It's wholesome how kids cried when Optimus died. He was everyone's kind of hero.

How was Optimus Prime able to come back? Come on, man. He had The Touch. He had The Power.

The fact that Optimus is such a hero to so many kids over so many generations is really kind of heart warming. He's not edgy, he's not a try-hard, or a show off; rather he's wise, he's kind, he's gentle, compassionate, and forgiving. He doesn't talk tough; he acts. And he's never afraid to sacrifice himself for the greater good, or for those he cares about. He's not just a hero, he's the ideal of what a father should be. And it's all perfectly embodied in the way he's portrayed by Peter Cullen: a deep, warm, calm voice. One that's confident and undeniably very masculine, without ever being macho. It's the reassuring voice of a father figure who doesn't preach, but leads by example. He is without question one of the finest role-models a child could ever have. And Peter Cullen's magnificent voice is such an essential part of that identity.

3:10 The art of "The Transformers: The Movie" still holds up.

Optimus Prime was able to return because of the power of the Hasbro executives collectively realizing they screwed up killing him off in the animated movie.

I was extremely upset Optimus died in the movie. I quickly learned to like Hot Rod but he was no Optimus.

“He’s died 24 times” the only reason he’s back is because of his armour it’s a special type called plot armour

I saw Transformers: The Movie in theaters, and loved it! Yes, I cried when Prime died. It was sad. But I loved when Rodimus was born. That was a great scene when he was running down the hallway, stops, and orders everyone to transform and roll out! Dark Awakening has always been my favorite episode of season 3, and one of the best episodes of all time. "Monsters. They made me a weapon, to destroy the very ones I loved in life. But you will save them, Rodimus Prime." "No Autobot could survive that!"

Haha "but is this really the end of optimus prime?" "find out in tomorrows exciting episode the return of optimus prime!"

Prime has died so many times that it's lost all impact to anyone watching it, but I was 8 when I watched the movie in the cinema and it was a really big deal.

I was very fortunate to had seen transformers the movie in theaters I remember my dad taken me and my older brother to see and when the bad language started to fly and death was laid down apon the autobots parents started taken their kids out I told my dad please dad I gotta watched this and my dad said of course we're going to watch it I paid money to see this we ain't going nowhere so I was one of the lucky few who saw the end and all the kids in my class were coming up to me for all the sweet details I had power over my classmates and I had knowledge that other kids didn't and back in those days there were no movie rentals you had to remember what you saw. I still have the original movie when I came out for sale on VHS I bet I watched it a thousand times. Priceless

“ one shall stand one shall fall” the famous line that is said for every one on one battle between optumis prime and megaton

Prime’s left eye was terrifying at the end of Dark Awakening

"alright Hot Rod's back! let's party!" I love that part

Optimus Prime dark awakening left a scar to my heart and I'm greatly horrified that they turned him into a robotic zombie. I would never forget the graphic scene of Optimus Prime battered face while controlling the spaceship to his suicidal death.

Rofl... Only rivalled by Starscream's death count. Made my day

Nothing that follows compares to the heart and soul of the original cartoon series, which basically defined my childhood I loved it so much.

Why did Ultra Magnus not stay dead? “I can’t deal with that right now.”

"We're you killed?" Optimus Prime: "Sadly yes, but I lived." " *phew* "

The animated movie will always be better than the live-action...

I just realized the plot of "The Return of Optimus Prime" is a inside joke Think of it Hate plague being the hate letters to Hasbro, And "Only By reviving Optimus Prime" would save the universe,the Hate would stop, Am I the only one who realizes this?

Optimus Zombie really did give me nightmares when I was a kid. The Matrix's spooky pulse sound didn't help either. lol

Don't forget that one of the abilities of the Transformers is that when they are in their alternate modes, they are able to start repairs on their bodies, thanks to their internal systems. If the Matrix of Leadership did "awaken" Prime as you suggest, not only would this give his body time to heal, it would also explain glitches in the continuity from episode to episode. It would work like our immune system.

Ngl when Optimus said “arise Rodimus prime” I had the legit chills up my back.

Peter Cullen has one of the best voices in Hollywood having somebody else doing optimus prime is a sacrilege can you imagine darth vader with a different voice i can't. When it comes to voices 1 is James Earl Jones and 2 is Peter Cullen. One is the voice of the scariest guy in the galaxy and the other one is the voice of one of the bravest and caring individuals in the galaxy how cool is that

I love the g1 movie so freaking much

Sky lynx: "our leader is back" Optimus: "Yes Sky Lynx, and now.... no force in the universe can stop me". What can I say, its cheesy as hell and that delivery STILL gives me goosebumps. *edit* Peter Cullen's delivery on zombie Optimus, and when Optimus is revived is just... goddamn, it's so good. SO GOOD I SAY.

Prime's death was shocking. I remember being very upset. This was a huge deal to a kid in the 80s. What an awesome movie (Michael Bay sucks--stop putting boring human characters into Transformers!!)

