Playing copy cat at base with Sam and 'Bee;

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keepyocalm-blog

“It’s stalking me.”

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robotopossum

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rosakai

Optimus Prime needs a hug

Fair warning; Long post ahead!

Optimus Prime cares deeply for his Autobots and human friends, and he’s always done his best to ensure those who follow him-both Autobot and human-are kept safe, alongside the rest of the inhabitants of Earth. Like the rest of the Autobots, Optimus views the both the other Autobots and their human companions as extended family. He puts the needs of others before himself; he tends to try and keep the pain and sorrow he feels from everything in the war-the deaths of friends and family, the destruction of Cybertron and the Earth cities, the innocent being hurt or killed-bottled up deep inside along with any feelings of self doubt he has.

Or at least, that’s how it USED to be.

Things began to change, starting with Sentinel’s betrayal. Just look at Optimus’s reaction when he arrives at the base after Sentinel’s attack and sees what the older Prime has done:

(I apologize for the menu bar/exit icon in the screens but I was working with what I had)

You can clearly see the pain and sadness in his expression-Optimus is hit hard by Sentinel’s betrayal. His mentor (and father figure if you headcanon it that way, which I do) turned his back on everything he believed in-everything he taught Optimus to believe in-killed one of Optimus’s oldest friends, and, let’s face it, a number of the Autobots’ human allies because there’s no way they all came out of Sentinel’s attack on the NEST Base unscathed. Not to mention the fact that Sentinel planned to not only enslave the entire human race because he felt that they were inferior, but also to destroy Earth in the long run because Cybertron being so close to Earth would have torn our planet apart.

That, in my opinion, is the beginning of Optimus’s loss of faith. But it’s made worse soon after the base attack. Before he even really had a a chance to recover from Sentinel Prime’s betrayal, humanity turns on him and his Autobots next, telling them to get off Earth.

Remember the scene in DOTM, when the Autobots are getting ready to leave the planet and Optimus tells Bumblebee to “Make it short” when telling Sam goodbye?

When I first saw the movie, Optimus telling Bumblebee to make his goodbye to Sam short seemed really cold to me. Then, I thought about it. Optimus was really stressed and upset at the time-again, his mentor has betrayed them, Ironhide is dead, and the Autobots are being kicked off of the only home they have left. He doesn’t mean to sound so cold when he tells Bumblebee that; he just can’t help it. He’s hurting, and hurting badly. The damage has been done and it’s only going to get worse.

It’s even more obvious in Age of Extinction; by AOE you can see his emotional control and ability to trust others aren’t just slipping, they’ve pretty much been shattered. You could argue that he still trusts his Autobots (which yes, he does, you can see that, fair enough) but his ability to trust new people? By this point, it’s practically gone.

Again, you can SEE just how much he’s hurting. Not just physically, but emotionally. He’s worked so hard to protect the human race, and he was thanked by being stabbed in the back, his Autobots hunted down and killed one by one. What does he have to believe in at this point? In his mind, absolutely nothing.

But then Cade reiterated to him what Optimus had once believed about humans himself. That they made mistakes, but had potential. That they could be more than what they were.

Cade’s words to him on that ship helped, and Optimus started to realize that maybe, just maybe, he could trust and have faith in others again.

In conclusion, Optimus Prime needs a hug and I have a feeling that after the next movie that will be even more true.

To quote Avatar:

“You’ve been through so much recently. Hurt and betrayed. So twisted up inside. You’re still full of love. Ah. But fear has moved in where trust should be.”

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robottii

All I’m saying is Bumblebee would be very proud of his little human, standing up for what’s right and punching nazis and being a leader when the world needs one. He’d also probably break him out of prison and beep furiously at anyone who tries to stop him because how DARE they imprison his human for doing the right thing!