EXPOSING the KNIGHTHOOD THEME in TF:AoE

So here we go, HAIL TO THE KING and all that.

First and foremost, obviously, is Optimus Prime's upgrade...

OPTIMUS KNIGHT
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/121022_OptimusKnight_JN_V006_zpsdj5tmxrc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/300px-Transformers-_Age_of_ExtinctionOptimusPrimePoster_zpsx7h3r7bq.jpg~original

Of course, his newly-revealed status as a Knight would have been even more clear if the filmmakers had followed through more fully with the "Silver Knight" concept art for Optimus Prime's "Knight Upgrade," but almost ALL of the same knight's armor design elements are still quite apparent in the film. After all, he has his sword, his neck-guards, his skirting, etc. He even gets gauntlets and a shield along with his sword!

Which raises the question of HOW exactly he got that sword, the gauntlets, and the shield, doesn't it...???

HE PULLED A
SWORD FROM A STONE
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Transformers_4_Recognize_one_of_your_Knights_zpskdyymwqh.gif~original
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/sword-in-the-stone-o_zpstplnpprl.gif

That's right, Optimus Prime basically reenacted the Arthurian myth of the Sword in the Stone!

And what did he do next?

Oh, yeah...

HE FOUGHT A
FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Transformers-4-Age-of-Extinction-Grimlock-Fire-Breath-header_zpsr75qtjaw.jpg~origina

But, naturally, any self-respecting knight needs his stallion and the glory of combat.

So what was Prime's NEXT order of business after taming the dragon?

CHARGING INTO BATTLE
ON HIS VALIANT STEED
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Screen-Shot-2014-02-03-at-00.31.15_zps7xcjp857.png


And that same "dragon/steed" is, obviously, based on the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Latin for "Rex," of course, LITERALLY translating into "KING."

I mean...I'm just sayin'!

But I digress.

Speaking of the Dinobots, the film sees them reconceptualized instead as "legendary warriors" and, presumably, Optimus Prime's fellow Knights, a notion reflected in both their character designs AND weaponry. We see them with helmets, faceplates, spiked boots, maces, flails, etc., all of distinctly medieval, "knightly" origin.

For instance...

A DINOBOT
IN KNIGHT'S ARMOR
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/TF4ConceptArtBurt_zps2ausgfzs.jpg~original

Speaking of which...

THE KNIGHTSHIP
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/4372179-knightterminus1_zpsvlwxrbtc.jpg

IS A CROWN
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Meridies_MaxCrown_zpss3orquc1.jpg

Also, as Lockdown told Optimus, The Knightship was "built for all you knights, you great crusaders," alluding to not only the fact that Lockdown's ship (traditionally his own, personal "Nightship") was actually instead built for the Knights before being commandeered by him, but also establishing that it was SPECIFICALLY built for their "crusades," a reference to the medieval expeditions and campaigns waged by Knights.

For instance...

CRUSADING KNIGHTS
IN THEIR SHIPS
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Ships-1_zpsvvmysull.jpg


And, perhaps MOST interestingly, Lockdown mockingly welcomes a captive Optimus back to a VERY SPECIAL part of the Knightship...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/11733914_10152992366936918_1540520587_o_zpsqxeqjukj.jpg


Easily the most obscure reference the film makes to the age of chivalry is its use of the word "TEMENOS," which is an ancient term for what's essentially a temple or sanctuary, meant for communing with divinity.

Hell, even the set designers were in on the conceptual background of the Knightship's temenos! From the TF:AoE bonus features disc...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Mobile%20Uploads/WP_20160622_11_32_01_Pro_zpswweos7b3.jpg

In fact, the temenos of the Knightship seems to be in the "Supermax," converted prison/trophy-case area, where Optimus pulls the sword from the "stone" and beseeches an unseen force to "Recognize one of your knights," before being awarded his further Knight-upgrades and weaponry in response.

Interestingly, a similar dynamic is afoot with regards to Cade's own adventures. He uses a VERY SUSPICIOUS choice of words to describe his rural Texan research lab/barn...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/11725352_10152992942096918_1639574943_o_zpsrjoylvgo.jpg


In other words, it's a TEMENOS!

XD

Furthermore, it's ALSO the first of TWO temenos sites to which Optimus is dragged against his will, (not to mention repaired and/or upgraded) which serves as a "prime example," if you will, of the MANY recurring motifs echoing throughout the film.

Reiterating and cleverly solidifying the film's motif of temenos sites, Cade even says a kind of prayer while he's in his makeshift lab/barn/temenos, much like Optimus himself does in his own Knightship's temenos later. After Cade extinguishes a fire in his lab, he rather poignantly exclaims as he approaches Optimus, "God! Something in here has to make this family some money. Come on, you old wreck. Judgment day."

It's subtle and understated...but it's definitely a prayer inside a temenos!

And, as if that prayer were answered, Cade soon discovers that the truck is in fact a Transformer, from which, one way or another, he intends to reap financial gains. Then, in the process, he revives Optimus and repairs his "spark," which Cade explains humans call a "soul."

Keeping in mind that the fire within the barn/lab/temenos was sparked immediately following Cade's little moment to himself where he sees a shooting star and communes with his dearly departed one true love, and that the film ends with Optimus telling Cade to look to the stars and think of one of them as his "soul" while he's away, it's clearly not only another tidy little motif at work here but also yet another example of the Knighthood theme at work in the film!

Now, I don't want to get into the religious connotations here too much in deference to the forum's rules about such things (goofy though they may be when the movie itself raises the issue), so I'll just leave it at that and point out that I'm simply carefully explaining the film's symbolism in its own language here, with as much neutrality as possible, and that the symbolism in question does indeed connect DIRECTLY to the theme of KNIGHTS and their general worldview.

After all, medieval knights were VERY MUCH concerned with such matters. Souls, honor, love and all that. I'm sure you get the point.

But back to the Knightship for a moment, when Cade almost literally stumbles into its armory, what does he find there?

OH, HEY, IT'S A
ROUNDTABLE!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/Transformers_Age_of_Extinction_Concept_Art_SJ_M0_zpsclvmtrys.jpg~original

ANOTHER REFERENCE
TO ARTHURIAN LEGEND
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/King-Arthurs-roundtable1_zpsat4z5jlb.jpg

And, speaking of Arthurian legend, when we're introduced to K.S.I.'s own robot lab and "temple of technology," where Joshua Joyce has cracked the code of the Transformium genome, they use a VERY intriguing term to refer to it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/11539702_10152992943261918_1852564364_o_zpscdssh3we.jpg

TWICE

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/11725047_10152992367646918_11481060_o_zps9tneb5a9.jpg


Yes, the Holy Grail, the prize of Arthurian legend!

Additionally, he later refers to that "Holy Grail" as his company's "Salvation," not to mention calling his ex-girlfriend Darcy "Princess"...albeit sarcastically, lol.

And then there's the matter of the movie's OTHER "princess"...Cade's daughter, Tessa.

SPECIFICALLY,
HER CHASTITY
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/Hazekiah/maxresdefault%201_zpswotxdzks.jpg

I've got a whole separate thread planned around that and, again, the board's rules make it a little tricky to discuss...but I'd say it's already MORE THAN CLEAR that a good bit of this movie dwells upon Cade's overbearing protectiveness of his daughter's chastity, which was similarly of great concern to knights in medieval times and, ultimately, plays directly into the theme of knighthood which everyone is hopefully beginning to see is TRULY pervasive throughout this film.

But MORE on that LATER!

;)

In the meantime, I think I've pretty much made my point here, lol.

HOWEVER!

[See Following Post, lol]