WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Transformers: War for Cybertron -- Earthrise, now streaming on Netflix.
In the first chapter of Netflix's Transformers: War for Cybertron trilogy, Optimus Prime seemed very lost as he searched for answers on how to cure Cybertron. The battle between his Autobots and the Decepticons took a toll on him in Siege, especially as he still felt he could redeem Megatron. But the loss of Alpha Trion and Ultra Magnus, Elita slipping away from him and the Guardians being absconded from the war left him making rash choices. This culminated in him chucking the Allspark through the space-bridge and scurrying around the cosmos, hoping to find it. Now, come the second chapter in Earthrise, a dark pall has been cast over the leader as the series foreshadows his most sinister turn: becoming Nemesis Prime.
Optimus get lost in the dark dimension called the Dead Universe where he meets Sky Lynx, an Autobot legend who's repenting for trying to steal the Matrix of Leadership. Lynx has changed his power-hungry ways, but he senses familiar chaos and darkness in Optimus as well, which the Cybertronian has been fending off as he doesn't want to kill Megatron. Lynx warns him not to let this consume him, but he fears that Optimus may do something with the Matrix, or if he loses it, go off the edge.
The latter actually comes true as Megatron takes the Matrix which means Optimus might become a bit more extreme. Signs of this happened when he pulled a gun and tried to kill Megatron, which connects to moments before when Lynx gave him his final warning. Prior to Optimus escaping the Dead Universe, he was shown visions of possible futures as this realm can bend space and time. Optimus saw his dead robot shell as in the 1986 animated movie when Megatron killed him, and then a reborn version in smoke with red eyes.
This reborn version is Nemesis Prime, the evil Optimus, which suggests Optimus might either turn into something more to prevent his and his allies' deaths and to end the Decepticons. Alternatively, he might be reprogrammed after his death, in which he could hunt both factions down. The show has a tendency to alter the source material, so rather than Nemesis Prime being a vile clone, it's most likely Optimus will walk a dark path as Lynx spoke of, obsessed with finding the Allspark and rescuing his homeworld from tyranny.
The fact Shockwave is also experimenting on sparks and corrupting them could mean this could be used as a weapon against Optimus too. He is reaching that breaking point where he wants to embrace his inner hatred and take out anyone he sees as a renegade, which could end up being Bumblebee and his colleagues. Lynx fears if he follows this road, he may become even worse than Megatron without the Matrix.
Developed by Rooster Teeth Studios, Transformers: War for Cybertron - Earthrise features the voice talents of Jake Foushee as Optimus Prime, Jason Marnocha as Megatron, Linsay Rousseau as Elita-1, Joe Zieja as Bumblebee, Frank Todaro as Starscream, Rafael Goldstein as Ratchet, Keith Silverstein as Jetfire, Todd Haberkorn as Shockwave & Red Alert, Edward Bosco as Ultra Magnus & Soundwave, Bill Rogers as Wheeljack, Sophia Isabella as Arcee, Brook Chalmers as Impactor, Shawn Hawkins as Mirage, Kaiser Johnson as Ironhide, Miles Luna as Teletraan I & Cliffjumper and Mark Whitten as Sideswipe & Skywarp. The series is now available on Netflix.