Timothy Blake Donohoo is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in Communication and minored in Creative Writing. A professional freelance writer and marketing expert, he’s written marketing copy and retail listings for companies such as Viatek. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing video games, watching documentaries and catching up on the latest Vaporwave and Electro-Swing musical releases.
The Transformers franchise has had numerous continuities over the years, with these being both drastically different and classically familiar to the original Generation 1 timeline. One of these was the so-called “Aligned Continuity,” and its foundational text has finally been revealed in full for the first time.
The basis for works such as Transformers: Prime, the Binder of Revelation inspired several parts of the Aligned Continuity. Only parts of this narrative concept were ever made public, especially since so much of it ended up changing. Now available to read online, fans can finally see what the plans were over 15 years later.
The Lost Text of Transformers’ Aligned Continuity Gets First Full Reveal
Starscream in robot mode in the Transformers: War for Cybertron game.Image via High Moon Studios
Added online by a forum user, the entire Binder of Revelation has finally been revealed for the Aligned Continuity of Transformers. This was the mythological basis for the continuity family seen in the early 2010s, which sought to go against the grain of how things had been handled up to that point. The 2000s saw several rebrands and continuities, so the Aligned Continuity was made to unite all further works under a narrative and chronological umbrella. Several elements were taken from Generation 1 and the live-action Transformers movies, along with other timelines such as Beast Wars: Transformers. Unfortunately, due to behind-the-scenes issues, cracks began to form, and by the time many projects were created, they began to diverge and contradict what was supposed to be a firm canon. The timeline was mostly seen in the cartoon Transformers: Prime and the Transformers: War for Cybertron video game duology, as well as the kid-oriented show Transformers: Rescue Bots.
Now, the Binder of Revelation is available online in full, with this coming years after only bits and pieces were released to the public. This borderline religious tome has long since been forgotten by many fans, especially since different projects were made without it in mind. This is why, for instance, Bumblebee’s appearance and characterization in the aforementioned video games was closer to G1, whereas his portrayal in the ensuing cartoons was much closer to the live-action movie series. Perhaps the most important narrative element that this document solidified for the franchise was that of the Thirteen Primes. This built upon the previously seen idea of the 13 original Transformers (first seen in some of the franchise’s comic books). These characters are now receiving several action figures of their own in the current official Transformers: Age of the Primes toy line.