Covenant of Primus

Among the many books of the Covenant are the "Acts of the 13", "Vector Sigma's Transmissions to the Junkions", the "Book of Accessories", the "Prophecies of the Primes", the "Book of Armaments", and "Writings of Furman".^[1]

The Covenant of Primus (or Book of Primus^[2]) is a databook containing numerous datatracks. It is a compilation of Transformers scriptural texts believed to be prophetic.

The original Covenant is the work of the great sage Alpha Trion, who has chronicled Cybertron since nearly its beginning with the artifact granted to him by Primus, the Quill. By its nature the Covenant chronicles even the future, but interpreting such things is difficult due to the symbolic phrasing the tome uses. As well, even Alpha Trion has difficulty reading too far into the future, as each section of the Covenant is written in the language of the era it represents. Thus, the most ancient sections of the book are scribed in languages long dead from the planet, and the far future is written in languages no Cybertronian yet speaks. It is unlikely that any copies of the Covenant retain this property, as they are presumably only transcriptions of the Covenant as it existed at their time of making.

Conceptual history

The Covenant of Primus, as depicted in the Beast Wars animated series.

While the Covenant of Primus in its known form made its debut in the two-part series finale of the Beast Wars cartoon, the name "Covenant of Primus" has its roots in a prose story written for BotCon 1999 that was first released several months in advance of both the convention and the Beast Wars finale. Titled "Covenant" and written by Simon Furman, this story introduced a group of twelve ancient Transformers first created by Primus before he created the rest of the Transformer race (a concept Furman would later recycle for the Thirteen Original Transformers). Simply known as the Covenant, this group was charged by Primus with observing from afar the development of the Transformer race on Cybertron, and to prepare for an apocalyptic battle known as Point Omega, which would decide the fate of Primus's Grand Plan. A second story, "Schism" would further reveal that the prophecy of Point Omega had been foretold to the Covenant by their "scriptures", no doubt in reference to the following.

The Covenant of Primus as a religious tome was first established in the aforementioned two-part Beast Wars episode, "Nemesis Part 1" and "Nemesis Part 2" (the latter of which was likewise written by Simon Furman), in which portions of its text were quoted by both Optimus Primal and Megatron to interpret the events of those two episodes (and the preceding one) as correlating to preordained events described in the Covenant. The Covenant tome and the Covenant group would be further connected to each other in the BotCon 2001 online prose feature "Apelinq's War Journals", in which the time-displaced Maximal Apelinq would observe the Beast Wars from afar and, during the events of Point Omega, would refer to both the tome and the group as the "Covenant of Primus". Ultimately, the Covenant of Primus would be depicted as a religious tome in all of its future appearances, while the Covenant group would be supplanted by the better-known Thirteen.

Alpha Trion wields both the Covenant of Primus and the Quill.

In 2010, Hasbro's then-new Aligned continuity family would give greater attention to the Covenant than ever before. The Transformers: Exodus novel reintroduced the Covenant of Primus as a chronicle of all Cybertronian history, charting events from the dawn of the universe to the very end of time. A new version of the Autobot sage Alpha Trion was established as both a member of the Thirteen and the author of the Covenant, having written its contents with a reality-bending artifact known simply as the Quill. With this new role and backstory, the Covenant would continue to feature alongside Alpha Trion in both of the sequel novels Exiles and Retribution, while one of its prophecies would also be the subject of the first-season finale of the Transformers: Prime cartoon. In 2013, Transformers: The Covenant of Primus was released as a real-world version of the fictional book (albeit containing none of the specific quotes ever given in any of its previous appearances in fiction), written from Alpha Trion's perspective, and chronicling the fictional events of most (but not all) of the Aligned fiction released up to that point.

Outside of the Aligned media, the Covenant of Primus had notable appearances in such series as The Transformers: Regeneration One by IDW Publishing and Beast Wars: Uprising by Fun Publications. In Regeneration One (written yet again by Simon Furman), the Covenant made its first visual appearance since Beast Wars, where it was redesigned from being a book containing datatrax to being a golden disk containing knowledge, and hidden deep within Cybertron in a secret chamber along with the Sword of Primus. In Beast Wars: Uprising, the Covenant was expounded upon with the "Book of Logos", a full-text version of a portion of the Covenant written by Logos Prime, whose writings foretold many events of the Grand Uprising. And all the while, IDW's main Transformers comics from 2005–2018 abstained from using the traditional version of the Primus lore, and so opted to invent a stand-in holy book named the "Covenant of Primes", in reverence of the Thirteen Primes rather than Primus himself.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

Beast Wars cartoon

Only two copies of the Covenant of Primus were known to exist. One was placed on the Ark prior to its launch. After Tigerhawk had joined the Beast Wars, Optimus Primal read out Datatrax 7.613 of the holy text, convinced that it had foretold the warrior's arrival. Rattrap was a good deal more skeptical.

