lol 6 year old me was traumatized watching the movie and seeing autobots getting murdered left and right so they could introduce new characters and sell new toys

Well I don’t see any Decepticons around, but plenty of sins. Prime 1 Christ 0

Okay okay, I laughed, but let’s remember that ‘Prime’ is the honorific title given to the leader of the Autobots when they receive the Matrix of Leadership and become a conduit for Primus and the memories of the Primes who came before. /pedant

My personal headcanon is that his name was Optimothy before he became Prime. Long live Rodimus Prime.