War of the Primes - Transformers Wiki

The first civil war in Cybertronian history, the Age of Primes came to a bitter end with the War of the Primes. More of a series of skirmishes than a full-on war like the later Great War, the War of the Primes saw the Primes turn on each other after an extended period of distrust, suspicion, jealousy, and manipulation. It was followed by the Age of Evolution.

Fiction

The Covenant of Primus

Before the War

In the beginning, Primus fought an endless conflict with Unicron, with neither side achieving true victory. With prior attempts to defeat Unicron failing, Primus created the Thirteen, who were imbued with facets of Primus and Unicron's natures and abilities, which would allow for new strategies to combat the Chaos Bringer. Immediately following their creation, the Thirteen split into three groups:

The Primes divided themselves long before encountering their common foe, with the earliest conflict emerging between the Primus-like Prima and the Unicron-like Megatronus. Yet their common goal of defeating Unicron, along with Thirteen's comforting words of "All Are One", kept them united. They trained together, practicing exercises and attack maneuvers, developing relationships with each other over time. As they looked for new ways to face Unicron, Megatronus requested Solus create the Requiem Blaster. While hesitant at first, Solus decided to trust Megatronus, a decision that would mark the beginning of a deeply intimate and loving relationship between the two Primes.

Eventually, the Primes went to battle against the Chaos Bringer, which was more hellish and grueling than they could have imagined. The Thirteen managed to defeat and expel the dark god, but not without severe physical and mental wounds. Time would heal the physical wounds, but the darkness of Unicron began to feed off of their differences, which would slowly develop throughout the Age of Primes. With Unicron's defeat, the Primes once again reorganized themselves into new cliques based on their interests and projects:

Resentment continued to grow between Prima and Megatronus's respective groups, with Megatronus' group finding the first group bossy and controlling. One glimmer of joy existed during this time: the growing love between Megatronus and Solus, which delighted Thirteen, Onyx, and Micronus. And yet, jealousy burned within Megatronus as he watched Solus interact with the other Primes.

The cliques of the Primes led to secrets amongst them, such as Prima's opinions regarding the later Primes (Thirteen being an exception) as malicious or evil. While Alpha Trion attempted to dispute Prima's views by arguing Primus' inability to defeat Unicron on his own, Vector Prime sided with Prima, and Alpha Trion eventually remained quiet on the matter. Meanwhile, Liege Maximo would convertly work with Megatronus and Quintus on a secret Farm that would contain robotic beasts. Both secrets were the beginnings of the end for the Primes.

War of the Primes

Beginning of the End

The first skirmish occurred when Liege Maximo discovered Prima's chart identifying certain Primes (like Megatronus) as Unicron-like, or "Agents of Chaos". Ashamed of his inner nature and enraged by Prima's accusations, Megatronus assaulted Prima and Vector Prime, leading to a scuffle in a common meeting ground. Alpha Trion also became the subject of Megatronus' frustrations, fueling the historian's own dislike for the angry Prime.

Not long after Megatronus' fight with Prima and Vector Prime, Liege Maximo had a falling out with Solus Prime after requesting a suit of armor to use for his beasts. Liege Maximo tried to use pleasantries and his silver tongue to sway Solus, going so far as to bring one of his beasts as a demonstration of his "hobby". Solus reluctantly agreed to create the armor, but when Alchemist requested to see the Farm, Liege Maximo quickly replied "Not yet", thanked Solus, and quickly left the other Primes. Sometime later, Solus was given a "pet".

A few days later, Prima would find the Farm and demand the experiments be shut down. Quintus, Megatronus, and Maximo each made pleas to Prima, but they fell on deaf ears. As Prima laid his ultimatum and left, his scorn for the other Primes briefly turned towards Alpha Trion, who had stumbled upon the Farm while looking for Prima. Alpha Trion would investigate the Farm's back pen and hear a disturbing discussion among the Farm's conspirators. Word spread about Prima's ultimatum, creating further divides among the Primes. Maximo pleaded with Solus to see his point of view once more, as Solus continued to show concern for his experiments. While Maximo was able to make Solus concede to providing the armor the next day, she confided with Alpha Trion that the armor had already been created, but she felt the creatures needed to be destroyed.

Thirteen demanded a vote to decide the Farm's fate. Alpha Trion advocated for an anonymous vote, but Prima refused, remarking "Let us see who are enemies are", a sentiment shared by Megatronus and Liege Maximo. The vote was split even: Prima, Vector, Alchemist, Nexus, Micronus, and Alpha Trion voted to shut down the Farm, while Megatronus, Liege Maximo, Thirteen, Onyx, Amalagamous, and Quintus voted to keep the Farm. The final vote came down to Solus, who voted against Maximo. As she cast her vote, she looked to Prima and said "Time rust you". Solus left the vote, leaving almost all unhappy -- although Liege Maximo continued to act as he always did, shrugging and smiling.

Onyx would remark to Alpha Trion that madness seemed to be stirring among the Thirteen... a foreboding prophecy of what would occur.

The Death of Solus Prime

Liege Maximo convinced Megatronus to meet with Solus Prime, likely intending to use Megatronus and Solus' relationship to obtain his prized armor. Maximo and Quintus left to shut down the "normal" operations of the Farm, planning on further manipulations to hide their full project from prying eyes.

And then it happened. Shouting. The sound of the Forge. Onyx, Micronus, Thirteen, and Alpha Trion, having heard the commotion, traveled to Solus' workshop... and found Solus Prime dead. The Forge rested on the ground near her hand, while energon oozed from her fatal wound. As Onyx cried out in sorrow, the cause of her death became clear: Megatronus' Requiem Blaster. The rest of the Primes would learn of Solus' death, all filled with anger -- except for Maximo, who couldn't help but be gleefully surprised by the turn of events. Onyx attacked Maximo, damaging him with his claws before Vector Prime teleported the Beast Prime off of Maximo, who was terrified by the incident.

