IDW - Transformers #43

Title: End of Time

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova, Juan Samu, Ed Pirrie & Blacky Shepherd

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz & Heather Breckel

Letters by: Jake M. Wood & Nathan Widick

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

The battle for survival I'd in full swing

Outside Darkmount, the Autobots are fighting off the Insecticlones, with the scientists trying to get one live sample, to plant a spike with a data bomb in it for their big plan.

Seeing the Hugh swarm of Insecticlones approaching the city, forcing Termagax to sacrifice her mobile "House" by sending it into the swarm, and overloading the power core, taking out a large chunk of the swarm.

At the Insecticon hideout, in a dead Titan, Novastar's team infiltrate the facility, fighting off the remaining Insecticlones in the facility, and make their way to the Insecticons themselves.

In the hub of the Titan, the Insecticons are gorging themselves on their clones, and overenergizing themselves, allowing the Autobots to easily ambush them, and Novastar implants a receiver for the data bomb into Bombshell's head.

Whilst they are waiting for the data bomb to work, they fight off the remaining Insecticlones.

Meanwhile, in the wilderness, Optimus and his team fight back the Rust Worms, who are still encroaching upon them, with Jhiaxus' forces still boxing them in.

When all hope seems lost, the Insecticlones fly past the Autobots, who are now devouring the Rust Worms, as the data bomb reprogrammed them to do, mostly solving both world-eating problems.

Soon, Optimus and his crew head through the desert towards Darkmount, when they are encountered by Skywarp, who teleports in, riding an Imploder, the most dangerous Cybertronian weapon ever, and tells them to wait there, until Megatron comes to speak to them.... 

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck 

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Kup - Pickup Truck

Ironhide - Van

Chromia - Car

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Subsea - Submarine

Pipes - Truck

Backstreet - Race Car

Sideswipe - Car

Bumper - Car

Strongarm - Police Van 

Vibes

Stakeout - Police Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Highbrow - Helicopter

Perceptor

Blaster

Hound - Jeep

Road Rage - Flying Car

Tap-Out - Winged Hovercraft

Novastar - Car

Smokescreen - Car

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Springer - Car/Helicopter

Blades - Helicopter

Cromar - Jet/Weapons Embankment

Javelin - Car

Other Autobot Soldiers

Glyph - Car (Mentioned)

Jumpstream - Car (Mentioned)

Scattershot - Jet (Mentioned)

Other Technobots (Mentioned)

Autobot Fliers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Strika - Battle Tank

Obsidian - Dual Propeller Plane

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Nova Storm - Jet

Ion Storm - Jet

Acid Storm - Jet

Bombshell - Boll Weevil

Skrapnel - Stag Beetle

Kickback - Locust

Red Wing - Jet

Windsweeper - Jet

Thundercracker - Jet

Other Seekers - Jets

Other Cybertronian

Termagax - Van 

Skywarp - Jet 

"House" Self-Destructed

Mountain Titan Long Dead

Insecticlone Swarm Reprogrammed to Devour Rust Worms, Many Destroyed

Prima (Flashback Only)

Liege Maximo (Flashback Only)

Solus Prime (Flashback Only)

Megatronus (Flashback Only)

The Firstforged (Flashback Only)

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback Only)

Sentinel Prime - Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Codexa (Flashback Only)

Big Bang (Flashback Only)

Halonix Maximus (Flashback Only)

Gaidora - Dragon (Flashback Only)

Turbofoxes (Flashback Only)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Other Primes (Mentioned)

Proxima (Mentioned)

Froid - Jet (Mentioned)

Lodestar - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Undergoing Repairs

Titan Sparks (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Other

Rust Worms Being Devoured by Insecticlones

Notes

• This is the finale issue of the main Transformers series, with Wars End #4 and The Fate of Cybertron to wrap up the series afterwards.
• Among the feral Turbofoxes in the flashback is Gaidora, a Predacon from the Aligned continuity, implying that the prehistoric dragon-like Predacons may have existed in Cybertron's past like in that continuity.
• Cromar combines with Javelin as a weapons embankment, much like how his Siege toy is able to (though since Javelin hasn't had a recent toy, she technically can't weild him :p) 
• We see "House" destroyed this issue, but we never learned what exactly it was. I still believe it was a hidden Titan Spark or some very advanced A.I. that was an artificial Cybertronian (like Springer in IDW1)
• We don't see the mind controlled Skystalker in the Insecticon hideout, possible meaning, in their feeding frenzy, they may have devoured him.
• Even though Skywarp appears to be holding the Autobots hostage at the end for the Decepticons. I believe he's just fueling the chaos more, rather than trying to help Megatron here.
• Skywarp steals the Imploder he is seen riding this issue in Wars End #4, which was released shortly after this issue was released.
• Smokescreen admits that he doesn't remember who he works for anymore, as he's been moved around, behind the scenes so much, he just does what he feels is right in the situation.