The other copy was found aboard the Nemesis, apparently having been placed there by Tarantulas, as stated by Megatron who also claimed to have taken his name from the scriptures. Nemesis Part 1

As Megatron used the Decepticon flagship to launch a random attack on existence, he quoted several passages of the Covenant, the ones that foretold the final events of the Beast Wars, surprising Dinobot with his knowledge of the text. In response, Megatron claimed that he had read only the "good parts" of the text.

When Optimus infiltrated the Nemesis to confront Megatron personally, the two of them each recited parts of another passage from the Covenant, one that pertained specifically to this very confrontation of theirs, with Megatron starting the quote and Optimus finishing it.

Following Megatron's defeat, Optimus recited one final passage as Autobot Shuttle Omega Delta entered transwarp space. Nemesis Part 2

3H comics

The Covenant possessed scriptures that foretold of a fateful battle that would determine the future of Cybertron, the Transformer race, and Primus's Grand Plan. Said scriptures referred to this battle by two names: "Point Omega" and "Shokaract." Schism

When the time of Point Omega had finally come, the time-displaced Apelinq observed from afar as the events unfolded before him. When he decided to leave, believing this battle to not be his own, he recalled a passage from the Covenant of Primus, the Sojourner's Passage, that seemed to reflect the events that lay before him. But before he could finish his recitation, Terminus Point of No Return he was cut off by the startling appearance of the literal Covenant of Primus, eleven of the twelve who had come across time and space to join in this destined battle. Terminus Witness to the Covenant

By the year 2005, in the wake of Unicron's destruction, Cybertron had been retaken by the Autobots and a time of peace had finally settled. New Autobot Leader Rodimus Prime commissioned a fleet of exploration ships that would be launched to better prepare Cybertron for any new threats that may come about, so as to not be caught off guard again like they were with Unicron's attack on the planet. The first of these space vessels was christened by Rodimus as the Sojourner's Passage, in honor of the passage of the same name in the Covenant of Primus. Betrayal

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

During the final conflict of the Great War, an ambitious Decepticon field commander read through the Covenant of Primus and took the name of "Megatron" for himself. Later, the Decepticon general Cicadacon quoted a passage from the Covenant before he and his fellow generals Seaclamp and Ramhorn prepared to launch a transmatter bomb onto Cybertron. Dawn of the Predacus

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Generations Selects Special Comic

The Covenant was an ancient Cybertronian holy book that had been handed down for generations. It contained the revelations of Primus, a revered being of legend said to have been able to see the future. By the time of the launch of the Autobot starship the Ark, the Covenant had come into the possession of Autobot Leader Optimus Prime, who brought it with him on the Ark's voyage, believing it could be useful in the Autobots' search for more energy.

As the Ark traveled through space, Optimus and Jazz studied a passage from the Covenant speaking of two heroes making true peace a reality, but the power of the fountain of chaos on another world would drive one hero to madness. Super Megatron comic 2

Beast Wars Metals cartoon

See Beast Wars cartoon

The Covenant also spoke of two Legendary Banana Seeds that could only be found by a true hero. One was hidden at the bottom of the sea; humanity's ancestors guarded the knowledge of its whereabouts. Meanwhile, the second seed could only be obtained by the perfect-score winner in a contest of voice impressions. Remix: I Forgot the Banana!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

According to Starscream, Bumblebee was a devout follower of the Covenant of Primus. Skyfire

When a rebuilt Megatron confronted Starscream on Earth, the beaten Seeker mentioned Sunstorm, prompting the Decepticon leader to quote a prophecy from the Covenant that fit Sunstorm's actions. Both Megatron and Starscream turned to Shockwave for answers on the clone. The Route of All Evil

Regeneration One

When Hot Rod found himself chased by the Demons, he found the Covenant and the Sword of Primus in an underground chamber. Natural Selection, Part Three Deciding that he needed answers, Hot Rod used the Covenant to view Cybertron's primordial past and learnt that the Demons were Primus's first creations only for the god to wipe them out when their free will led them to war. Natural Selection, Part Four Though Primus intended for Hot Rod to slay the Demons that had survived the purge with the Sword, Hot Rod refused to commit genocide and left the chamber, taking both the Sword and the Covenant with him. Natural Selection, Part Five

Ask Vector Prime

In Primax 489.0 Zeta, Horsehead dubbed the rampaging Scorponok/Zarak beast "Majin Zarak", after the ancient Predacon in the Covenant of Primus. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/10

Beast Wars: Uprising

The Book of Logos was claimed by its author, Logos, to be a vision from Primus, foretelling of apocalyptic wars, enslavement, betrayal, and the recurring number seven.

