Epistemus

Epistemus was a Transformer deity who lived during the earliest period on Cybertron. Once a multiversal singularity, he has been shown to be a member of two separate ancient pantheons in different universes.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

First appearance: More than Meets the Eye Annual 2012

According to legend, the Light God Primus created the miracle planet of Cybertron, after which he split his essence into five avatars. These avatars became a pantheon of deities called the Guiding Hand. Epistemus embodied knowledge personified, standing alongside his brethren, consisting of Solomus, Adaptus, Mortilus, and Primus himself. You, Me, and Other Revelations The truth, however, was more complicated: Epistemus was a simple Transformer, not unlike the robots that would go on to succeed the original five; led by the first Transformer on Cybertron, Primus, the group would go on to ignite the hot spots that would birth the Knights of Cybertron, the first true generation of Transformers. The Unremembering

Together, Epistemus and the other four members of the Guiding Hand would supposedly work with the Knights of Cybertron, bringing about the planet's first Golden Age; mythology would remember that, under their benevolent guidance, the Knights transformed the metal world into a paradise for both the mind and body. You, Me, and Other Revelations This age came to an end when Adaptus, fearing that their utopian lifestyle would only lead to stagnation and decay, argued that the Guiding Hand and their Knights should wage war against the rest of the universe, fomenting conflict to ensure the continued development of the species and allowing the mechanical race to access the "Higher Realms." When Primus and his loyalists refused, Adaptus instead brought war to them, and plunged the planet into the "God War." The other four members of the Guiding Hand fought bravely, but were unable to defeat their former friend. The Unremembering At some point during this conflict, Epistemus was gravely wounded, his body destroyed and reducing him to a mere head. Subsequent stories, distorted by information creep, would claim that Epistemus had been either "stripped" and reduced to his barest essence, You, Me, and Other Revelations or "tricked" into surrendering his body, The God War supposedly becoming the brain module that would become synonymous with intellect: Epistemus's contribution to the development of the Cybertronian race. You, Me, and Other Revelations

Eventually escaping Cybertron's first moon, Adaptus deployed a powerful electromagnetic pulse that would wipe the memories of everyone on Cybertron, leaving them disoriented long enough for him to make his escape aboard Luna One. Though Primus took the brunt of the blast, whatever remained of Epistemus was also affected, and in the aftermath the head was left without any trace of his true name or his origins. The Unremembering Having introduced the neurological condition known as "information creep" to Cybertron through his weapon, subsequent generations of Cybertronians would misremember Mortilus, god of death, as the 'bot who had betrayed his fellow "gods." You, Me, and Other Revelations

Subsequent events are unclear: over the next few millennia, following the departure of the Knights of Cybertron — at least one clan continuing to use Epistemus's old insignia as their personal standard An Axe to Break the Ice — Epistemus's head would find its way into the care of the advanced, enigmatic beings known as the Omega Guardians, and under their ownership, the relic would become known as the "The Magnificence." The Ties That Bind Not only did the Magnificence develop a reputation as a vast database, containing a map of the known universe and every exploitable resource within it, it also possessed the ability to answer any question with an immediate and accurate answer, though it remains ambiguous if Epistemus's head retained any trace of his original consciousness, or if the answers the Magnificence produced were simply a product of the manipulations of the Omega Guardians. Spotlight: Hot Rod

During his time as a Senator, [Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]] developed a theory that the Magnificence was one of the legendary Knights of Cybertron, one that had such an insatiable quest for knowledge that they had relinquished their body in the process. The Ties That Bind Eventually, the Omega Guardians "asecended," leaving the Magnificence behind in an Omega Bunker on the barren world of Ki-Aleta, guarded by fearsome drones. The Ties That Bind

Several million years later, during the height of the Great War, a team of Autobots led by Hot Rod sought out the Magnificence to keep it out of Decepticon hands. The team managed to decoy the Omega Guardians successfully with holograms and automated gun systems. However, sabotage from Dealer led to the decoy systems failing and the majority of the team being slaughtered by the new Guardians. Dealer was still unable to procure the Magnificence as Hot Rod made good his escape and hid the artifact in parts unknown. Spotlight: Hot Rod

After extended urgings from a rescued Dealer, Hot Rod sought out the Magnificence from where he had hidden it. This turned out to be Ki-Aleta, much to Dealer's surprise. High atop a rock formation surrounded by ionized clouds, it was inaccessible to mechanical life forms save by making the treacherous climb up the rock face itself. Upon retrieving it, Hot Rod demonstrated that it was not only a chronicle of old information but new information as well. After using it to reveal Dealer's treachery he queried it as to the details of the Expansion. Spotlight: Doubledealer Eventually, Hot Rod sent the Magnificence to the most secure Autobot stronghold in the galaxy: the prison colony of Garrus-9. Though it was initially entombed beneath the Aequitas supercomputer, the arrest and incarceration Grimlock led Autobot High Command to realize that the Dinobot himself could serve as a secondary security system for the artifact, and had their prisoner fitted with a secure, tamper-proof brace inside his chest, ensuring that the Magnificence could only be surrendered if Grimlock wished it.