IDW - Transformers #37

Title: Darkness, Once Gazed Upon, Part One

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Winston Chan & Guido Guidi

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assist by: Ed Pirrie

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime meet with the Immersant Codexa, who relates how they learned of Exarchon's altered state during the original war, but by that time it had cost them many lives, including those of Cyclonus' team. Optimus asks his mentor if she thinks Exarchon is back, and she, connected to the many sparks of the planet, agrees that it is likely, even conjuring the name Ruckus as a potential victim of his...

Back in Iacon, Cyclonus barges into Swindle's bar, to see a fully revived Ruckus, claiming to have recovered from his near-death state, and is now learning what he's missed. He tries to question him about what happened, but the new Decepticon seems uninterested in talking to him.

Swindle ushers Cyclonus out, since he's not a Decepticon, and might get his place shut down by Megatron. Cyclonus leaves, but is getting suspicious by these recent miraculous recoveries...

Magnus and Prime start to leave Codexa's chamber, when Magnus notices that the entrance has been shut, despite him leaving it open, leading to him leaving, ready to fight, immediately finding a Decepticon crew led by Soundblaster holding the rest of the guards at gunpoint.

The Autobot general smashes through them, freeing the other Autobots, allowing them to defeat the Decepticons, and distracting them enough to allow Optimus to escape with the rest of his guards 

Ultimately, Magnus is forced to be left behind, leading to him being knocked out, and taken towards Iacon, for Megatron to deal with him later. Shockwave then orders Soundblaster, over the communicators, to seal Codexa's chamber, so Optimus cannot consult with her again...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport Captured by Decepticons

Ironhide - Van

Groove - Motorcycle

Grotesque - Winged Beast

Backstreet - Car

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Slipstream - Jet

Shadow Striker - Car

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy 

Roughstuff - Truck

Astrotrain - Trackless Train/Space Shuttle

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Hyperdrive - Car

Blackjack - Car

Tracer - Helicopter

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Swindle's Bar Patrons

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Voice Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Car/Gun/Winged Beast (Mentioned)

The Threefold Spark

Exarchon - Jet (Image)

Clone-Drone Soldiers - Jets (Flashback) Dead

Turmoil - Tank (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet 

Swindle - Van

Codexa Immersant, Sealed into Chamber

Other Immersants 

Paragon - Treaded Vehicle (Flashback) Captured by Turmoil

Provoke - Motorcycle (Flashback) Shot in Chest, Infected by Exarchon off-panel 

Gridlock - Gun-Mounted Vehicle (Flashback) Kill by Headshot, by Unknown Weapon

Highfire - Jet (Flashback) Killed off-panel

Grudge - Truck (Flashback) Killed off-panel

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback)

Highbrow - Helicopter (Flashback)

Dai Atlas - Drill Tank (Flashback)

Quake - Tank (Flashback)

Brawn - Van (Flashback)

Seekers - Jets (Flashback)

Other War Cybertronian's (Flashback)

Flatline - Van (Mentioned)

Strika - Battle Tank (Mentioned)

Croaton - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Dead

The Titans - Titan Ships (Mentioned)

Strika's Heavies (Mentioned)

Turmoil's Prisoners (Mentioned)

Other

Exarchon's "Re-Makers" (Mentioned)

Neutronians (Mentioned) Mostly Extinct, due to Turmoil

Rust Worms (Mentioned)

Notes

• With Cyclonus' team being shown in colour for the first time properly here, it makes it a lot easier to figuring out what their alternate modes are. So I have made my guesses based on these in the character list above.
• Provoke's eyes are shown to be yellow in the flashback scenes, while the version of her seen in the present day has red eyes, making it quite clear those are a side effect of Exarchon's body snatching. Interestingly though, when we see an image of Exarchon later this issue, we see his eyes were blue...
• Optimus theories here that the person he speaks to when he meets with the Immersant Codexa is not actually her, but the collective consciousness of Cybertron's sparks, possibly the afterlife.
• There's a mostly grey scale jet transformer hanging around in the command room when Nominus was being briefed on Exarchon's abilities, he never speaks or makes much notice of himself, but he seems too detailed for just a background character...I think that may be one of Exarchon's bodies...
• We learn here what has been predicted already, Exarchon is able to take over another Cybertronian's spark, overwriting it, and can possess multiple bodies at once, we do learn here though that once possessed, the process seems to be irreversible, and he is limited to controlling three bodies at any one time.
• Cyclonus previously claimed that he lost track of Provoke's body after her apparent death, but we learn here that he was dragged away before he could recover her body, before Strika's Heavies could arrive to finish the battle.
• Roughstuff is shown to be Decepti-branded now, he was a part of the Rise originally, but was arrested before being branded, and allied with Swindle's crew. The latter is shown here, but I can't see a Decepticon badge on him, meaning he's probably still unaligned, despite his bar being Decepticon-only now.
• Ruckus, really Exarchon, is shown to have joined the Decepticons, most likely to try and spread his influence again, and either recruit new soldiers or just cause trouble.
• Soundblaster is shown to be able to hold Cassettes in his chest, an ability that his mould-mate Soundwave hasn't been shown to have yet in this continuity.
• Ultra Magnus, in his Siege body, is being captured by the Decepticons and brought to Megatron? I sure hope this goes better than it did in the War for Cybertron cartoon...

