Transformers: [SPOILER]'s Rise Of The Beasts Death Teases A 'Dark' Possibility
Contains spoilers for "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"
As the seventh installment in the live-action "Transformers" film franchise, "Rise of the Beasts" needs to have a few surprises up its sleeves to keep audiences invested. The new movie accomplishes this pretty much right away in the first battle between the Autobots and the Terrorcons. Not only does Scourge (Peter Dinklage) wind up with half of the Transwarp Key by the end, but they also kill fan-favorite Bumblebee in the process. It's an intense development, especially seeing how he was the star of his own spin-off film and appeared in the Michael Bay "Transformers" movies, which are presumably in the same universe as "Rise of the Beasts."
Fortunately, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and his team have the foresight to carry Bumblebee's corpse around with them on their adventure, and when they go to Peru, they find the mountains are filled with Energon. It's not enough to revive Bumblebee at that time, but once the final climactic battle kicks off, the ensuing explosion is enough to jumpstart the Energon and resurrect Bumblebee. He makes a triumphant entrance onto the battlefield, set to LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out."
Bumblebee gets to live another day, but his revival may come as a surprise to long-time "Transformers" fans. And it opens up the possibility that it wasn't Energon at all and was instead something far more sinister that could function in further sequels.
Energon has been used in resurrections before (but that's not what it usually does)
Energon has been around pretty much as long as "Transformers" itself. It's the all-encompassing fuel source of Cybertron. It not only functions as their primary food source, but it's been used as a power source for weapons as well as currency. It's a catch-all item that can take on many forms based on the needs of the plot.
It should even be familiar to people whose only understanding of "Transformers" comes from the live-action films. The AllSpark cube introduced in 2007's "Transformers" is one source of Cybertron's Energon that landed on Earth when Optimus Prime wanted to keep its power away from Megatron (Hugo Weaving). Interestingly enough, after Megatron is killed in the first "Transformers" due to the AllSpark getting shoved into his Spark, he's revived in "Revenge of the Fallen" thanks to a small fragment from the AllSpark that still contained Energon-generating properties.
Energon usually exists as food or electricity. It's even the blood found in Autobots that occasionally squirts out after sustaining a nasty injury. And while Energon was used to revive Megatron before, it's still surprising that's how it was used for Bumblebee. And it's possible there's another substance out there that could put the Autobot in harm's way.
Could Bumblebee have been revived with Dark Energon?
As its name suggests, Dark Energon is the polar opposite of good, old-fashioned Energon. It's a corrupting substance that makes anyone who ingests it more powerful and aggressive. There's also an addictive property where the Dark Energon user has to continually take more and more of the material or else they'll descend into madness and eventually die. Also, like Energon, this substance has a myriad of uses, from corrupting Autobots to reviving the dead.
Dark Energon was featured prominently in the 2010 series, "Transformers: Prime," where it was used to bring the dead back as Terrorcons, which just so happen to be the bad guys in "Rise of the Beasts." We even see their corrupting properties when one of Scourge's attacks hits Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), gradually turning her evil. Dark Energon's abilities are on full display, so it may be possible Bumblebee got a taste of it when he was brought back to life.
It's possible the Decepticons tainted the Energon in "Revenge of the Fallen" to bring Megatron back to life. He was already evil, so no one would've noticed anything differently if he was brought back with Dark Energon. However, since regular Energon isn't typically used to resurrect Autobots, it begs the question of whether that was indeed plain Energon or if it could've been the other variety. If it was the latter, Bumblebee could be secretly corrupted and descend into madness in a prospective sequel. Potentially, the Autobots may have to find a MacGuffin cure to restore Bumblebee back to sanity, introducing new story threads for future installments.
Then again, Energon is such a nebulous plot device it can do pretty much anything. And with that final scene, there may be more than enough for a "Rise of the Beasts" sequel to follow.