IDW - Regeneration One #100

Title: The War to End all Wars Part 5

Writer: Simon Furman

Pencils: Andrew Wildman (1-10), Geoff Senior (11-20), Guido Guidi (21-32)

Inks: Stephen Baskerville (1-10, 21-32), Geoff Senior (11-20)

Colourist: John-Paul Bove

Letterer: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

Plot

Rodimus and his armada return to Cybertron following their battle with Jhiaxus, where they find no-one around, and the planet heavily aged and decayed. Rodimus is convinced that Primus, or the being who has taken his place is responsible when the crew are attacked by shadow leeches. Perceptor manages to analyse one, and discovers that it was once Iguanus, a Decepticon! This means that everyone who was left behind on Cybertron has been turned into one of these leeches who are able to drain living Transformers of their energy.

The Autobots proceed to fight off the leeches, and Rodimus has Jetfire fetch the sword of Primus from his base so they can use it to hopefully stop the leeches.

The Dinobots soon turn up, having been spared by the energy wave that hit Cybertron because Grimlock has immunity (following his possession) and the other Dinobots being in close proximity to him. Rodimus stops Grimlock from just slaughtering the leeches as he hopes to restore them before long.

Jetfire returns with the sword, and Rodimus activates it, sending out a wave of energy that protects them and restores a small area to normal, causing the leeches to flee.

Now they have a free moment Rodimus learns that all this began when Galvatron attacked the Star Chamber and knocked out all the space bridges except the ones between Nebulos, Cybertron and Earth, but before anything could be done about him the whole planet was transformed.

Rodimus reveals to the team that after his experience in the Primus Chamber and seeing a part of the Multiverse he consulted the Covenant of Primus, which told him that Nebulos, Earth and Cybertron are a holy trinity of sorts that affect the Multiverse. He sends Magnus and the others to the Star Chamber to confront Galvatron and stop him, whilst he goes to see Primus in Zero Space.

Inside Zero Space, "Primus" is torturing Spike some more by having his father appear and blame him for his death, all this turmoil is causing the crack in Zero Space to widen, and glimpses from other universes are starting to appear clearer, all whilst "Primus" has Galvatron destroying the cities of Nebulos as part of the Magi-Cal trinity.

Rodimus returns to the Presidium where he takes the Covenant of Primus and uses it's power to transport him to Zero Space where he meets "Primus", aka the Dark Matrix spawn.

The Autobots manage to break into the Star Chamber, but are attacked by the leeches again, Grimlock holds them off whilst the others go through the space bridges to Earth and Nebulos to find and stop Galvatron.

Back in Zero Space, the Matrix Spawn explains everything to Rodimus, he was transported with the other Transformers to Cybertron by Primus just before the Unicron war, where he possessed one of the Acolytes of Unicron, using that confusion he headed to the now empty Primus chamber where he found a graveyard of the bodies of Transformers who had in the past embarked on pilgrimages to see Primus, but died at the end, where he absorbed the crumbs of their spark energies and became more powerful.

Using this new power he was able to dominate the Demons, who were guarding Primus' chamber, and sent them to attack the surface dwelling Transformers so he could have more energy. During Cybertron's mass shift he was absorbed into Primus' chamber and became one with the planet.

Over the next couple of decades he was whispering in the ear of some of the Transformers, like Scorponok and Soundwave and caused all the hardships of recent days, but could only really get started on his true goals to devour the Multiverse itself when the Last Autobot was killed.

Rodimus goes to attack the Matrix Spawn, when it summons three versions of Optimus Prime from the timeline and have them attack the new Prime.

Ultra Magnus' team arrives on Nebulos and finds the place in a bit of a state, so they decide to follow the destruction to find Galvatron.

Meanwhile Prowl's team arrive on Earth, where they find a team of Humans attacking them, they quickly call a truce when they realise Spike and Optimus' disappearances are connected to this whole mess.

Inside Zero Space, Rodimus is being pummelled by the Optimuses, but he manages to fend them off long enough to throw the Covenant into the crack and into the hands of one of his counterparts. Before long, Rodimus' plan is made apparent to the Spawn, as an army of Rodimus' counterparts from across the Multiverse appears and begin to fight with the Spawn.

