Chaos Theory Part 2

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Coptimus.
"Chaos Theory Part 2"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	August 10, 2011
Cover date	August 2011
Written by	James Roberts
Art by	Alex Milne
Colors by	Joana Lafuente
Letters by	Shawn Lee
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2011)

Optimus Prime recalls his role in the outbreak of the war, when he was merely "Orion Pax", in an attempt to clear his judgment.

Synopsis

On Cybertron, before the Great War, Orion Pax is watching a news report on the Iaconian Newsfeed Service, dealing with a terrorist attack on the Primal Procession. Nominus Prime is missing, and the flickering of the Matrix Flame indicates he's in critical condition.

An electrical storm cuts the feed just as three armoured thugs enter Orion Pax's office. Orion Pax demands to know why they're there, and the lead thug mentions that they're looking for Whirl. Orion Pax states that Whirl is in custody awaiting trial for savagely beating a suspect. The lead thug implies that Whirl's learned his lesson and should be set free. When Orion Pax disagrees, the lead thug mentions that Whirl has friends in high places, and that putting him on trial could lead to embarrassment to certain high level Cybertronians. Orion Pax kicks them out of his office, and the lead thug states that it's unfortunate that Orion lives up to his reputation.

In the present day, Optimus Prime and Ratchet discuss Megatron's fate now that he's been captured. Optimus Prime believes that he's been too reliant on the wisdom of the Matrix and reveals that when he first bonded with it after becoming Prime, it hurt. He asks Ratchet to look after the Matrix so he can decide Megatron's fate without it.

Springarm and Wheelarch are on patrol, and discuss how much Orion Pax has turned the Dead End around since being appointed police captain of the region. They notice that there isn't a criminal to be found. They find out why when they return to base. Orion Pax has already arrested them all. Later, Orion Pax admits to Springarm that the thugs from earlier troubled him. He thinks they might be men under Sentinel's command, members of the Senate security detail. This would give credence to Megatron's political tract in which he declared the Senate was corrupt. Springarm mentions that when he's feeling troubled he tries to channel the power of the Matrix, but Orion Pax states he's not religious, and doesn't believe that the Matrix is anything more than a symbol.

Optimus Prime asks Rodimus what it felt like when he bonded with the Matrix. Rodimus replies that it felt wonderful, a fact that Optimus finds troubling, but does not reveal to Rodimus.

"C'mon hit me!"

Orion Pax returns to his police headquarters to find Springarm and Wheelarch decapitated. He finds the thugs from earlier, who have freed Whirl. Whirl protests, stating it wasn't his idea for the break-in, but Orion has had enough, only to be blindsided by one of the thugs. Orion Pax fights the thugs off, only to be cornered in a small room with Springarm's headless corpse. He manages to transform the corpse into its alternate mode and rides out, dispatching the thugs while reading them their rights. Whirl again states that none of this was his idea, and warns Orion Pax to just let the matter rest, stating that if he tries to expose the Senate's corruption, they will destroy his life. Whirl asks Orion what he plans to do.

At the Grand Imperium, Senator Proteus gives a speech in which he says the Senate needs to institute a clampdown, a series of measures that will limit the freedoms of the Cybertronians for a limited time, while Sentinel, head of Senate security, tracks down those responsible for the attack on Nominus Prime. An aide informs Sentinel that someone wishes to address the Senate. Sentinel orders the unknown individual arrested. A short time later, the same aide informs Sentinel that the individual has fought his way through the Senate's security. The individual is revealed to be Orion Pax, who enters the Senate's chamber. Sentinel orders his men to allow him to speak, interested to see where things are going. Orion Pax throws Whirl's body onto the Senate floor, and reveals that members of the Senate's security team tried to persuade Orion Pax from pressing charges on him for breaking the law. He condemns the Senate for lording over Cybertron, detached from the masses, always looking for new ways to control the populace. He claims that the other races of the universe that look down on Cybertron refer to Cybertronians as Autobots, meaning automatons, and states that this is what the Senate has reduced the population to. He says that the term "Autobot" can also mean autonomous, free thinking, and declares himself an Autobot. Orion then retells Megatron's story and asks the Senate the three questions Megatron wanted to ask them, just as Sentinel orders his forces to remove Orion: In whose interests do you exercise power? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you? Senator Proteus mentions he didn't catch Orion Pax's name, and Sentinel declares it doesn't matter, he's going to be locked up.

