Guardian Knight

Guardian Knight
General Information
Other names	Knights of Iacon
Homeworld	Cybertron (Tyran Cluster only)
Body type	Robotic
Height	Varies
Locomotion	Varies
Diet	None (fueled by energon)
Lifespan	Potentially immortal
Sapience level	Sapient
Species origin	Similar to other Cybertronians
Racial abilities	Transformation (occasionally) Combination
Behind the Scenes
Universe	Transformers

Guardian Knights (also known as the Knights of Iacon) are a subspecies of ancient medieval knight-motif Cybertronian Monoformers from the planet Cybertron.

"Seglass Ni Tonday."

―The Guardian Knights' motto

Biology

Anatomy

Guardian Knights share a similar biology to other Cybertronians, except their robot modes have a medieval knight-like motif.

Powers and abilities

Guardian Knights share many of the same abilities as other Cybertronians, primarily combining to form a combiner known as Dragonstorm.

Select Guardian Knights such as Steelbane and Skullitron possess the ability of transformation. However, because their creation predates the Cybertronian war between the Autobots and Decepticons, they may not always have this.

History

Background

The Guardian Knights came into existence as servants of the alien sorceress Quintessa. However, they would come to view her as "the Great Deceiver" upon discovering she had ulterior motives for Cybertron. Stealing her AllSpark-like power staff, they set out aboard a ship into space in hopes of finding worthy allies on another world. They eventually landed their ship on Earth, in truth the dormant form of legendary Unicron. By the late 5th Century C.E., the Guardian Knights' spaceship would be partially buried beneath the hills of England. Using Quintessa's staff, they Knights created more of their number so they would have a small army that would fare against the mad sorceress.

The Guardian Knights eventually made contact with a native human "wizard" named Merlin. Learning of their home planet of Cybertron and how it was destroyed by warfare, he promised to keep their existence a secret from his peers. In 484 AD, Merlin returned to their ship and made a heartfelt plea to their red-armored leader Stormreign, seeking aid for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in a dire battle against the Saxons. Judging that Camelot was proof of the worthiness of humankind, the Knights decided to render assistance to King Arthur's forces. Stormreign bestowed Quintessa's staff to Merlin, warning him that Quintessa (referred to as "a great evil") will come for it someday. As Merlin charged back into the battlefield, the Guardian Knights combined into Dragonstorm, a mighty three-headed gestalt dragon that easily wrought devastation against the enemies of Camelot.

In the battle's aftermath, the Knights of the Round Table forged an alliance with the Guardian Knights, beginning a heraldic order which would become known as the Order of the Witwiccans. On at least one occasion, the Knights charged into battle alongside Arthur's men. An unspecified time later, the Guardian Knights eventually moved their ship underwater somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the Knights entered a centuries-long slumber, where they would guard the tomb containing Merlin's corpse and staff, the latter of which disguised itself as a wooden staff for good measure.

However, one Knight remained online to search for a prophesied "Last Knight", that would one day be chosen as a crucial player in their next fight against Quintessa. Over the next few centuries, both the Knights of the Round Table and the Guardian Knights would fall into legend and, thanks to the efforts of the Witwiccans, Dragonstorm would be misbelieved to merely be the exaggerated story of a catapult. Merlin's lineage would persist until Viviane Wembly would become the wizard's last living descendent and the only other person besides Quintessa who would wield her ancestor's staff.

Present Day

As Quintessa began moving Cybertron's towards Earth during the early 21st Century, the Talisman Knight was shot down by the Transformers Reaction Force. This Knight laid unconscious until a group of human children investigated his ship, accidentally awaken him. After saving the children from the TRF, Cade Yeager attempted to help the dying Talisman Knight to no avail, as he was too badly wounded and leaking Energon fast. Seeing Cade's compassion as a sign he was worthy of a knight's honor, the Knight presented a Knights of Iacon talisman to him. However, he refused under the impression it was a mere trinket offered as a thank you. As Cade left, the Knight used his last moments to order the Talisman to assume an insect-like form and find its new master before he finally died.

Unfortunately, the Talisman Knight's exchange with Cade was witnessed by Barricade on behalf of Decepticon leader Megatron, who sought the talisman to find Quintessa's staff. His body was later found by TRF, which led the human government into their own search for the staff, under the pretense it was a mere weapon. Cade and Viviane would eventually be brought together by Witwiccan member Sir Edmund Burton and would learn of the Guardian Knights, their culture, and how their presence led to the formation of the Witwiccans. Following clues left by Viviane's late father, they were able to board a mode-lock Seeker disguised as the HMS Alliance alongside Bumblebee and Cogman.

Traveling to the Knights' undersea ship, they uncovered Merlin's tomb yet were oblivious to the staff's whereabouts due to its disguise. Attempting to search for some more useful than a wooden staff, Cade inadvertently woke Skullitron, a Guardian Knight who decomposed during stasis to the point of his head becoming skull-like. The disoriented Skullitron immediately began attacking the apparent intruders, claiming they were in league with Quintessa. The TRF, who had been pursuing Cade and Viviane, would open fire on Skullitron while Viviane bonded with the staff, shedding its previous disguise. While being gunned down by the TRF, a severely damaged Skullitron plunged down a chasm leading into the ship's bowels towards his presumed death.