During the fight, the creature loses control of Optimus for a short time, and he manages to tell Rodimus that the creature cannot be killed, only contained, Rodimus seems unwilling to do that, as it would mean everyone's doom, but knows that it has to happen or the entire Multiverse is in trouble.

Rodimus manages to get through to Spike, and apologizes for the Transformers being responsible for what happened to Earth, which frees him of his demons, which begins to close the crack. Rodimus then makes the ultimate sacrifice and seals the crack up once and for all with the sword, which traps the Matrix Spawn inside Zero Space, unable to ever leave again. This act also sets all those turned into Shadow leeches free, and allows them to truly die.

Meanwhile on Nebulos, Ultra Magnus' team tracks down Galvatron, and manages to finally kill him, but not before Fort Max joins the fight, and has to be stopped as well

Rodimus, Spike and Optimus reappear inside Primus' Chamber, where Optimus dies from his ordeal, but tells Rodimus that what he has done has saved them all, and that now the dream can stay alive....

Many eons later Rodimus is the last Cybertronian alive, he looks back over his life and recalls how Optimus' plan for the Humans and Nebulans to blend their societies for both of their own goods came to happen, and over time their new civilization grew to flourish. He also looks back on how after the crack was sealed, Cybertron was cut off from Primus' power in the Multiverse, and so their days were numbered, they abandoned Cybertron to travel into the Universe and spread a message of peace. Now that it is his time to die, Rodimus has returned to the molten surface of his home world and walks along, until he collapses and hits the floor.

However, the Matrix energies from his now dead body spread out across the planet, cooling the molten planet down to normal again, and gives life to the cocoon forms of the Demons, who are reborn as a new generation of Cybertronian, showing us that it truly never ends.....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus Prime - Caravan Last Cybertronian to die

Optimus Prime - Truck Dies from Injuries

Ultra Magnus - Car Carrier

Prowl - Police Car

Fortress Maximus - Battle Station Killed by Magnus' Team

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Swoop - Pteranodon

Slag - Triceratops

Blaster - Boom Box

Perceptor - Microscope

Blurr - Race Car

Jetfire - Jet

Wheeljack - Race Car

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Mirage - F1 Race Car

Highbrow - Helicopter

Jazz - Porsche

Red Alert - Emergency Sports Car

Hardhead - Tank

Topspin - Jet

Roadbuster - Jeep

Backstreet - Race Car

Hosehead - Fire Engine Killed by Shadow Leech

Slingshot - Fighter Jet Killed by Shadow Leech

Tailgate - Sports Car Killed by Shadow Leech

Streetwise - Police Car Killed by Shadow Leech

"IDW" Rodimus - Sports Car

"Animated" Rodimus - Sports Car

"Alternators" Rodimus Prime - Race Car

"Classics" Rodimus - Sports Car

"Galaxy Force" Hot Shot - Race Car

"G1 Cartoon" Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Other Rodimuses

"Original" Optimus Prime - Truck (Recreated by Matrix Spawn)

"Powermaster" Optimus Prime - Truck (Recreated by Matrix Spawn)

"Animated" Jetstorm - Jet (Seen in Crack)

"Cybertron" Leobreaker - Lion (Seen in Crack)

The Last Autobot - Space Ship (Flashback) Dead

Scattershot - Jet (Flashback) Turned into Shadow Leech

Star Chamber Staff (Flashback) Killed by Galvatron

Autobot Survivors

Decepticon

Galvatron - Laser Cannon Killed by Ultra Magnus

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Shockwave - Ray Gun

Ravage - Cassette

Iguanus - Recon Bike Turned into Shadow Leech

"Prime" Starscream - Fighter Jet (Seen in Crack)

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Flashback) Turned into Shadow Leech

Beast Box - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Squawktalk - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Howlback - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Wingthing - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Slugfest - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Overkill - Cassette (King of Shadows Only) Turned into Shadow Leech

Runabout - Sports Car (Flashback) Killed by Demons

Dreadwind - Jet (Flashback)