Scylla thought of one verse, Chapter 10, Book 3, before the battle for the Yuss Straits, during the Vehicon Apocalypse, despite not being a believer herself. Derailment

While explaining the Unicron crisis to Rampage, Deluge clarified that he did not mean the religious fairy tale told to protoforms. The Inexorable March

Unicron Trilogy continuity family

Cybertron toy bios

Downshift and his lifebond partner had been joined under the Covenant of Primus. Cybertron Downshift Cyber Key Code content

Aligned continuity family

Aligned novels

The Covenant of Primus was a book in the possession of Alpha Trion. Some of the text's earliest passages spoke of the "before time", the era that predated Primus's creation of the Thirteen, but Alpha Trion could not read these symbols, only knowing what had happened by Primus's own account. The Covenant of Primus

In his time as Chief Archivist, Alpha Trion wrote in the Covenant, being as it was never finished until the end of Cybertron, when he observed things that must be put into it that hadn't already. He occasionally changed the future that was written in the book using the Quill, but only to a certain degree. He also read ahead in the book to know the future, but only as far as he was able to understand it, for the Covenant changed language as the major language of the Cybertronians changed. He was seen to have it lying open on his desk in the times Orion Pax, and eventually Optimus Prime, visited him for advice. The Covenant foretold the Great War which, despite Alpha Trion's best efforts, ultimately came to pass. Nonetheless, as the Chronicler, Trion recorded the war's events in the Covenant. Exodus

As the Ark journeyed through the galaxy, Alpha Trion used the Covenant to keep tabs on the Autobots aboard. Exiles The Covenant eventually revealed to Alpha Trion that he would be captured by Shockwave. Aware that he could do nothing to stop this, the Prime quietly gave himself up when the time came. Among the Covenant's prophecies was a second Quintesson invasion of Cybertron, launched through the captured colony of Aquatron, which soon came to pass. When the Quintessons were booted off the planet, Alpha Trion resumed his studies of the Covenant, noting that Optimus should soon arrive on Earth. Retribution

After the war's end, Alpha Trion translated an abridged version of Covenant so as to make it fit for human consumption, though he noted that the process had resulted in some distortion of true historical events. The Covenant of Primus

Prime cartoon

In his youth, Optimus Prime had witnessed Alpha Trion using the Covenant of Primus and correctly suspected that the tome recorded future events as well as past ones. When the Great War broke out, Alpha Trion used the Covenant to foresee that Optimus and Megatron would engage in a crucial battle on the distant Earth. Seeking to give Optimus an edge in the battle, Trion emptied the Iacon Vaults of their doomsday devices and sent them to Earth. Alpha/Omega

In 2011, Optimus Prime learnt that a planetary alignment spoken of in the Covenant of Primus, one that was said to bring about doomsday, was approaching in a few days, with its projected end point being Earth. Though Arcee and Bulkhead remained skeptical, Optimus was more worried about Megatron's reaction. Indeed, the Decepticon leader believed that the Covenant referred to him as "the rising darkness", and thus became obsessed with completing his space bridge before the planetary alignment occurred. One Shall Fall

When the alignment occurred, the "rising darkness" was revealed to be Unicron, whose body had been the seed of Earth itself. As Dark Energon began raining down on Earth, the Autobots suspected that the Ancients had foreseen the magnetic pull of the forty-seven planets that had reawakened the Chaos Bringer. One Shall Rise, Part 1

When Optimus Prime claimed the Star Saber, Legacy he found a message from Alpha Trion within who explained how he'd used the Covenant to seed Earth with the Iacon artifacts. Alpha/Omega

Games

Transformers: Earth Wars

Alpha Trion, Ariel and Windstrike have a High Council meeting to discuss which Covenant of Primus prophecy Optimus Prime's disappearance in the Earth Wars related to. Hit & Run In the meeting, Ariel spoke about how Primus electrolytically etched each of the prophecies in the Covenant.Falling Apart