While the TRF held Cade and Viviane at gunpoint, two more Guardian Knights suddenly awakened from stasis and attacked everyone until they were both slain by Autobot leader Optimus Prime, who was under the thrall of Quintessa. In short order, Optimus seized the staff and escaped, though he was pursued by Bumblebee, Cade, and William Lennox in an attempt to knock him back to his senses. Just as Optimus was freed from Quintessa's mind control, Megatron suddenly stole the staff and flew off just as more Guardian Knights came online. Outraged that Optimus had been manipulated by Quintessa and put in her service via a mind-control spell, the Knights beat down Optimus one-by-one until the talisman transformed into the fabled Excalibur, which Cade used to stop an Executioner Knight's blade.

Recognizing Cade as the Last Knight, the Executioner and other Knights stopped attacking and raised their swords to chant their motto. After having his hope rejuvenated by Cade, Optimus reconciled with the Knights and rallied them to help the Autobots stop Quintessa from revitalizing Cybertron by destroying Earth/Unicron. The Knights boarded a Cybertronian ship that the Auobots commandeered from the deceased Lockdown and traveled to Quintessa's base, an ignition chamber located on a hanging section of Cybertron. From the knight ship's hull, the Knights combined into Dragonstorm and took flight against Quintessa's army of Decepticons and Infernocons, destroying enemy fighters with their fire breath and dropping Optimus into battlefield so he could slay Infernocus.

In the end, the Autobots, Guardian Knights, TRF, and company emerged victorious by neutralizing the Decepticons and stopping Cybertron from consuming Earth's energy. Soon afterwards, the Knights once again formed Dragonstorm to fly alongside the Autobot ship towards the nearby Cybertron to begin reconstruction. Unbeknownst to anyone, Quintessa escaped via teleportation and has begun a new scheme to destroy Unicron, one that involve manipulating humans whilst posing as a human herself.

Gallery

Stormreign

Stormreign (toyline design)

Dragonicus

Dragonicus (toyline design)

Steelbane

Steelbane (toyline design)

Skullitron

Skullitron (toyline design)

Executioner Knight

Executioner Knight (alternate design)

Samurai Knight

Gladiator Knight

Ancient Knight #1

Ancient Knight #2

Ancient Knight #3

Ancient Knight #4

Ancient Knight #5

Dragonstorm

Dragonstorm (toyline design)

Notes

• None of the Guardian Knights are named in the movie, nor are they ever shown to have individual alt-modes. Individual names were evidently purely Hasbro's invention, as the movie would recycle Knight animation models several times. Additionally, concept art by Furio Tedeschi and Josh Nizzi never included names.
  • The red-armored Guardian Knight is identified as Stormreign due to the design of the knight's helmet from the CGI model matching the character's toy, which was part of Dragonstorm's Leader Class.
  • The battle-damaged Guardian Knight that fights Cade, Viviane, and the TRF is identified as Skullitron due to his battle damage and skull-like head matching the character's Deluxe Class toy.
• Multiple Guardian Knights employ the same model as Dragonicus, who appears as part of Dragonstorm's Leader Class toy alongside Stormreign; and Steelbane, who appears as a Deluxe Class toy that would serve as the basis for Skullitron's toy. This can make it difficult to determine which are the official characters.
• While portrayed as unaligned Cybertronians in the film, the toyline refers to both Dragonstorm and named Guardian Knights (i.e., Stormreign, Dragonicus, Steelbane, and Skullitron) as Autobots.
• Sir Edmund Burton's collection of Witwiccan memorabilia includes an excerpt of the Bayeux Tapestry, which appears to show Stormreign, Dragonicus, Steelbane, and the Executioner Knight fighting in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD.
• The phrase "Seglass Ni Tonday", which is commonly chanted by Guardian Knights, is Cybertronian for "protect the staff".
• One common misconception regarding the Guardian Knights is the total number of Knights, as both Quintessa and Sir Burton state that there are 12. Of course, this was logically correct in the past tense, as there were originally 12 knights when they stole the staff from Quintessa and arrived on Earth from Cybertron. According to Burton, this total was a parallel to the Knights of the Round Table, which was also comprised of 12 knights of Camelot. In Quintessa's base, there is an altar adorned with twelve small Guardian Knight statues.
  • Considering the Talisman Knight bleed to death after being shot by the TRF, Skullitron fell off a high ledge, and two random Knights were slain by Optimus Prime while in his Nemesis Prime persona, it is likely that the Guardian Knights expanded their roster using Quintessa's staff while hiding on Earth.
• Another common misconception with the Guardian Knights is the number of Knights needed to form Dragonstorm. During the battle between Camelot and the Saxons, Stormreign stated to Merlin that "the dragon [was his] to command". This indicated that Dragonstrom was formed by the other 11 original Knights. When Dragonstorm is formed in the present day, only Stormreign (distinguished by his red armor) and 6 other Knights are present.
  • Therefore, at least 7 Knights are required to make Dragonstorm at any given time with the highest total being 11.
• Dragonstorm has alternatively been dubbed by Hasbro to be a Duocon, most likely due to his Leader Class toy being a two-bot combiner.
• Something that goes unaddressed in The Last Knight is the relationship between the Guardian Knights and the knights mentioned by Lockdown in Transformers: Age of Extinction. In that film, Lockdown regarded Optimus Prime and the Dinobots as some of the knights he was hired to capture.
  • It is regarded by the general fandom that there are two sets of Cybertronian knights, the Guardian Knights and a second, separate group that includes Optimus and the Dinobots.
• The dragon mode for the Deluxe Class Steelbane/Skullitron mold is seemingly based on some concept art of a dragon-like ornament for the underwater ship.
• According to Nizzi's Instagram, Megatron's Cybertronian jet mode was originally designed as a fighter jet for the Guardian Knights.
• Hasbro referred to Steelbane as "the first knight" at Toy Fair 2017. However, this detail did not show up in the character's fictional depiction.