Man, zombie prime it's the most terrifying thing i've ever seen, imagine knowing that who once was your leader now is a braindead killing machine that could appear right in front of you at any moment just to end you

YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWEEEEEER! That song was stuck in my head last night

As a kid growing up in 07 when I was first introduced to TF and fell in love with the g1 original series and rewatching the return of prime multiple times was such a great nostalgia breakdown

I recently rewatched the movie after having not seen it in probably 10-ish years. Honestly seeing him die hurt more now than it did seeing it for the first time 20 years ago.

I was 5 years old when I saw this in the theater and I cried when prime died.

Transformers, more then meets the eye. Transformers, Robots who are constantly revived!

Optimus prime is a icon no matter the cost .

Hasbro's response to parents complaining about their child being traumatized by Prime's death in the movie "Well now, let's get this kid into therapy"

7:56 is what nightmares are made of lol

Allways loved Dark Awakening, and considered it the best episode(s) of the series. Probably helped that I was a teen at the time.

it's also very likely the animation issues you mention were attributed to the proximity of the people working on them to their respective lunch breaks and bathroom breaks

When Optimus died it hit me like a ton of bricks. He was an incredibly strong character with Peter Cullen's voice that transcended normal Saturday morning cartoons.

So, in short, they made Optimus Prime the Kenny of Transformers.

i was a little older when the movie was in theaters,but i still get chocked up when he dies.

Erik "Internet Comment Etiquette" Salvia

This movie changed my life, the most moving ever lasting movie of all time. I cried and became a man the day I saw optimus prime die. His spirit is forever!!!

I was depressed for months after the movie, I adored Optimus and I was a girl. I was just devestated. I am so glad he came back for the US audience for good, although I understood that there was more made for the Japanese audience where he would shortly die again. I use the US version as the final last episode of Transformers where Optimus takes his rightful place in command again driving his Autobots off into the sunset.

I remember when me and my friends went to see this in the movie theater. When we got up to the box office we tried the whisper that we wanted tickets for the Transformers movie because of our age we were in our late teens and early 20s cuz back then it wasn't common for adults to go see a cartoon without any kids and it was the first time I heard the word "damn" in a cartoon. Or any curse words for that matter.

The revive of Optimus is like the movie Robocop where Murphy is a phenomenal, driven police officer and family man. Optimus in turn owns the same ideals for being brought back as a selfless, loving Autobot leader.

The death in the 86 movie STILL gets me flooding tears. His armada death hurts me personally the most😭💔

I had the hate plague on copied VHS from the TV back when I was fumbling with tape cassettes and spectrum computer systems. Long time ago but I'll never forget it and the soundtracks stay with you forever!

Optimus probably did a Stasis lock, as you said. But in some cases, as proven in newer continuities, and comics, some forms of Stasis lock were shown to “repair” the injured bot. My guess? He drew raw materials to himself, before entering stasis. The materials interacted with his remaining spark energy, and thus repaired the exterior. Just a thought. Edit: Thanks for the like, Rodimus!

“But is this really the end of Optimus Prime? Find out in tommorow’s exciting episode ‘the return of Optimus Prime’” Gee I wonder if he’s alive

Congrats onto getting onto internet comment etiquette my man.

"Jarring" is a great way to describe the animation error. Love the idea of Matrix reviving him and then he goes into stasis lock. Adding to that, in my mind, Prime's ship wasn't completely destroyed by the Quintesson detonator, his ship had a repair system on it (similar to the Ark in the pilot of the G1 cartoon), and that's the system that repaired him before Jessica and Gregory found him. The stars going nova was a completely different explosion than the Quintesson detonator.

My god Optimus prime has died and been resurrected so many times he has such a high death count

The power of little kids tears.

Im 46 years old, and this STILL breaks my heart.

There are so many reasons on how a hero comes back. One of them is that the hero is a major fan-favorite.

This is probably my favorite video of all time! No joke. I remember being sooooo confused as a kid by the Zombie Prime and Return of Prime storylines and their continuity issues. Thanks for clearing this up!

" Hey thanks a lot pal I was supposed to be studying for a big test until I found this channel now it's ten years later and I can't afford to feed my wife and kids who I don't even know where they came from because I haven't moved form this chair! How many videos do you HAVE about transformers on this channel, can you please upload more because I think I'm almost caught up! Thank you very much also my favorite Transformers moment is when Bumblebug and Optimum Prime shared the first same-sex hug in a children's cartoon. I remember that being a big deal back in the day and they got in a lot of trouble with Nancy Reagan because she thought it would lead to kids doing drugs. Well she was right cause I've got so much yayo up my nose right now that an errant sneeze might cost me two hundred bucks. Stay in school kids. " -Big Money Salvia

I remember being happy when Optimus Prime returned in Dark Awakening. But the joy was short lived when prime turned on his fellow troops. A very disturbing episode.

How was optimus able to be revived? THE POWER OF COMMERCE COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF COMMERCE COMPELS YOU!!!