Optimus Prime confronts Megatron and states that even if Megatron has resorted to bloodshed to achieve his goals, Optimus hasn't, and he'd still give the same speech he gave before the Senate today. He declares that since freedom is the right of all sentient beings, Megatron should be free to choose his fate should he be found guilty of his crimes. Megatron chooses death. After Optimus leaves Megatron's cell, Ratchet comments on the Matrix's incredible powers, remarking that just holding it near Sunstreaker restored his ability to walk. He returns the Matrix to Optimus, and Optimus says that he just needed to see if he was still the same person he was before becoming Prime without the Matrix.

Orion Pax meets with an unknown Senator at the Ark-1 memorial. Orion thanks the Senator for pulling strings to have him released from prison, but asks why he did so after he condemned the Senate. The Senator says that he did it because he did not want to see a robot of Orion's caliber imprisoned on Garrus-1 or sent to the Institute. The Senator continues, saying that Orion Pax was right, and that the corruption in the Senate goes deeper than he knows. The Senator tells Orion that the Knights of Cybertron called the Matrix of Leadership the Creation Matrix due to its ability to create life. He goes on to explain that a faction within the Senate orchestrated the attack on Nominus Prime so that they would have an excuse to put him into hiding and gain unrestricted access to the Matrix so that they could learn how to control it, and increase their power over the Cybertronian populace. The Senator then says that the Senate's crackdown in the aftermath of the terrorist attack will lead to a war, and that sides are already being chosen. Orion responds that he feels differently, and that when the Senator's men rebuilt him, they changed him. The Senator mentions that Orion should look reflect on what has happened, and look inside himself to see what his part in the upcoming conflict will be. While alone, Orion Pax discovers the extent of the changes the Senator had ordered. He now has room in his torso to carry the Matrix of Leadership.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Optimus Prime/Orion Pax (2) Omega Supreme (7) Ratchet (8) Rodimus (11)	Megatron (20)	Blaster (1) Nominus Prime (3) White and mauve thug (4) Visored green and indigo thug (5) Kroma (6) Springarm (9) Wheelarch (10) Whirl (12) Sentinel's security officer (13) Sentinel (14) Proteus (15) Ratbat (16) Decimus (17) Conspicuously-unnamed senator (18) Sherma (19)

Quotes

"I think you've made your point now, don't you? I think he's learned his lesson. I think it's time we all moved on."
"I'll tell you what I think: I think it's time you left."

—Whirl's friends fail to shake down Orion Pax

"It hurt. Bonding with [the Matrix], interfacing with it — whatever the acceptable term is these days — it hurt like hell. I've always interpreted the pain as a kind of warning — like the Matrix was saying 'are you sure you want the responsibility? Are you sure?'"

—Optimus

"When you became one with the Matrix... how did it feel?"
"How did it feel honestly? ... It felt wonderful!"

—Optimus learns the Matrix likes Rodimus better

"Come out and face us! At least your colleagues had the guts to confront us head-on..."
"'Head on'. It's funny 'cos, y'know, we cut off their—"
"Yes, I know. I said it on purpose."

—Whirl's friends make puns about murder.

"In whose interests do you exercise your power?"
"To whom are you accountable?"
"How can we get rid of you?"

—Three questions to demand of any powerful institution, as quoted by Orion Pax to the Senate from Megatron's treatise.

Notes

Continuity notes

• The Senate mentions the Cyberutopians as a sect that annoy them. "The Death of Optimus Prime" will later mention the legend of Cyberutopia, related to the mythical Knights of Cybertron.
• Ratchet shows a dismissive attitude towards the Matrix's power, to the point of using quote-y fingers when discussing it. This would become a major aspect of his character in the More Than Meets The Eye series.
• Optimus mentions that bonding with the Matrix hurt him physically. We learn more about that in "Autocracy #9".
• Whirl doesn't realize it, but he's very lucky Orion interrupted his “rescue”; Historia makes it clear that those Senate goons were really there to kill him, to both punish him for failing to kill Megatron and to tie off a loose end.