IDW - Transformers (2019) #6

Title: Orion Pax: Free Fall

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Beth McGuire-Smith

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Orion Pax comes to meet with Codexa, to try and speak with her about something he plans to do, but she, having become part of Cybertron, is having a hard time concentrating, but remembers Orion, but also Megatron, remembering that they were friends..

Orion remembers back to two megacycles earlier, following the war with the Threefold Spark, that he helped Megatron trying to recover a buried statue of their creator god, Primus, when a hover trailer loses control and almost bashes into them. Megatron controls the crash, whilst Orion keeps hold of Primus, and the two work together to keep it all together...

A long time later, the Winged Moon is completed, and Orion bumps into Megatron there, where Orion asks him why he didn't tell him that he was running for a senatorial position, especially for a controversial party like the Ascenticons. Megatron in turn questions Orion's allegiance to the Autobots, and they head into the Tether to go back to the surface. On the way down, Orion says that he is going to leave planet for a while to explore the colonies before taking Codexa's place as head archivist, which leads Megatron to manually turn off the elevator and leaves it, encouraging Orion to join him in the atmosphere.

The two admire the view of their homeworld from afar, and Megatron hads his friend a levitator, and leads him to join him in freefalling from the sky to Cybertron's surface.

Megatron's levitator works, but Orion's fails for him, and he falls to the surface, luckily landing in a lagoon, relatively unharmed. Megatron is happy and asks if Orion's spark is running faster and brighter from the fun, but Orion wonders if Megatron is a bit mad, which offends his old friend, and tells Orion to leave for his journey through the stars, as he'll be here, where the future will be built up...

Codexa finishes remembering about Megatron and Orion Pax, comparing Megatron to Exarchon, the one who led the Threefold Spark, which Orion doesn't want to believe. 

Orion asks for permission to do something that could get someone hurt, and could be seen as a small betrayal to others, to which Codexa remembers that Orion was always so formal, and never let himself be, and hid his true feelings...seemingly leading Orion to his decision....

Characters

Autobot

Orion Pax - Truck

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Ascenticon

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Termagax (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Codexa Immersant with Cybertron

Winged Moon Construction Crew (Flashback Only)

Post War Repair Crews (Flashback Only)

Primus (Statue Only)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Constructicons (Mentioned)

Exarchon (Mentioned)

The Threefold Spark (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue follows the end of issue 3 of the series, where Orion starts his conversation with Codexa (why this story was released 3 issues later is anyone's guess though, since this story doesn't seem to indicate any of the plot from issues 4 and 5 though)
• This is the first issue of the new continuity to use only one artist throughout all the different story locations/threads. ALSO, it is a new artist to the series!
• This issue gives us a big dose of Cybertronian measurements of time, so I decided to ask the writer if he could confirm what the dates would translate as by our standards. A cycle is a day, but is shorter than an Earth day, a Kilocycle would be a Cybertronian year, but as the name suggests is actually around 1000 Cycles long, and a Megacycle is a millennium, or 1000(ish) Megacycles. Answer here
• The issue begins with an abbreviated version of the Nominus Edict, which, as could be surmised from the previous issues mainly covers the restriction of Energon, the founding of new colonies and birth of new Cybertronians. It also states that non integral weapons are banned on Cybertron....so...how did Quake use his massive cannon last issue?
• Nominus Prime is also confirmed to be an Autobot, and the former head of the Autobot party, before Sentinel, who is the current one.
• Due to the rebuilding process and general destruction, we can assume that the war with the Threefold Spark ended about 2000 Cybertronian years ago (from the context of the "present" being the main setting of the series, and not the real world present day), which would be approximately 6000 Earth years in the past.
• We learn here that Megatron was a miner, and gladiator before his senatorial position, and Orion was an archivist. Both being the roles held by the characters in the Aligned continuity (Megatron was also a miner in IDWv1, and Orion was an archivist in Dreamwave, but as Optronix)
• The statue of Primus briefly seen being rescued by Orion and Megatron is based on his mythical appearance in IDWv1, well at least from the head, which is all we've seen so far!
• The winged moon of Termagax was pretty much complete about 300 Kilocycles ago, which would be about 900 Earth years before the "present"
• So it turns out that Codexa wasn't a Senator, like I assumed she was, but she was Orion's mentor and the head archivist before going "Immersant" (aka melding into Cybertron)
• From his request to get permission to do something that could endanger someone else, it seems likely that Orion asked Bumblebee to go undercover with the Ascenticons, as we saw him trying to join them last issue.
• We learn a bit more about the Threefold Spark, it was led, or was influenced by someone called "Exarchon"...wonder if we'll see him in some way soon? :D