So I just had this thought on the way to work today.

In the 1984 Transformers Movie, Megatron throws a spiked piece of rubble at Optimus' abdomen, Prime is visibly hurt. Later Megatron slashes the same spot with a laser blade (as if to confirm this weak point) and finally he shoots him in the same spot with what are meant to be kill shots "Fall -FALL!"

(Ignoring the fact that the writers hadn't yet come up with the concept of the spark)

Prime was outfitted for a Matrix this means that his spark had to be relocated.

I am suggesting that Primes spark casing is in his lower left abdomen and Megatron knew it after the first penetrating attack.

Basically Megatron's precision attacks ruptured the spark casing leaving Optimus with only moments to live.

 

You know what, I just had a thought when reading this post about when you have a thought on your way to work

There was no 1984 movie
The movie was in 1986 lol

The man likes his hit points

That’s actually not 100% correct if you look at the early scripts for the movie The concept Of Sparks was introduced and described with some detail even to appearance

there was a comic that actually explains that his spark is also in his chest in a device that looks like the matrix

They use that story to explain what we saw in the beast wars episodes

 

Oooohhhh boy so what did kill Optimus then?

 

Megatron paying the writers.

 

Well I’m sure there are other critical systems all over the body of the transformer so repeated injury to any one delicate area but eventually killed one

Maybe there was some form of a vital Energon vain In that area

 

He had an unrelated terminal illness that just happened to take a turn for the worse immediately after his battle with Megatron.

 

OUCH!!!
Burn!!  

 

Maybe Prime is like the Borg cube in Star Trek First Contact, might not seem like a vital part but shooting that spot will kill him.

 

I have a theory he was mauled by a tiger...

 

One of the following:

- Megatron used cheat codes to have easy wins.
- Optimus played in Extreme Hard Mode and turned off his autosave.
- Toy Charts.
- Christmas Sale.
- Bad Writing.

 

Okay. Here's my thoughts...

Optimus could have been saved. The wound could have been patched (he's suffered far more damage in Season 1).

BUT

Ratchet was dead.
Wheeljack (a spot medic in earlier seasons) was dead.
Perceptor is a scientist, not a medic. He tried and failed.

Transformers have functions for a reason. Had First Aid been there, who knows? But no medics basically means no way to fix him.

That's why it was so easy for the Quints and Junkions to fix Optimus later on...they actually know how to rebuild Transformers to operational status.

 

This. I remember him being disassembled by the Decepticons on one episode during season 1 or 2 and by the end, he got back to normal.

 

This what?

They are robots, being disassembled does not necessarily equate to being damaged

 

The Junkions never fixed Optimus in the cartoon at all

 

I thought I remembered Wreck-Gar and one Quint working on his body in the Hate Plague episode. It's been a while since I've watched it.

EDIT: You're right. Although don't blame me for misremembering that bit, though, as Wreck-Gar was there...he just didn't have the medical knowledge. "Back at Autobot City, Rodimus pleads to Wreck-Gar to try and repair Prime, but Prime is too far gone even for Junkion medical experience." - TF wiki

Although that doesn't preclude that Optimus couldn't have been saved by Junkions at the time of his death.

 

It makes more sense for his spark case to be there. Did the movie writers intend for it to be behind the matrix?

 

Don’t worry we all forget things sometimes

 

While the concept for Sparks was a part of the original script the idea of what a spark was where it was located and what it really meant was not something that was hammered out at the time

That type of stuff didn’t get introduced into the series until about maybe 10 or 15 years later

 

You where right about the Quint fixing Prime in late season 3, they say only a Quintesson could have fixed him, Prime even touches the Quints back and thanks him for it and the Junkions where not discovered until after Prime was dead.

As for the threads question I think all the medics being dead or not present is a very good explanation. It seems like the stakes are raised at times without much consistency in Transformers but something like stasis lock is only good if you're not in immediate danger or aren't needed here and now for the greater good. Prime could of shut down perhaps to save his own life but then Megatron would have won the battle and no one would have been left to fix him also going offline would have made him extremely vulnerable to a still functioning leader of the Decepticons. Energon supplies where desperately low for the Autobots in 2005 (the time period of TFTM) and all the medics being dead meant perhaps ordinarily fixable injuries where fatal. Of course the real reason is because Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime where available now in a toy section near you, but as fans that won't suffice as an explanation for the loss of our hero.

So in summary... No medics, lack of Energon and The Cons being on the upper hand meant Prime HAD to give it everything and fight to the death. If you take your phone apart or drop it and it goes to pieces it's easy to put back together and it's as good as new and works most the time... If someone stabs it and shoots the fuck out of it maybe not so much. And yeah First Aid where the hell where you bro?