This is a Prime operating under the "Dark Energon" influence and Quintessa’s brainwashing. For long-time fans, seeing Optimus Prime raise his sword against humanity and his own family was the most emotionally devastating moment in the franchise’s history.
Why does this matter? Because the mythology established in this film suggests there is a hierarchy of Primes: transformers 5 prime
| Prime | Role | |-------|------| | | “The Great Deceiver” – a female Prime who survived the fall of Cybertron. She wants to use the Staff of Merlin to drag Cybertron into Earth, destroying Earth to revive her homeworld. | | Merlin’s Prime (unnamed) | Gave the Staff of Merlin to the human wizard Merlin in the 6th century, so he could unite the human tribes against the Saxons. | | The 12 Primes (other than Quintessa) | Sealed away Unicron as Earth. They believed organic life should be preserved; Quintessa disagreed. | This is a Prime operating under the "Dark