Optimus Prime looks back on his life and remembers...

As Orion Pax slowly comes online in an Iaconian hot spot, the blacksmith supervising his forging is impressed by his size and calls the ancient storyteller Alpha Trion to bear witness. Trion agrees there seems to be something special about Pax; that he is a 'bot who will be "worth weaving tales about." With some difficultly, Pax pulls free of the sparkfield, only for the first thing he witnesses to be the blacksmith mistreating the smaller 'bot who transforms into his medical equipment.

Rebuilding on Earth continues in the wake of Unicron's attack. Arcee and Marissa Faireborn talk about the future—about a "ceremony" Thundercracker is attending, about an upcoming funeral Arcee is going to miss—and Arcee tells Marissa the complicated story of her gender transition and how she's moved past the hardships she faced to find a job, friends, and a lover in Aileron.

Hoping to fight injustice, Orion Pax joins the Iaconian police force. During training, he is given his first gun by Kup, who is amused by his wide-eyed innocence.

While Jazz oversees clean-up and rebuilding in San Francisco, Sof?a Orozco arrives on the scene to film a new story. Brad Emory guest stars to continue berating Cybertronians and their presence on Earth, and Sof?a allows him to speak before approaching Jazz for his point of view. Jazz merely tells her he's not here for thanks, he's just here to do what's right.

Orion Pax and Ironhide come upon fellow officer Outback roughing up Ravage for drawing graffiti. Puzzled by the symbol he has scratched into a wall, Pax questions Ravage as to its meaning, but Outback kicks the cat-bot and explains that it's the mark of the "Decepticons."

Unsure what to make of themselves on Earth and thinking they might restart their old Chic Chips business, brothers Tracks and Needlenose go to Pyra Magna, the newly-appointed Mistress of Flame, for some advice. Pyra is still getting used to her new role as spiritual adviser and isn't much help; Needlenose isn't surprised, regarding her as just another 'bot who abandoned everything they believed in, prompting Pyra to testily explain that she is attempting to bring new guidance to the Way of Flame in this post-Prime era, before all but kicking them out so she can prepare for the coming funeral.

Repeated confrontations with the Decepticons send Orion down a dark path, as his fury builds over the subversive, criminal acts they partake in, which overshadow their justifiable anti-authoritarian roots. Seeing Pax's anger when he apprehends Swindle in a simultronic bust, Jetfire reminds him of the systemic oppression that gave rise to the Decepticons in the first place and rebukes him for having lost sight of that and becoming "part of the problem."

In Little Cybertron, Rum-Maj and Wreck-Gar watch as graves are dug for all those who perished during the conflict with Unicron. The cost of victory weighs heavily on Rum-Maj to the point she is unsure if it was even a victory at all; Wreck-Gar opines that there aren't any victories in life because it goes on regardless, with or without you, and you just have to do your best for as long as you're around.

When Megatron extends an offer to Orion Pax to meet with him and talk, Orion discusses the matter with his closest allies. Bumblebee thinks Pax should do it, in hopes that it will bring unity, but Ironhide disagrees, labeling all Decepticons murderers. Pax sides with 'Bee, telling Ironhide it's a chance to move past what has been and change the future for the better.

In Africa, a group of poachers track a herd of elephants who have been displaced due to debris from Unicron landing on their grazing lands. Before the criminals can open fire on the animals, Buzzsaw swoops in to stop them. Acting in the deceased Soundwave's name, he decides that his old friend would understand if he made it so the poachers can't hurt anyone ever again...

Following Pax's transformation into Optimus Prime, he suc

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