Sentinel Prime Article Rewrite

Outline</u>
I. Introduction
II. Fiction – Transformers Animated canon
III. Toys
IV. Trivia
V. Works Cited

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I. Introduction</u>
Sentinel Prime is a member of the Cybertronian Elite Guard under the command of Ultra Magnus. He was, at one time, close friends with fellow Autobot Academy cadets Elita-One and Optimus Prime, until the apparent death of Elita caused him to turn his back to Optimus. Because of this same incident, he also developed an aversion to organic life.

He transforms into a Cybertronian bulldozer, but took on the form of a snow plough for his stay on Earth; he would re-adopt this form even after going back to Cybertron. Sentinel's weapons of choice are an energy lance and the Skyboom Shield, the latter he can expand into a force field to provide cover for his comrades and thrown as a secondary weapon. Basically, he's a sort of knight in shining armor - in a "giant, alien robots from space" sort of way.

Although guilty of the occasional bad attitude and more than a little hardheadedness, he does have a good spark and cares about those he allows to be close to him.

Right now, Cybertron needs a leader, and for better or worse, that leader is you.

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- _{Optimus Prime, summing up the burden laid on Sentinel's shoulders in Season III}

II. Fiction – Transformers Animated canon</u>
At some point in his Academy training, Sentinel persuaded Elita-One and Optimus to visit the organic (and thus off limits to Autobots) world Archa Seven, where a Decepticon warship rich with energon was rumored to have been shot down during the Great Wars. The group went for the historical value of the ship and the overall value of the energon itself, but quickly found that they would be getting much more than they bargained for when confronted with a pack of alien spiders, one of which attacked Elita with its webbing. While Optimus fought off the spiders, Sentinel freed Elita; he also rescued his peers by using his shield as force field—

Go—I'll cover your retreat!

Later, when the warship's unstable energon cube supply started to explode, Elita and Optimus were further separated. This left the former to defend herself from the hoards of spiders (which lead to her transformation into the Decepticon Blackarachnia); meanwhile, several feet above (and unable to see Elita), Optimus and Sentinel met back up. Sentinel, fearing more for Elita's safety than his own, Sentinel wanted to go back for her, but Optimus insisted that there was "no time." Later, safely away from the explosions, Sentinel insisted on going back for Elita, only to be deterred when Optimus was unable to detect Elita's energy signature. Crushed, Sentinel blamed Optimus' lack of effort to save Elita for her loss, something that would taint their friendship for years to come.  

After graduating from the Autobot Academy, Sentinel was given the rank of Minor. He served in an Autobot training camp as a drill sergeant and taking the title very seriously, evident in his iron-fisted rule over his platoon (Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Longarm, Ironhide and Wasp). It was Sentinel who sent Cadet Wasp to the stockades as a traitor to the Autobot cause, and discharged Bulkhead and Bumblebee from boot camp, which resulted in their assignment to Optimus Prime's repair crew.

With the passage of time came Sentinel's commission as an Elite Guard officer and the new rank of Sentinel Prime, as the earthbound Autobots learned when Ultra Magnus and his lieutenants Jazz and Sentinel arrived on Earth to retrieve the (now disbursed) AllSpark. Still emotionally wounded from Elita's loss to organic lifeforms, Sentinel warned against close contact with the humans, none-too-subtly reminding his former friend of Elita's "fate." Tasked to quarantine the Steelhaven by way of a force field and to decontaminate Optimus Prime and his crew, Sentinel was wary of believing Optimus' story about how the AllSpark was disbursed. (As an additional note regarding the Elite Guard's time on Earth, Sentinel was the one who chose the team's Earth alternate modes.)

Sentinel accompanied Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime to Dinobot Island, and had more than a little trouble adjusting to Earth's system of driving in the process. Upon arrival on Dinobot Island, Sentinel was fully prepared to spar with the Dinobots, but was cut short when the group was called back to Detroit to help take down an army of malfunctioning Sumdac police drones. Sentinel's priorities were to protect his leader and to prevent any deviations from standard operating procedure, the latter shown when he attempted (and subsequently failed ) to arraign Optimus for "high treason for destroying the AllSpark." Ultra Magnus would later suggest to Sentinel that he take a few cues from Optimus.

Still smarting from the memories Optimus pulled back to the surface, Sentinel had trouble following this advice. During a patrol with Optimus, Sentinel was body-jacked by Henry "Headmaster" Masterson, and his head was found by Optimus sometime later. Distraught, Sentinel found himself (in addition to a fraction of his usual size) trusting Optimus to find his body without Ultra Magnus finding out. Following the successful recovery of his body, Sentinel was deeply embarrassed about the incident he and Optimus filed, but was surprised to hear Optimus cover for him, prompting him to humbly thank him.

