The Covenant of Primus


 * This article is on the artifact. For the real world book, see Transformers: The Covenant of Primus.

The Covenant of Primus is one of the Artifacts of the Primes and 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.

Early History
Alpha Trion possessed the Covenant when he and the other members of the Thirteen first came into being. When he first opened it, there was text already contained within it, much of which was indecipherable. However, enough was understandable to allow him to determine why the Primes had been created: to battle the evil of Unicron.

Transformers: Exodus
Alpha Trion retained possession of the Covenant after being effectively exiled to the Hall of Records by Sentinel Zeta Prime. In its pages that recorded the future he foresaw the great roles that would be played by Megatron and his own student Orion Pax, who later became Optimus Prime.

Transformers: Exiles
Retaining the Covenant during his imprisonment under Shockwave's regime, Alpha Trion learned some of what was taking place elsewhere in the universe, including the activities of his wandering brothers Vector Prime and Nexus Prime.

Transformers: Retribution
Prior to being taken captive by Shockwave's forces, Alpha Trion hid the pages of the Covenant to keep them from him; however, one page was found by Shockwave. The Decepticon scientist hoped to use the information afforded it-and Alpha Trion himself-to unlock the secrets of Vector Sigma and create a Decepticon Matrix of Leadership. However, his efforts served instead to enable a fleet of Sharkticons to invade Cybertron. The Covenant also allowed Alpha Trion to learn of the existence of Earth, to which he sent various other artifacts in the hopes of keeping them out of the hands of the Decepticons and in hopes that they would be recovered by Optimus.

"One Shall Fall"
Optimus Prime learned that a planetary alignment spoken of in the Covenant of Primus was approaching in a few days. His teammates were skeptical of the truth in the prophecy, but 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 newest plan before the planetary alignment occurred.

Unfortunately, the prophecy's "rising darkness" was something far worse than Megatron: it referred to Unicron, whose body had been the seed of Earth itself. The Chaos Bringer's dormant consciousness had diffused into the new planet, but the gravitational forces of the planetary alignment had reawakened it; and he was not happy at all.

Background Information

 * The Covenant of Primus as an artifact was first introduced in the Beast Wars animated series. BotCon storyline associated with this line also included a group of Transformers known as the Covenant of Primus, who preceded even the first Cybertronians.