Solus' body melted into the surface of Cybertron, creating the Well of All Sparks. Although it provided a brief moment of comfort, the Primes' attention turned towards hunting down Megatronus. Vector Prime used his abilities to find Megatronus' location, and the group resolved to confront him together -- although Thirteen cautioned that they should not be a lynch mob.

A group of six (Prima, Vector Prime, Alpha Trion, Micronus, Nexus, and Thirteen) found Megatronus on a distant plain, with the former lover waiting for the inevitable fight. Thirteen urged for Megatronus to give his side of the story, and so he did. Megatronus claimed to have found spying devices created by Liege Maximo, with one in the "pet" he gave Solus. Megatronus heard her say that she thought Maximo was playing him for a fool, which he interpreted as a painful act of betrayal. When he tried to claim the armor, Solus refused to give it, with her asking for the Requiem Blaster back. Megatronus responded negatively, his inner demons coming out, and the two began to fight. Solus' "pet" attacked him and he destroyed it with the blaster, causing an angry reaction from Solus. Solus swung the Forge at him in anger, and he fired in a moment of blind rage... and she died, her last words professing her love for Megatronus.

While Micronus was still filled with anger at Megatronus, the combined calming efforts of Prima and Thirteen convinced Megatronus to willingly return with them.

Battle at the Farm

Megatronus confronted Maximo with his knowledge of the surveillance, which Maximo attempted to downplay and spin to his advantage. Megatronus revealed the existence of more creatures in a secret pit to the remaining Primes, prompting the Primes to travel to the Farm to ascertain the truth. Vector Prime provided Prima his Star Saber, while Nexus held the Cyber Caliber. Upon arriving at the Farm, Maximo led the Primes to a cave with deep pits, which he claimed was the dwelling place of the beasts that Megatronus had created, not Maximo and Quintus.

While in the cave, the Primes found a target range with large dummies who resembled themselves. Megatronus accused Maximo of setting him up, while Maximo cried out that Megatronus was out of control. The brief appearance of three beasts provided Maximo with an opportunity to tackle Megatronus, causing the darker Prime to fall back into Vector and Nexus. As Prima, Vector, Nexus, and Onyx fell into a pit, Maximo attempted to flee the cave. Amalgamous grabbed onto Maximo, and within moments chaos broke out. Prime fought against Prime, and eventually, all fell deeper into the cave.

What exactly took place in the deepest pits of the Farm's caves were not told in the Covenant of Primus, but when Alpha Trion woke up, the battle was over. He and Thirteen were largely unscathed. The beasts were destroyed. The Liege Maximo was torn to pieces, his head mostly destroyed by the Requiem Blaster that Trion could not remember being fired. Onyx, having suffered the brunt of the beasts' attacks, was fatally wounded and would soon die.

The War of the Primes had come to an exhausting and devastating end.

Aftermath

Megacycles passed. Liege Maximo was buried in a nameless tomb with the hope that it would be forgotten. Solus Prime was placed in a much more honored tomb, her life celebrated with fireworks and a display of all her creations. Megatronus remained silent throughout the night of celebration, before deciding to leave Cybertron with the armor built for Liege Maximo. He declared himself a fool, a killer... The Fallen. He asked Vector to create a portal for him, but Prima offered him a spacecraft to travel in. Prima said some final words to him, as did Thirteen. The Fallen boarded the spacecraft and departed into the unknown corners of the galaxy, hoping to amend his mistakes.

The remaining Primes decided to end their rule over Cybertron. Onyx Prime decided to travel into the Well of All Sparks so that he could use the Triptych Mask to create a new race of Cybertronians, a race with even greater variation and uniqueness than the original Primes. Thirteen and Micronus joined Onyx, with Thirteen choosing to be reincarnated as a new robot. Quintus left Cybertron hoping to experiment with the Emberstone and seed new life...

... which went very well.

The Age of Evolution would follow the War, concluding with the Great Cataclysm. After surviving a near-extinction-level event, the stories of the Thirteen became legends. The Covenant of Primus

Aligned books

Megatronus, known for being unyielding to his brothers Exodus, killed Solus Prime in a fit of rage and became known as The Fallen. While the exact reason for the murder is unknown, Solus did show some favor towards Nexus Prime, which had made Megatronus jealous. Vector Prime would later look at the War of the Primes in hindsight, and view Liege Maximo's actions as being more unforgivable than The Fallen's infamous crime. After the war, Alchemist Prime followed Liege Maximo across the galaxy, and possibly imprisoned him. Exiles

The Thirteen fell into myth and legends, with modern Cybertronians knowing the story of how their war made "enemies of brothers, murderers of lovers, heroes of the insignificant, and cowards of the mighty".Exodus

Prime cartoon

Liege Maximo eventually died and was placed in a tomb. Alpha/Omega

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

In the distant past, Megatronus killed Solus Prime. Battlegrounds, Part 2 He was eventually imprisoned in another dimension, and held both Earth and Cybertron responsible for his defeat. Battlegrounds, Part 1

See also

• First Cybertronian Civil War - The civil war fought among a different incarnation of the Covenant Thirteen in the 2005 IDW continuity, orchestrated by Onyx Prime.

	Timeline of the Aligned continuity family
Theomachy (Expulsion of Unicron) Age of Primes (War of the Primes) Age of Evolution (Great Cataclysm) Age of Origins Age of Wrath Golden Age Age of Rust Great War (Great Exodus)