Transformers references

• Among Orion's trophies is one from the Institute for Higher Programming mentioned in Chromedome's toy bio.
• In addition to Primus, Orion Pax refers to the previously unknown deities Mortilus and Adaptus.
• A statue of Prima overlooks the Grand Imperium Senate chamber. He's drawn like the Aligned-style Prima seen in Transformers Vault, Star Saber and all. Beneath him is inscribed; 'Freedom is the right of all civilized beings', a quote Prime clearly felt he could improve on.
• When Orion Pax reaches the Senate Chamber he gives their full title noting that they are the 113th Cybertronian Senate. This is one of many references James Roberts makes to UK issue #113.

Real life references

• Proteus is the name of a Greek god of the seas who has prophetic abilities and is able to change his form at will.
• Megatron's "three questions" are a near-verbatim quote of British politician Tony Benn's Five Essential Questions of Democracy: "What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you use it? To whom are you accountable? How do we get rid of you?"

Errors

• Springarm's decapitated head lacks the Matrix tattoo on his cheek.
• Despite saying that they are "purely decorative", one of Orion's arm cannons has smoke coming out of it after he fights his way into the senate.
• On the final page, the mysterious Senator calls Optimus Prime by his current name, "Orion", only to call him "Optimus" a few panels later, after explaining the room made in his chest to (presumably) hold the Matrix. Since he wouldn't actually become Optimus Prime until Autocracy #9, this is either an outright error, or the Senator is foreshadowing to what he somehow apparently knows will happen to Orion/Optimus in the near future.

Other trivia

• This was originally going to be a one-shot with Chaos as a mini-series. But the ongoing sells more than one-shots and minis, so in they went to the ongoing! (This is why the series ended on #31 and not #25.)
• "Chaos Theory" was originally pitched as a Megatron one-issue story. It became a 2-parter as Hasbro wanted a story where Optimus coined the term "Autobot".
• Nebulans are described by Whirl's friends as having hair, but were all shown as bald in "Spotlight: Ultra Magnus". Mo Zarak had facial hair though, which might count for something. But as this was millions of years before Spotlight: Ultra Magnus, and the "hair" could have been lost through evolution or cultural change, or the Nebulans seen in the Spotlight were exceptions and not the rule.
• The unnamed senator was scripted as "Senator X" and not intended to be anyone, but Roberts immediately thought it would be cool to reveal he was someone we knew.
• Orion Pax tore off his own smokestack to use as a weapon. Hardcore.

Foreign Localizations

Swedish

• Title: "Kaosteorin Del 2" ("Chaos Theory Part 2")

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Optimus Prime's head; art by Alex Milne and colors by Josh Perez.
• Cover B: Orion Pax's head; art by Milne and colors by Perez.
• Cover RI: Both half-heads combined into one time-spanning B&W super head; art by Milne.

• 
  New Prime
• 
  Old Prime
• 
  All-time Prime

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Reprints

• The Transformers, Volume 5: Chaos Theory (November 2, 2011) ISBN 1613770901 / ISBN 978-1613770900
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #19–23.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Eight (May 7, 2013) ISBN 1613776276 / ISBN 978-1613776278
  • Collects Heart of Darkness issues #1–4, and The Transformers (2009) issues #19–31.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: Chaos Theory (February 28, 2018) ISBN 978-4-86491-370-6
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #19–23, #25, #27 & #29.
  • Japanese reprint.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 51: Chaos Theory (December 11, 2019)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #21: "Police Action: Prologue", #22–23, #25, #27 & #29, and Spotlight: Bumblebee.
  • Bonus material includes a one-page article exploring the origins of the "Chaos" arc and beyond, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Kaos och skuggor (November, 2020)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #22–24, #26, #28 & #30, The Death of Optimus Prime, and More than Meets the Eye issues #9–13.
  • Swedish reprint.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Best of Optimus Prime (January 5, 2022)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) #23: "Chaos Theory Part 2", Autocracy #9: "Transformation", Transformers (2019) #6: "Orion Pax: Free Fall", Optimus Prime #25: "Post", and The Transformers (1984) #24: "Afterdeath!".
  • Bonus material includes an art gallery.
  • Comic format.

• 
  Volume 5: Chaos Theory – cover art by Nick Roche
• 
  The IDW Collection Volume Eight – cover art by E. J. Su
• 
  Chaos Theory – cover art by Kazumasa Yasukuni
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 51: Chaos Theory – cover art by Don Figueroa and Alex Milne
• 
  Kaos och skuggor – cover art by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham
• 
  Best of Optimus Prime – cover art by James Biggie