Star Harvester
From Transformers Wiki
| "Harvester" redirects here. For other meanings of the term, see Harvester (disambiguation). |
When the AllSpark runs low on energy, only the destruction of a star can replenish it. In order to harness the power of stars, workers in service to the AllSpark built great machines called Star Harvesters.
Contents |
Fiction
Live-action film series
IDW movie comics
In the distant past, the mysterious relic known as the AllSpark cube created life on the planet Cybertron and terraformed its surface to make the world suitable for habitation for its creations, the Thirteen Primes. However, this effort depleted the AllSpark, and the power from a star was the one thing that could re-energize it. The Thirteen could travel dimensions, but they needed help locating stars and properly utilizing stellar energy. The cube created a servant race of transforming workers who would seek out stars and build devices called Star Harvesters to aid in collecting the solar energy. The Thirteen ruled these "Transformers" with their descendants, known as the Dynasty of Primes, protecting Cybertron and the AllSpark while exploring the galaxy and searching for stars to harvest. The Primes recognized that the Star Harvesters could have devastating consequences for worlds without stars, so they set out with a single rule: Never take a star from a life-giving world. To further prevent misuse, the Primes guarded the Matrix of Leadership created by the AllSpark, which would serve as the key for the Harvesters.
One "Seeker" discovered a suitable star for their purpose and led his masters and the builders to the third planet of its star system. The builders constructed the Harvester and prepared to drain the Sun's energy, but it was discovered that this world contained life. Twelve of the Primes refused to utilize the Harvester, for the process would destroy this world. However, the remaining being felt no such obligation to protect life and merely wanted all of the AllSpark's energy for himself. The Prime killed eleven of his brothers, but the last stole the Matrix and hid it in a tomb. The rogue Prime, now known as The Fallen, then returned to Cybertron and destroyed the rest of the Dynasty, along with the sarcophagi of his brothers to prevent their return, but he expended much of his energy and withdrew to his own sarcophagus to heal. It was here that he discovered that his twelve brothers could still act, for they sealed him in his sarcophagus. The Dynasty of Primes passed into the realm of myth, while the Harvester left on Earth was eventually hidden by the native sentient inhabitants. When Optimus Prime launched the AllSpark into space, the Cube began searching for a planet with a Harvester. Defiance #4 Revenge of the Fallen #3
Thousands of years later, Decepticons under the command of Soundwave arrived on Earth in search of the Harvester. Alliance #2
Revenge of the Fallen film
The Seven Primes came to Earth around 17,000 BC. Although they had sworn never to take a life in their pursuit of energon, one of their kind hated the human inhabitants of the planet and was going to activate the Great Machine until his brothers stopped him by stealing the Matrix of Leadership needed to power it. They sealed it in a tomb made of their own bodies.
In 2009 AD, The Fallen Prime returned to Earth, seeking to use his machine two years after the AllSpark's apparent destruction. Sam Witwicky uncovered the tomb and recovered the Matrix, which he intended to use to resurrect Optimus Prime, the only one who could kill The Fallen. Devastator excavated the machine from the Great Pyramid of Giza before he was destroyed, and The Fallen snatched the Matrix to activate his machine, but Optimus had returned, and he combined with Jetfire to destroy the Harvester. Revenge of the Fallen
The Last Knight film
The remains of the machine along with the Great Pyramid of Giza were destroyed by a moving fragment of Cybertron when it crashed into the pyramid. The Last Knight
2005 IDW continuity
A team led by Skyquake was sent to the Skomiloch Territories to put down local resistance to the Decepticons' solar-harvesting efforts. Snare's personnel evaluation
Beast Wars: Uprising
The Book of Logos mentioned a Prime finding "both Cube and Harvester" on the third planet of an unidentified system. Derailment
Deluge cited the Star Harvester as being one of the historical examples of Cybertronians being "noisy". The Inexorable March
Games
Transformers: Battle for the Matrix
Transformers: Battle for the Matrix
Revenge of the Fallen mobile game
The Decepticons sought the Matrix of Leadership so they could reactivate the "Great Machine". Revenge of the Fallen (Glu)
Notes
- The Star Harvester is never actually referred to by name in the Revenge of the Fallen movie or any of the films released after it. It is only ever referred to, by Jetfire, as "a great machine", "that deadly machine", or simply "that machine". Likewise, the movie's novelization names it as the "Great Machine", uppercased properly like so. The more formal name of "Star Harvester" originates from the tie-in comics released for Revenge of the Fallen by IDW Publishing.
- Yeah, it's the same idea as the Generation 1 cartoon's Solar Needle. That doesn't make it a reference!