Around 2009, shortly after the Surge, Scorponok and Flame escaped Garrus-9 and fell into the service of the enigmatic "Grand Architect," an alias adopted by the temporally-displaced Adaptus. Kill All 'Cons Realizing that he could use the Magnificence to advance the goals of his employer, the pair used the network of wormholes known as the Warren to go back for Grimlock; teleporting him onto their ship they tortured the Dinobot until he unconsciously surrendered the artifact, at which point the two disposed of the brain-damaged former Autobot by dumping him in a stasis tube. The Ties That Bind

Somehow the Magnificence went missing under as-yet-undescribed circumstances and fell into the possession of Mengel, a Catharsian merchant in Troja Major's Howling Town, and another of the Grand Architect's associates. Mengel was able to succeed where the Grand Architect's other contacts had failed by using the Magnificence's endless supply of information to carry one of her genetically engineered protoforms to term, creating the first viable "Infinite". Chasing the Infinite On the side, she used the artifact — which she called the "Resus Cradle" — to boost her business, boasting that it could resurrect mechanical life forms. Seeking to revive the recently departed Skids, Nautica came to Howling Town to try and bargain with the Catharsian for use of the artifact. An Axe to Break the Ice What Mengel didn't know was that Scorponok's detachment sought to reclaim the artifact and shortly after the creation of the Infinite a contingent led by Flame travelled to Troja Major to reclaim it.

After the Infinite had escaped her custody and seemingly perished at the hands of the Black Block Consortia, the ex-Autobot came to Mengel and demanded the relic, ordering his men to ransack the compound when she refused to hand it over. His men found it and they brought it back to their Worldsweeper with the self-revived Infinite, presenting both to Scorponok. Chasing the Infinite

He discovered, however, that the artifact had continued to evolve, even developing a moral code that allowed it to refuse any questions asked of it that violated its sense of ethics. Thanks to Scorponok's binary bonding with Abraham Dante many years before, Scorponok's brain patterns were not entirely Cybertronian, allowing him to bypass the brain-scanning procedures that the Magnificence employed. Using the information within the Magnificence he embarked on a new endeavor to rebuild the Decepticon forces by creating an artificially engineered "organic Decepticon" he called the "Firstborn". Kill All 'Cons

In the meantime, Mengel fled to the ex-Decepticon antiquarian Agonizer where the two compared notes on the artifact. Realizing the Cybertronian history behind the Magnificence, Agonizer summoned the Scavengers to him via teleportal and, after some exposition for Nickel's benefit, sent them after the relic with the promise of making them fabulously wealthy. Sent to the desert planet of Confluence, they were quickly captured by Scorponok's forces and imprisoned. The Ties That Bind By making it seem like Grimlock had killed them, the Scavengers were able to escape their cell and demanded Scorponok hand over the artifact. Using it, they were able to learn Scorponok was in the process of producing organic Decepticons. Scorponok quickly overpowered the group and prepared to extract their sparks, prompting Nickel to consult the Magnificence to learn how to defeat the Decepticon scientist. Thanks to its suggestion the Scavengers were able to paralyze their foe by using a recording of Tarn's voice and escaped, hurrying to a nearby transmat portal with a plan of going Garrus-9 in the hopes of returning the Firstborn to normal. The Magnificence supplied Nickel coordinates before she could even finish asking for them.

On arrival, however, they realized that they'd been teleported into Grimlock's old cell, which was locked from the outside, and that the Magnificence had gone dormant, leaving them trapped in the abandoned prison with no way out. Kill All 'Cons What they didn't realize was that the Magnificence had duped them. They weren't on Garrus-9 at all, but had arrived at Mederi. You Are Here

The Magnificence remained silent through the shenanigans that followed, up until the "Crusadercons" found themselves held at gunpoint by the Grand Architect's troops. When the being demanded Rodimus chose a delegation to meet with him, it spoke up, listing Rodimus, Rung, Ratchet, and Tailgate, a suggestion Rodimus angrily overruled. When the group travelled to the Grand Architect's Worldsweeper, Rung found the device was speaking to him, even though no-one else heard anything. Once he touched it, Rung found himself involuntarily transforming. Farsickness

Fun Publications

Epistemus was one of the Thirteen. Vector Prime reminisced about his intellect and unconventional way of thinking. Vector found that he had competing, contradictory memories of universes in which Epistimus was not a member of the Thirteen, including one in which he predated Vector's pantheon, and another in which he never existed at all. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/14 When Nexus Prime later used the Star Saber and Terminus Blade to obliterate multiversal singularities, the reason for these contradictory memories became clear, as Epistemus and the other Thirteen were splintered into infinite alternate selves across the multiverse. Out of the One, Many

In some of Vector Prime's memories during the Thirteen's time in Greece on ancient Earth, Epistemus used a female holomatter avatar which inspired the myth of Demeter. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08

Beast Wars: Uprising

Ramulus swore by Epistemus. Derailment

Notes

The Magnificence has a superficial resemblance (including coloration) to the Pearl of Bahoudin from the 1985 The Transformers episode "Trans-Europe Express".
In a Q&A Simon Furman said he originally intended to show that using the Magnificence had a price: "the information or what information precipitates mostly turns out to be a poisoned chalice... there was going to be a Hot Rod payoff, in which he goes well and truly through the wringer as a consequence of his mining of the Magnificence." Due to the revised and shorter nature of Revelation this subplot was dropped, though Hot Rod did go through the wringer in Maximum Dinobots, albeit for different reasons.
In the same Q&A he said he considered making the Magnificence a Quintesson artifact but changed his mind.
Epistemus's name appears to be based on the Greek epistími (επιστήμη) meaning knowledge, science, profession, and understanding.