yaeger , Mark Wahlberg’s character, “don’t you want to know why they keep coming here?”. Well I do. He goes on to explain that he has played a part in keeping the secret history of Transformers here on Earth.
A secret that dates back over a thousand years.
The medieval history of England seems to play a large part. Large battles of soldiers with flaming arrows and swords are prominent. Alluding to a deeper interpretation of the title; The Last Knight. Very knight-like Transformers can be seen weaving in and out of battle too. Whether with or against the humans remains to be seen.
There are a few shots of some robot action during the period of World War II; Nazi flags appear in the background. I’m interested to see what role they played during one of the darkest periods in human history.
What Happened To Optimus?
Prime’s gone bad!? Say it ain’t so!
At the end of Age of Extinction, Optimus Prime set out to confront their makers. Seeking answers or retribution. Or both. Something dark must happen to the Autobot leader as the Optimus who returns to Earth is drastically changed. Sporting some purple eyes and a bad attitude. He delivers an ominous statement to the human race; “for my world to live, yours must die.” A stark change from the leader I know and love, although there is a precedent for some of these story elements.
In the original cartoon continuity, dubbed G1, Optimus Prime came back from death after his defeat at the hands of Megatron. Twice. The first time was as a kind of mindless drone controlled by an alien race called the Quintessons. Long thought of as the creators of the Transformer race in the lore, that would tie together perfectly in this film. Another example of a “bad” prime is the evil clone; Nemesis Prime. Built to be the anti-Optimus, this bot possessed many of his abilities and none of the empathy.
Which route will director Michael Bay go? Will he adapt some of the lore, or forge his own path? He has taken pieces of the fictional history previously and made it his own and that’s what I’m expecting here.
Big Metal Things Fighting
I stated before in a previous article that these movies are not Academy Award winners. Let’s face it, I love them for what they are; eye candy. The CG in these movies is top notch and the action is incredible. They’re blockbusters about giant alien robots knocking the crap out of each other. That’s all I want anyway. To take them for anything else may be doing a disservice to what it actually is.
Each movie has introduced some new Autobots and Decepticons alongside the returning favorites. In Transformers: The Last Knight we get some cool new good guys like Hot Rod. Hot Rod has some great historical entries in the Transformers history that I’m hoping to see translated on the screen. Could make for some epic storytelling depending on how they play it. As for the Decepticons, Barricade is back and so is Megatron. Not the Galvatron incarnation from Age of Extinction either…interesting.
The classics like Optimus and Bumblebee are also obviously back and supporting some redesigns for good measure. Let’s hope Bumblebee speaks this time around….seriously, it’s a little ridiculous.
The action looks intense, Dinobots are back!
There’s also a cool new Transformer called Cogman. A human-sized robot that they are referring to as a Headmaster. Digging into the lore a bit, Headmasters were smaller robots that transformed into the head of a much larger one. Heck yea!
Homesick
In Dark of the Moon the main plot followed the Decepticons teaming up with Autobot traitor Sentinel Prime to restore Cybertron. Torn between his devotion to his homeworld and the human race, Optimus and team took down the means to revive the planet, seemingly destroying it in the process. It seems that this might be revisited.
There are scenes of massive destruction being caused by a large Cybertronian looking “thing” strewn throughout the footage shown so far. Maybe it’s another attempt to use Earth as the means to restore Cybertron. When Optimus is chained up and being judged by an alien creature, he is asked if he is seeking redemption for Cybertron’s destruction. He responds with an I do, so that might be his mission upon returning.
The alien that confronts him, resembles the race of Quintessons I mentioned earlier. Although, not seen directly, the prologue of Age of Extinction does hint that they may have been here on Earth during the age of dinosaurs. For what purpose who knows. There is a character named Quintessa listed on the film’s the IMDB page. The connection to Quintessons is then undeniable; they’re in it.
Roll Out
In the weeks ahead I’ll be touching on some different aspects of Transformers and their real world history. Can you believe they’ve been around for over 30 years!? Transformers: The Last Knight despite looking a little dark at first glance, looks like a lot of fun. That is the overall intent, so have fun with it.
Transformers: The Last Knight drops on June 21st, 2017.
Mike Harris hails from the suburbs of Chicago and has been a fan for most of his life. Working as an industrial radiographer and raising a family with his wife take up most of his time, but there’s always room for Star Wars books and podcasts! Just looking to give back to Star Wars and the fan community, it’s been a source of fun and learning for him for so long.