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Transformers: Earth Wars

Transformers Roleplaying Game

While researching the history of the Enigma of Combination, Vorath consulted the Covenant of Primus. The Enigma of Combination

Known Covenant of Primus verses

Beast Wars

• Datatrax 7.613: "And a mighty warrior came down from the sky, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his feet as pillars of fire. And the Great Dragon was cast out onto the Earth, and his followers were cast out with him."^[3]
• "And as it were a great mountain raging with fire arose from the sea."^[3]
• "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning—and the end! I am that which is, which was, and is yet to come! And you will know my name is Megatron when I lay my vengeance upon you!"^[4]
• "And the stone of their protection shall rise upward forever and ever, as they who live and war as beasts confront their final cycle."^[4]
• "And there came a hero who said: 'Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, nor the very fabric of Time.' But the hero would not prevail. Nor would he surrender."^[4]
• "In the spark of an enemy, there will be salvation. And in the darkest hour, there will be a light."^[4]

3H comics

• The Sojourner's Passage: "Cursed curiosity compelled me to stay, to observe the enemy before the machine age. And now this demands my attention! My first responsibility is to those I left behind, yet I sense what unfolds below eclipses even that which cast me away. In the name of my creator, I will re-enter the void. I will seek that light which has fallen from the forges of our history."^[5]

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

• "And the sun and its brother shall storm over the new world to reveal the beast and destroy it."^[6]
• "Do not judge a warrior by stature or action until you truly understand that which drives him."^[7]

Aligned continuity family

• "Great events find great Cybertronians. And other times, great events make great Cybertronians."^[8]
• "Humility comes before greatness, and where humility has not paved the road, greatness may not walk it."^[9]
• In Exodus, there is a 21-page excerpt from the Covenant inserted between Chapter 15 and 16. It is written by Alpha Trion and describes the early days of the war. It is also mentioned in the novel that the Covenant forbid more than one Prime at a time, that someone would take the name Megatronus, and a Prime would lead Cybertron in a time of civil war, whom Alpha Trion correctly presumed to be Optimus Prime.
• "When the 47 spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from chaos. And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness."^[10]
• "Pity my Remaining Child, for he will be cast into the Mind of My Own Creation, He shall be used to engineer Dark and Wondrous Artifices …"^[11]

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

• "The first generation will come at last, and the last will again become the first."^[12]

Beast Wars: Uprising

• Logos, Chapter 10, Verse 3:"Yea, and the leviathan would rise from the sea, and its fury would be like unto the Inferno itself."^[13]

Generations Selects Special Comic

• "And the two heroes shall make true peace a reality. But, the power of a fountain of chaos, flowing from another world, shall taint the body of one hero."^[14]

Interpretation

Beast Wars

The first six quotes above were believed by Optimus Primal and Megatron to be prophecies relating to the climax of the Beast Wars.

• The "mighty warrior" is Tigerhawk.
• The "Great Dragon" is Megatron.
• The "great mountain" was the Nemesis.
• The quote about Megatron refers to how the Megatron of the Beast Wars was, at the time, also carrying the spark of the original Megatron, and was thus "Alpha and Omega".
• The "stone of their protection" was the mountain over the Ark, which Megatron partially lifted away.
• The hero who "would not prevail, nor would he surrender" was Optimus Primal.
• The enemy whose spark brought salvation was Dinobot, who in the end betrayed his leader.

3H comics

Deciphering the Sojourner's Passage:

• The "Sojourner" in question is Apelinq, who was sent back in time to the Beast Wars.
• The "enemy" observed by the Sojourner "before the machine age" is Megatron, who conquers Cybertron back in Apelinq's original time, per the events of Beast Machines.
• The "machine age" refers to the aforementioned events of Beast Machines, which would retroactively become known as the Spark War.
• The event that "demands [the Sojourner's] attention" and "eclipses even that which cast [him] away" is Point Omega.
• Those he had "left behind", and whom the Sojourner's "first responsibility" is to, are the Wreckers, Apelinq's comrades back on Cybertron.
• The "creator" is Primus.
• The Sojourner's decisions to "re-enter the void" and "seek that light which has fallen from the forges of our history" refer to the events of Transformers: The Wreckers, in which Apelinq and the other Wreckers blast off into space ("the void") and seek out a long lost Cybertronian relic known as the "Divine Light".

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

• The "sun and its brother" are Sunstorm and Starscream.

Prime

The following quotes were believed by Optimus Prime and Megatron to be a prophecy relating to the end of the Transformers' battle on Earth.