Sentinel was one of the Elite Guard officers pulling for Optimus and his crew to return to Cybertron citing that no Decepticon energy signatures had been found anywhere on Earth. Before the issue could be settled, an AllSpark fragment was detected on an out-of-control passenger train. While Jazz and Ultra Magnus left to investigate, Optimus and Sentinel were left to one another's company, much to the latter's chagrin at being left out. Similar to before, Sentinel was wary of believing Optimus' claims that the train was a trap laid by Starscream.

Optimus tricked Sentinel into a pair of his own stasis cuffs and left to help his crew and the Elite Guard. Sentinel caught up with him shortly after the train was stopped, still unwilling to believe that the Decepticons were a factor on Earth. However, when Sentinel's doubts were dispelled when Starscream was shot down ten feet away from the Autobots. Despite having never seen a Decepticon "up close," Sentinel lasted the longest of the Autbots against Starscream's attacks, putting aside his animosity toward Optimus to defeat the Seeker.

After taking Starscream into custody, the Elite Guard departed for Cybertron; however, en route, Starscream escaped. The Elite Guard had already salvaged some of the Decepticon's flight protocols and coding for Project Safeguard, sometime later.

Shortly after the Elite Guard's return to Cybertron, Wasp (a former cadet of then Sentinel Minor) escaped from the stockades, leading his former drill sergeant on a chase through an asteroid field to a space bridge relay point. Wasp activated the space bridge, apparently warping to some unknown destination. Sentinel returned to base to report the escape, unaware that Wasp was merely hiding behind the archway.

Following Wasp's escape, Project Safeguard was completed, resulting in the first flying Autobots, the twins Jetfire and Jetstorm. Ultra Magnus placed Sentinel in charge of their training; initially, Sentinel was displeased with the task, asking, "Did I just get busted back to drill sergeant?" Ultra Magnus cited the importance of the project as his rationale, persuading him. Under Sentinel's and Jazz's tutelage, Jetfire and Jetstorm went through training in record time and were assigned to Sentinel's crew to hunt down Wasp. (In a moment of unintentional prophesy, during this timeframe, Ultra Magnus commented to Sentinel that he would "become a fine Magnus someday.")  

Once again, Sentinel found himself and his crew on Earth, searching for Wasp. When the Elite Guard caught up with "Wasp" (Bumblebee in Wasp's chassis), Bulkhead insisted that Wasp wasn't the traitor, but Longarm Prime, head of Cybertron Intel. This was confirmed when the real Wasp attacked Bumblebee and escaped.

Though Wasp eluded capture, Sentinel did capture several other Decepticons: Sunstorm,  Blitzwing, Swindle and Lugnut, all apparently single-handedly. This wasn't entirely the case, as he was making deals with the bounty hunter Lockdown. In the end, he was double crossed by Lockdown and Ramjet, Starscream's liar clone, and the topic never discussed again. At this time, the Autobots on Earth learn of Shockwave's attack on Ultra Magnus, leaving the Autobot leader in critical but stable condition—making Sentinel, as second in command, acting Magnus.

Finally Wasp is tracked down again, but was abducted by the Dinobot Swoop and taken to Blackrachnia. Optimus suspected her involvement and, having not found the way to explain Elita's "death," warned Sentinel to not follow the two to Dinobot Island. Sentinel disregarded the order and took the Jet twins to Dinobot Island. While the twins "distracted" the Dinobots, Sentinel entered the base looking for Wasp, only to be confronted by Blackarachnia. He's horrified when he learns her former identity, but is quickly distracted when Wasp emerges from Blackrachnia's transwarp energy experiment as techno-organic Waspinator.

Following a skirmish that resulted in the destruction of a major portion of Dinobot Island, Optimus suggests that Blackrachnia, who transwarped to an unknown planet with Waspinator, "sacrificed herself to save [them]," Sentinel retorts that she merely used Waspinator to bug out, and leaves the island with what appears to be a very heavy spark.

Having effectively failed their mission, the Elite Guard detail prepares to return to Cybertron. Optimus apologizes to Sentinel for never telling him about Elita-One, observing that he didn't want to reopen old wounds. Sentinel accepted the apology before adding his own ("Sorry we ever went to that stupid planet in the first place.") and saying that it was "too late for apologies." Optimus reminded him that for better or worse, Cybertron needed a leader… him. Sentinel squeezes Optimus' shoulder before leaving his earth-bound counterpart for Cybertron.

On the way to Cybertron, an energy surge from a nearby nebula pulled Swindle out of his transformation paralysis, allowing him to return to robot mode and free his fellow prisoners (Lugnut, Sunstorm, Blitzwing and Ramjet), take control of the Steelhaven and capture Sentinel, Jazz and the Jet twins.

Before being captured, Sentinel managed to get a distress call out to Earth—which was picked up on Bulkhead's completed space bridge. Optimus picked up on the signal and went to their aid (by way of Swindle's personal transwarp frequency), freeing them and teaming up with Jazz to recapture Sunstorm, Blitzwing and Ramjet; Swindle and Lugnut managed to escape. Sentinel returned Optimus to Earth, and offered him his place in the Elite Guard, but Optimus politely declined to remain on Earth. Regardless of that, and of any previous animosity between them, Sentinel saluted Optimus before returning to Cybertron, where he was met with cheers of approval from the crowd s he took command of Cybertron.