Optimus dying is about as predictable as a Christmas commercial in November

You know the moment you mentioned in the video about how Prime's spark transferred back into his body while he had the matrix, I was like. Yeah and then he went into stasis lock I was like. "Okay, yeah that actually makes sense and I can believe." So kudos on a thought-out if in the end a fairly simple solution to a continuity error.

😂 that mortal kombat laugh👌🏾

I think your idea about the matrix reviving his mind was a good idea. Earlier, I thought of Perceptor installing shield in the ship which was not activated successfully until shortly before the ship crashed into the detinator. The shield would have protect the ship and Prime from further damage. After that the ship's automatic repair system tried to repair everything and even put Prime's arm back on and made his outer area look good as new. However, it was unable to properly work on his inner system, which required careful work. In doing all that the ship used up much of its' energy and was unable to do anything else on it's own.

Optimus prime was the best ever I remember watching him as a kid. Every body loved prime he was Nobel selfless brave .long live the original optimus prime .

I was one of the crying kids! I was 9!!!! I lived for that show and Optimus was my hero!!! I still get tears when I watch the movie at 43. Loved the g one series still. Your theory makes total sense my friend!! I really like you content and I am a harsh critic.

The zombie optimus episode was so scary

No I’m not talking about you BumbleBee...” I lost it 😂

While I'm more of a Rodimus Prime fan, the movie has Optimus say 'Do not grieve, for soon I will be one with the Matrix.' So I'll say that your theory is solid. Also, Zombie Optimus I thought was both terrifying and awesome.

What a wonderful break down and truly remarkable theory craft. Also, the scene where Optimus Prime dies gets me emotional 'til this very day. The music and directing of that scene sticks with me still.

The Return of Optimus Prime part 1 and 2 are totally memorable but imo the makers of the series miss the opportunity to give Optimus Prime a new look and some tweaks like Megatron being reborn as Galvatron.

It’s nice that Peter Cullen took advice from his brother , Larry Cullen , when Peter Cullen was getting ready to voice Optimus Prime. Then Lorenzo Di Bonaventura had to ruin Optimus Prime’s character.

I remember watching this as a kid and being somewhat freaked out... Okay that's putting it mildly. 😳😲🤪😱😵

I've wondered the same thing about the Return of Optimus Prime. During his kamikaze run at the end of Dark Awakening, we see the ship and Optimus at the helm taking flak from the Quintesson base before colliding with it in a humongous explosion. No other ship has a chance to intervene and there are presumably no survivors. In the first part of the Return, we see the human exploration vessel encounter an intact ship that wasn't on a collision course with an asteroid or whatever and wasn't under enemy fire and with an intact Optimus Prime at the helm. They rescue him before the star goes nova destroying the ship. Animation errors notwithstanding, how to reconcile the discontinuity? Suspension of disbelief, like with Optimus's (magically disappearing) trailer or other logical inconsistencies, has been as much a mainstay of what is basically a glorified toy commercial since its inception.

That was fire on vhs. Always sold out. You have no idea the movie drama . Our whole world was built around these moments. Life changing

I remember the series was on ch 9 at 4PM rite before gi joe at 430pm after school hours optimus prime he's my favourite transferformer the leader a the autobots against the evil decepticons good memories in the 80s my favourite cartoon a all tyme.

I’m 44 years old. I remember crying during the movie and during the zombie episode

Thank you mate, good memories.

Story Arc: he was the hero we needed to return Reality: he is a machine that can be rebuilt

This is good, I was young and remember some of the storylines. I never read the comics either. So watching this gives a full circle for me. Thanks!

My guess is the "matrix effect' it cured zombie Prime's madness, but even after it was removed the energy kept going fixing his body despite being "deceased"

Your explanation is as good as any! Of course, ultimately the underlying answer is, "Because plot." 😁

Goosebumps at hearing Prime speak to Rodimus.

Wow once again you have out done your self giving a good reason for a question thats tuff to think about without the acurance of animation errors. Amazing as always.

Wow, what an analysis! I salute you RodimusPrimal!

The best version of transformers ever.

Thanks for that break down. Always wondered about all this as a kid

The first time I saw the movie (about 2 years ago) I cried that Optimus was dead but laughed my head off when Starscream kicked Megatron

I think that the power of the matrix was partially absorbed into his body, and over time it healed it. If it can bring things to life, it can probably repair them too.

I just saw G1 The Return of Optimus Prime Part 2 and it is without a doubt one of my favorite G1 episodes!

This is the perfect example of know and understanding your customers!

8:50 is the stuff of nightmares. good lord

It took a film and a three-episode storyline crossing half the third season and almost two years of in-universe time for the original Optimus Prime to return from the dead. Later Optimii typically didn't even stay dead for half a season.

Thanks for this….brings back great memories…..til all are 1!

I love g1 so much 👌 ,it's all ive been watching these for these past 2 months and i just saw dark awakenings 2 days ago , it was a hell of an episode

If somebody asked me who I looked up to as a kid Optimus Prime would be mentioned.

Wow mind stored on a floppy disk 😂😂

Enjoyed this video!

because... HE'S GOT THE TOUCH ! HE'S GOT THE POOOOOOOOWER!