So how DO we go from ‘Orion Pax’ and ‘D-16’ to Optimus Prime and Megatron?

Transformers One, the giant robot origin story that nobody knew they needed. Inexplicably, Transformers flicks have been rolling out Autobots style for over a decade. Like the toys, they just keep making more! Didn’t get the ending? I’ll explain.

Orion Pax? D-16? Who are you people?

So before Optimus Prime and Megatron became the opposite sides of the giant robot space warrior coin, they were first humble machines known as Orion Pax and D-16, unimportant members of the robot society on the planet Cybertron.

In the movie, the rulers of Cybertron are fighting a war against the alien Quintessons, and Orion and D-16 are simply cogs in the planetary war machine. D-16 feels exploited by the rulers of Cybertron and wishes to overthrow them, while Orion wants to resolve their robot grievances peacefully. Their disagreement gets physical, and at the end of their battle, a wounded Orion Pax ends up falling into the very core of the robot planet of Cybertron.

It is there he discovers the Heart of Primus—no, not the band that does the South Park theme song. In the Heart of Primus he meets The Primes, the ancient robot elders of Cybertron and Orion’s ancestors. The Primes grant Orion the Matrix of Leadership, a MacGuffin that transforms Orion Pax into the mighty Optimus Prime, and makes him the protector of all that is good on Cybertron. Hooray!

Meanwhile, D-16 has his own designs of power. Cybertron is corrupt, and he thinks that as dictator of the planet he can make the world a better place … for him, at least. After straight up murdering Sentinel, the mentor of Optimus Prime, D-16 declares himself Megatron after Megatronus Prime, one of the former members of the Primes until he grew so evil that they booted him out. As his first order of dictator biz, Megatron decides to rebrand The High Guard (the guardians of the Council of Primes) as The Decepticons and commands them to help him take over Cybertron for himself.

The newly rebranded Optimus isn’t gonna let this coup fly. Optimus jets back to Iacon, the capital of Cybertron, in order to hand deliver a smackdown to the Decepticon overlord. A knock down, drag out giant robot battles ensues. Optimus wins, but rather than killing Megatron in retaliation for the latter’s murder of Sentinel, Optimus chooses the be the bigger person (robot?) and exile Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons instead.

Optimus then renames everyone who fought on his side as the Autobots, and declares that the Autobots are duty-bound to defend Cybertron and the universe from the forces of evil forevermore!