Darkwing - Jet (Flashback)

Scorponok - Scorpion Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Cybertronian

Botanica - Living Plant

"Beast Wars" Black Arachnia - Spider (Seen in Crack)

"Robots in Disguise" Gas Skunk - Skunk (Seen in Crack)

All Cybertronians on Cybertron during Jhiaxus battle Turned into Shadow Leeches

Jhiaxus - Jet (Flashback) Dead

Demons (Flashback) Turned into New Generation of Cybertronians by Rodimus

Acolytes of Unicron (Flashback)

Human/Nebulan

Spike Witwicky/Circuit Smasher

Linda Chang

G.B. Blackrock

Gordon Kent

Borx

Human and Nebulan Survivors/Descendants

Sparkplug Witwicky (Illusion) Dead

Buster Witwicky (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Dark Matrix Creature Sealed Away

Shadow Leeches Allowed to pass on fully by Rodimus

"Clockwork Quintessons"

Primus (Mentioned) Locked out of this Universe

Unicron (Mentioned)

Notes

• SHOCKINGLY Nightbeat doesn't die in this issue!!
• The Transformers turning grey when attacked by the Shadow Leeches could be a reference to either how Tornadron left his victims in "Call of the Primitives" or just of how Transformers tended to turn greyscale when they died in the cartoon in general.
• Why does Rodimus assume his sword still exists on Cybertron after the planet is totally decayed?
• Tailgate's random death adds to the list of characters from More Than Meets the Eye who have died recently (Brainstorm, Misfire etc being earlier examples)
• It's revealed here that Sparkplug died during Megatron's attack - I don't think it was actually confirmed before now.
• It's revealed here that the Matrix Spawn is the one who revived Galvatron for his plans, therefore it's quite likely he was responsible for Megatron's revival on Earth as part of his plan to devastate Nebulos, Earth and Cybertron for his grand scheme.
• It's revealed that the violent actions of the Demons in the past were because they were controlled by the Matrix Spawn.
• It should be noted that Sludge is never seen with the other Dinobots here, meaning he was probably converted into a leech like the rest of the population :(
• The 3 versions of Optimus who appear in Zero Space are his original body, his Powermaster body and his current badly damaged body he abducted from Earth.
• The "Rodimus Corps" seen in the past return here after being contacted by this Rodimus Prime
• From IDW Rodimus' dialogue, it can be assumed that the it's the Red version of Hot Shot from Galaxy Force who appears and not his Hasbro counterpart Exillion.
• Ultra Magnus FINALLY finishes off Galvatron! Yay!
• Whilst not shown on page, it can be assumed that Fort Max was killed by the Autobots
• The heavily battered Rodimus shown at the beginning of this story arc is revealed to just be a heavily aged version of himself who has reached his natural end.
• Zero Space is revealed to be the void left behind when Primus was destroyed in this reality.
• With Primus gone, Cybertron was left dead and is unable to recover, until Rodimus' Matrix energies were released at the end that is.
• The demons' cocoon forms are shown to still exist on the dead Cybertron, and have given life to new Transformers, such as Botanica!
• It's mentioned that eons have passed at Rodimus' time of death, which means that the new generation of Cybertronians who are born are in a completely different situation that they were in Beast Wars (where only 200-300 years have passed)
• The clock-work looking beings Shockwave and his crew visit sure do look a lot like Quintessons huh?
• Rodimus' fate at the end here seems very fitting, as noted by the Demons when they saw him originally, he looks a lot like Primus, and here he is giving them new life as a creator would!
• Rodimus also basically does what Jhiaxus wanted him to do as well, he used his Matrix energies to power a new generation!

"Full Circle" Extra Content

King of Shadows by Simon Furman - Chronicles how Ravage survived the events on Cybertron

"Cybertron Needs You" Poster by Baskerville

It Never Ends?  by Andrew Wildman - His final words on the series

The Feeling by John-Paul Bove - His final words too

"Thanks" Poster by Jason Cardy

Cover Gallery - Chronicles all the US Marvel covers and the Regen One covers too

End Words by Simon Furman - His final words for the series as well