#like. there IS a reason megatron can go toe-to-toe with optimus despite the latter having the freaking matrix.

[peace-hunter]

oh that's a great question!

this is gonna be a bit confusing because i hadn't really thought about it in depth until right now but! it depends on what prime you're asking about!

all of the primes were down in the well of all sparks with primus after their deaths, so generally they were only vaguely aware of what was going on the planet. nothing beyond "there isn't a war going on anymore, but the quintessons are still here and the energon has stopped flowing freely".

but. megatronus did have a more detailed knowledge of what was going on... because sentinel took his t-cog and with it a part of him. he couldn't manifest to him like he can with OP and his awareness was kind of limited (more of a vague feeling and the ocasional flash of sound and images) but it's still enough to paint a rough image of what is truly going on with their people.

and when alpha trio gave the squad prima's, micronus', onyx's and alchemist's t-cogs they also got that connection with them but a little bit stronger, to the point where they could actually tell what was going on most of the time. this is because unlike megatronus, they weren't revolted to their very core by the spark their cog had to meld with lmao

so. this does mean that as a whole all of them Know what happened after the cave. including megatron's breakdown. and the whole "accidentally getting shot by your best friend and then being very intentionally dropped to the core of the planet" fiasco. micronus and alchemist got a pretty good view of it, but onyx and prima have a visceral insight on it.

prima had already experienced what dying in betrayal felt like once. he's so terribly sorry this will be one more thing he and optimus will share with each other.

this also means that megatronus knew the moment sentinel was ripped in half and had one split second of being like "well at least i'm not stuck with that fragger anymore-OH C'MON!" before feeling his t-cog being taken by someone else. again.

he gets like five seconds of good connection before he realizes just who exactly took his t-cog and then he's back into violently rejecting it. he doesn't care if he gets shitty reception, he's not interested in any sort of bond with the mech who just murdered his best friend (and his new baby brother). it's not as bad as it was with sentinel but certainly nowhere near what the rest had described.

it's still enough for him to witness exactly what megatron does with his name and legacy though.

there is a reason he's the one that holds a grudge against megatron for the longest time out of all the primes

anyway! tldr: they sorta knew a little bit of what was going on, especially after the squad got some of their t-cogs, but they still need optimus to fully fill them in the details of everything before that.

also yes, micronus and alchemist do get to keep their connection with bee and elita even after they're bound to the matrix by primus. they cannot manifest to them as they do to optimus, but they can speak a little to them sometimes. they can also follow them around to a certain point.

so can megatronus with megatron. no one is happy about this.

I like the idea that the Matrix was said to contain "The wisdom of the Primes" and while it kind of DOES, what he actually got was the ability to commune with the Primes, and while everyone expects them to be a well of wisdom they're kind of just normal people and tell Optimus that Megatron's a glitch.

He's basically just got 13 older annoying siblings.

some times collective wisdom means knowing how to build and lead an entire army while restructuring your entire society after decades of oppression.

others it means knowing that mixing the cybertronian equivalent of vodka and tequila is a Stupid Idea and you will definitely regret it oh my god-

and being the youngest of fourteen sometimes means knowing that and doing it anyway lmao

but yeah that's basically it! that's kinda the point of the au! yeah they were wise and intelligent and almost divine but they were still people! and the concept of wisdom can be very subjective when there's thirteen of you and you have thousands if not millions of years of Opinions™ aklsjdlalds

haunted au