• The "47 spheres" are a series of planets and stars which includes Earth and Cybertron. Their alignment creates gravitational distortions that awaken Unicron from his resting place.
• The "world forged from chaos" is Earth, which formed around the comatose body of Unicron after his defeat on Cybertron.
• At first, the line about "the weak" perishing seems to refer to Raf Esquivel, who is critically wounded by a Dark Energon-enhanced blast from Megatron. Later on, Megatron implies that it refers to Optimus Prime, and by extension, anyone who opposes him. After Unicron is revealed, "the weak" appears to refer to all of humanity, which is in danger of being destroyed if the Chaos Bringer fully awakens.
• The "rising darkness" refers to Unicron.

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

• The "first generation" refers to the earliest Cybertronians to come online, formed from the primordial metals of Cybertron itself, while the "last" are the Maximals and Predacons, who will replace the Autobots and Decepticons as the new dominate races on Cybertron. Cicadacon and his cohorts plan to use their transmatter to reformat many Cybertronians into a new breed—Maximals and Predacons—who, in their eyes, will be closer in purity to the aforementioned first generation of Cybertronians, essentially making the last generation a resurgence of the first generation.

Beast Wars: Uprising

Logos seems to be predicting, among other things, the events of Beast Wars: Uprising, including the enslavement of the Maximals and Predacons at the hands of the Builder Assembly, Lio Convoy's assassination of Supersonic, and Galva Convoy's Vehicon Apocalypse.

• Chapter 10, verse 3, seems to be referring to Claw Jaw, the Maximal is identified later in the story as having a squid-based alternate mode, and is described as "a horror", something a giant, angry prehistoric sea-beastie would be, and is part of a battalion of ocean-going Resistance fighters who make mince-meat of the Builder forces they're up again, likely the "fury" mentioned in the passage.

Generations Selects Special Comic

• The two heroes are Optimus Prime and Megatron, who finally make peace with each other by reforming the Cybertron Alliance in the Transformers Legends epilogue. The "power of a fountain of chaos, flowing from another world" is Unicron's Angolmois Energy that was hidden deep within the Earth by Primus during the final events of the second Kiss Players storyline. When humanity first discovers the Angolmois Energy in the aforementioned Legends epilogue, they go on to misuse it to their own benefit, which eventually leads to a conflict between the Transformers and humanity depicted throughout the Generations Selects Special Comic, a conflict that ultimately sees Megatron forced to absorb much of the Angolmois Energy into himself to save the Earth, corrupting him into the destructive body-form of "Megatron Omega".

Toys

Timelines

"...and you can read it all in the books at your local library."

• Galva Convoy (Deluxe, 2015)

For those who completed their assembly of Galva Convoy in the class, an additional Covenant of Primus accessory was given to them, based on the tome's appearance in the Beast Wars cartoon. The Covenant was handcrafted by Japanese fan Myu, and the included written materials clarified that the accessory was not endorsed by Hasbro. Pre-assembled Galva Convoys were also available for purchase, which did not include the figure's sticker sheet or additional accessories.

The Covenant of Primus can open up, as any good book should. It features a 5mm post at the base of its spine so it can be held by any compatible figure's hands.

Notes

• When Rattrap holds up the Covenant of Primus in "Nemesis Part 1" (pictured above in "Conceptual history"), Maximal writing can be seen. It reads "7 613", then "were cast out with him a cork one fork and a bowl of beans between them". This presumably follows the portion of the Covenant read by Primal, Datatrack 7.613: "And a mighty warrior came down from the sky, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his feet as pillars of fire. And the great dragon was cast out onto the earth, and his followers were cast out with him." The animators often inserted jokes into the Maximal text, so the canonical nature of this quote is dubious at best.
• This same passage is nearly a carbon copy of Revelation 10:1^[15] and 12:9^[16] found in the Bible.
• The passage about Megatron is a combination of Revelation 1:8,^[17] as well as a reference to a fictional rendition of the Bible verse Ezekiel 25:17, as quoted by Samuel Jackson in the film Pulp Fiction.^[18] The same made-up passage also serves as the motto of Onyx Primal, because BotCon 1996 organizers Men in Black Productions really liked Pulp Fiction.
• In Beast Wars, the books are small, sized for Transformers of the Beast Era. In Generations Selects, the Ark copy is drawn as large enough for Optimus Prime to read.
• It has a standard-size (not Mini-) cassette inside.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Keiyaku no Sho (契約の書, "Book of the Covenant")
• French: Pacte de Primus
• Portuguese: Aliança de Primus
• Spanish: Alianza de Primus

References