His last on-screen appearance was in the crowd cheering for Optimus and his crew for having defeated Megatron. In The AllSpark Almanac II, it is revealed that season four, had it been fully produced and aired, would have detailed the death of Ultra Magnus, and Sentinel becoming Magnus of Cybertron in the three part season opener, "The Trial of Megatron." There is also concept art of Sentinel Magnus.

The AllSpark Almanac II also included information about Sentinel's voice actor, Townsend Coleman. This information indicated that Mr. Coleman loved the interplay between the two Primes, as well as playing up their love / hate relationship. Mr. Coleman describes Sentinel as "the ultimate straight arrow," electing to let the humor of the situation come from sources other than his character, and would have been eager to explore Sentinel's role as Ultra Magnus' heir had season four gone into production.

III. Toys
Sentinel Prime (Deluxe class, released 2008)
Accessories: Skyboom shield, energy lance
True to the cartoon, Sentinel turns into a snow plow, and is armed in robot mode with his shield and lance. These accessories connect by sliding the lance through the shield handle and can be clipped onto his vehicle mode.

IV. Trivia
Sentinel's blue color scheme, antennae and pronounced chin, and especially his voice actor, Townsend Coleman, all add up to a more than a slight reference to the 1990s cartoon The Tick. At BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that the characters was designed after Coleman was cast. The writers certainly had a field day with the connection, giving him lines reminiscent of The Tick such as "Energon-y goodness" and "Primer Prime."

Also at BotCon 2008, Art Director Derrick Wyatt confirmed that the character was initially conceived to be the Transformers Animated incarnation of Rodimus Prime; however, this decision was reversed when the series creators noted that the idea of casting Rodimus with the personality they had in mind wouldn't sit well with the fans.

Mr. Wyatt also relayed previously unknown design trivia: At the time "Transform and Roll Out!" went into production, only Sentinel's head had been fully designed. Even then, the design seen in the episode was not the finalized one—in his subsequent appearances, Sentinel's head was shorter and squatter, with a more pronounced chin. Also in this episode, he had extra details on his shoulders, which would vanish in his first full-body appearance in "Along Came a Spider."

Sentinel's fighting style, using the Skyboom shield as a weapon, is a fairly direct reference to superhero Captain America. More coincidentally, one of Captain America's many monikers is Sentinel of Liberty.

Though a character named Sentinel Prime have been used or shown in two comic book continuities or mentioned on the backs of toy packaging, this is the first time a Sentinel Prime has been seen in a cartoon and released as a toy.

He's the first Sentinel Prime to not to die in the opening shots of the Great War.  

The Skyboom shield, and its ability to crack under strain) may be a nod to the Maximal's auto defense system in Beast Wars

V. Works Cited</u>
<sub>DiTillio, Larry, and Bob Forward. "Predacons Rising." Transformers Animated. Cartoon Network. 11 Apr. 2009. Television.

Fogel, Rich. "The Elite Guard." Transformers Animated. Dir. Matt Youngberg, Irineo Maramba, and Yutaka Kagawa. Cartoon Network. 12 Apr. 2008. Television.

Griffin, Marsha. "Endgame, part II." Transformers Animated. Cartoon Network. 23 May 2009. Television.

Griffin, Marsha. "Mission Accomplished." Transformers Animated. Dir. Irineo Maramba and Yoshio Chatani. Cartoon Network. 26 Apr. 2008. Television.

Robinson, Andrew. "Five Servos of Doom." Transformers Animated. Cartoon Network. 4 Apr. 2009. Television.

Ryan, Michael. "Autoboot Camp." Transformers Animated. Dir. Ben Jones, Christopher Berkeley, and Shunji Oga. Cartoon Network. Television.

Ryan, Michael. "Decepticon Air." Transformers Animated. Cartoon Network. 2 May 2009. Television.

Ryan, Michael. "The Return of the Headmaster." Transformers Animated. Dir. Ben Jones and Shunji Oga. Cartoon Network. 19 Apr. 2008. Television.

Seibenaler, Eric, and Marty Isenberg. "Rise of Safeguard." Comic strip. Transformers Animated. 2008. Print.

"Sentinel Prime (Animated)." Web. 19 Jan. 2010. <transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Se…>.

Sorenson, Jim, and Bill Forster. The AllSpark Almanac. San Diego, California: IDW, 2009. Print.

Sorenson, Jim, and Bill Forster. The AllSpark Almanac, Vol. II. San Diego, CA: IDW, 2010. Print.

Younberg, Matt, Irineo Maramba, and Yutaka Kagawa, dirs. "Along Came a Spider." Transformers Animated. Cartoon Network. 16 Feb. 2008. Television</sub>