Autobot Matrix of Leadership

The Autobot Matrix of Leadership was an object which held the combined knowledge and wisdom of the past Autobot leaders who possessed it. Unicron claimed it was the one thing in the universe that could stop him. In 2005, the Matrix was drained of its contents while fighting the hate plague.

It is the editor's opinion that the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and the Creation Matrix are two separate things with completely different properties.

Cartoon History (US):

The Autobot Matrix of Leadership was introduced in Transformers: the Movie as an object that is passed from one Autobot leader to the next. When Optimus Prime found himself on the edge of death due to a battle with Megatron, he passed the Matrix to Ultra Magnus. Soon after, Megatron was transformed into Galvatron by Unicron, who commanded that he destroy the Matrix, said to be the only thing that could stand in his way. He eventually chased Ultra Magnus down on Junkion, where the Autobot leader attempted to open the Matrix. Failing, he was blasted apart by the Sweeps. Galvatron then took possession of the Matrix, but instead of eliminating the Matrix, he kept it and attempted to use it against Unicron. Unfortunately for him, the Matrix refused to open and Unicron swallowed him (with the Matrix) as punishment.

The Autobots soon allied themselves with the Junkions, who rebuilt Ultra Magnus and joined the Autobots in their battle against Unicron. During the fight, Hot Rod ended up inside of Unicron, and took control of the Matrix from Galvatron. Without being opened, the Matrix changed Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime, who was then able to open the Matrix. The energies released destroyed Unicron.

Several months later, Rodimus was nearly killed by Decepticons, and found himself temporarily entering the Matrix. There, he discovered the identity of their new foes: the Quintessons. Later, puzzled by the Quintessons' interest in the Transformers, he intentionally brought himself into a near-death state in order to visit the Matrix. This time, he was made aware of the origin of the Transformers. Rodimus returned to life unharmed.

Some time after, Rodimus was attacked by Stunticons, and the Matrix was taken from him. When Galvatron was unable to open the Matrix, he gave it to Scourge, who also tried to use it. Surprisingly, the Matrix accepted him as a host, though it twisted his physical form as a result. The Matrix was eventually recovered by Rodimus.

Optimus Prime was brought to a semblance of life temporarily by the Quintessons, to lead the Autobots into a trap. Rodimus, eager to give leadership back to Optimus, surrendered the Matrix to him quickly. After discovering the Quintesson trick, Hot Rod fought Optimus for the Matrix and lost. However, Prime rebelled against the Quintesson programming and willingly surrendered the Matrix. He then sacrificed his own life to help the Autobots escape the trap.

Human scientists later found Prime's body floating in space and retrieved it. When one of them, Jessica Morgan, was injured during an Autobot-Decepticon battle, her father blamed the Autobots and tried to infect them with the newly-discovered Hate Plague spores. To combat the rapidly-spreading and out of control plague, a Quintesson agreed to revive Optimus Prime so he could fight the infected Rodimus Prime and take from him the Matrix. The plan worked, and Optimus opened the Matrix. The released energies cured the Hate Plague, but depleted the Matrix of the wisdom and knowledge it had contained.

Article submitted by Francisco Cividanes.

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