Forgive the thread resurrection,
You revived this thread after 25 hours?
To the gallows with thee!!
This only works if you ignore the whole post-Zone stories where Sky Garry and Rodimus combine the Matrix and the Zodiak to bring Optimus back as Star Convoy.
I don't see why, since if we're talking JG1, it wasn't the Matrix that determined Autobot leadership in that continuity, but rather the rank of Supreme Commander. There were lots of leaders after Rodimus who never held the Matrix, but were nonetheless Supreme Commanders in their own right.
Also, they didn't combine the Zodiac with the Matrix. Sky Garry just stuck the Zodiac right into Optimus's empty chest.
I like this, and have had similar thoughts. Except I don't like that Rodimus is the only 13th Prime.
I too, don't like the whole reincarnation angle they've come up with. In fact, I'd get rid of the whole "13th Prime" moniker to begin with, and stick with the Matrix created Prime as just being "The Arisen". Whoever is chosen by Primus through the Matrix is "The Arisen Prime", and there can be more than one.
In my view the Matrix is sort of akin to the Trill symbiots from Star Trek (except that it doesn't have it's own separate personality). Primus, through the Matrix, deems the individual "worthy", and grants them the combined wisdom of the 12 Primes, thus making them "The Arisen". Anyone can be "The Arisen" so long as Primus deems it so. And they could be chosen for specific reasons. Like Optimus was originally chosen because that's who the Autobots needed to lead them through the war. But once Unicron reared his head, Optimus had to be taken off the board, because only Rodimus could defeat him, and he was the right Prime to lead them through the relative peace time that followed the death of Unicron. Optimus had to return because only he could cure the Hate Plague. Rodimus was again called upon because he was to be the one given the task of finding a new home world for all Cybertronians (hence why he and the Matrix disappear for so long). Then once again Optimus was needed, now as Star Convoy, to defeat Dark Nova and Super Megatron.
But each time both of them were "The Arisen".
Ultra Magnus, Fortress Maximus, Ginrai, Star Saber, and Dai Atlas were never Primes because they weren't needed to be.
This all just takes me back to what the Thirteen originally were before Vector Prime came along and made them all Primes. Originally, none of them were Primes. The Primes were just the dynasty of Autobot leaders who were chosen to bear the Matrix, with the word "Prime" being derived from the original Matrix bearer, Prima, who was the only one of the Thirteen who, at the time, could have arguably been considered a Prime himself. Besides Prima, no other Prime was ever considered a member of the Thirteen. There was neither any reincarnation involved nor any retroactive declaration of "He who bears the Matrix is now a member of the Thirteen". Because the 13th member of the Thirteen was never considered anyone more special than the previous 12 members. The 13th Original Transformer was just the 13th Original Transformer.
And what's more, since the only members of the Thirteen known of at the time were Prima, the Liege Maximo, The Fallen, and debatably Maccadam, all of whom were characters originally created by Simon Furman (who was also the original creator of the concept of the Thirteen, as well as the
first concept of "A group of original Transformers created by Primus before the rest of the cybertronian race," that being the
Covenant), there had been some speculation and debate in the 2000s-era fandom about if the 13th member of this group might be the Last Autobot, another of Furman's creations and who even shared a similar role to what would ultimately be the role of the Thirteenth Prime: the final of Primus's original creations who was lost to history but who was prophesied to one day return in the moment of Cybertron's greatest need.
And the only reason this perfect candidate of a character didn't become part of the Thirteen was because Aaron Archer admitted that, when creating the full roster of the group, he simply hadn't considered the Last Autobot, as his research into pre-existing characters had not been thorough enough. And from conversations I've had with him at conventions, he strikes me as the kind of guy who honestly had very little reverence for past Transformers fiction from before his tenure at Hasbro that he was not involved in, so it is understandable (but still unfortunate) that he overlooked the Last Autobot.
He even admitted to me that the main reason that it was decided to make all of the Thirteen be Primes (when originally none of them were before Vector Prime came along) was simply to make them all feel more "special". A very superficial reason. Before then, what it meant to be a Prime was pretty straightforward: the Autobot leader who had been chosen to bear The Matrix. But now that all 13 of the Thirteen were suddenly considered Primes, despite Prima being the only one among them who actually held possession of the Matrix of Leadership, that suddenly begged the question of what it meant to be a Prime if not simply a chosen Matrix-bearing Autobot leader. Despite the marketing for Transformers: Prime hyping up that this would be a main focus of that show, it never actually
answered that question, or even brought it up at all. And when I last spoke about this with Archer, even he admitted that making all of the Thirteen be Primes does now beg that question, but since he's no longer with Hasbro, he jokingly said that that's no longer any concern of his.
