IDW - Transformers #31

Title: Lord of Misrule: Test Flight 1

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova & Angel Hernandez

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Forty Cycles have passed since the Titans fell and the Autobots abandoned Iacon to the Decepticons. Flatline is running the Iacon Medical Center by himself and is trying to save the life of the long-thought dead Provoke, but isn't hopeful of his chances due to how long she's been in emergency stasis.

Ultra Magnus' ship finally returns to Cybertron, and rendezvous with Optimus in the Crystal City, where he agrees to follow the new Prime, since Megatron is taking away the government and his vote in the process. Magnus questions Optimus on releasing Pyra from her prison, but Optimus wants to give her another chance, despite her mistakes, and also points out that her loyalists are proving useful too.

Elsewhere, in Praxus, Perceptor works with Jumpstream to try and extend her teleportation abilities with a tool, so she can help with supply and troop transport in the new war. Unfortunately, the device malfunctions and Jumpstream is sent randomly porting across the planet, eventually finding herself between universes, gaining the attention of a shadowy figure in the between-space, until she crashes into an alternate universe version of Iacon.

Jumpstream quickly finds out how bad this universe is when she sees corpses strewn around the devastated city and the severed heads of several prominent Cybertronians, uncluding her leader, Pyra Magna, devastating her too.

Soon she finds what appears to be Sunstreaker wandering around, but is revealed to be an enslaved being controlled by a Voin Asserter among other Cybertronians.

Jumpstream is taken to see the leader of Cybertron by the Voin, who assumes she is a rebel and wants a reward, she is taken to a clone army of Skywarps and dragged to see their leader...Exarchon, who is using the bodies of Megatron, Shockwave and Onslaught as his own....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Perceptor - Treaded Vehicle

Jumpstream - Car

Strongarm - Van

Bumper - Car

Sideswipe - Car

Victory Leo - Jet/Winged Lion

Pyra Magna - Truck (Flashback)

Kup - Pick-up Truck (Flashback)

Sunstreaker - Car (Flashback)

Arcee - Car (Flashback)

Hound - Jeep  (Flashback)

Wheeljack - Car (Flashback)

Smokescreen - Car (Mentioned)

Ratchet - Ambulance (Mentioned)

Hoist - Tow Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Onslaught - Gun-Mounted Truck

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Blackjack - Car

Hyperdrive - Car

Runamuck - Car

Runabout - Car

Sunstorm - Jet Irradiated and in Containment Tube

Ruckus - Buggy In Intensive Care

Kaskade In Intensive Care

Megatron - Tank (Flashback)

Jhiaxus - Jet (Flashback)

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet (Flashback)

Decepticon Attack Team - Tanks (Flashback)

Tarn Uprisers (Flashback)

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

Shadow Striker - Car (Mentioned)

Slipstream - Jet (Mentioned)

Ion Storm - Jet (Mentioned)

Team Stream (Mentioned)

Three-fold Spark Universe 

Exarchon

Skywarp Clones - Jets

Voin Asserter

Sunstreaker - Car Enslaved by Voin

Heavywait - Van Enslaved by Voin

Other Enslaved Cybertronians

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle Body Controlled by Exarchon

Onslaught - Gun Mounted Truck Body Controlled by Exarchon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery Body Controlled by Exarchon

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax Severed Head Only

Ultra Magnus Severed Head Only

Pyra Magna Severed Head Only

Strika Severed Head Only

Kup Severed Head Only

Other Corpses Dead

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Flatline - Van

Skywarp - Jet Stuck Between Universes 

Provoke In Protective Stasis 

First of Iacon Crew

Insecticon Clone Swarm - Insects

Insecticon Victims Dead

Primus (Mentioned)

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Straxxus (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned) Imprisoned

Darkmount Cybertron Refugees (Mentioned)

The Titansparks (Mentioned) Supposedly Destroyed

Other

Flyts

Darkmount Organic Refugees (Mentioned)

The Thraal (Mentioned)

Notes

• As I predicted last issue, this story's time skip coincides with Ultra Magnus' return to Cybertron.
• Flatline is the only named medic to remain in Iacon as the others left with the Autobots, as they refuse to heal Decepticons. This is likely a nod towards his future Decepticon allegiance.
• The mention of Provoke being treated during he war and her mind being most likely gone, and the confirmation that Exarchon controls other bodies, makes me think that she's been turned into one of his incarnations and will bring in his return in this timeline.
• The Autobots have set up shop in the Crystal City, we previously saw the city in the Escape series. Usually the city gets destroyed in fiction, so we can probably assume the Decepticons are going to pay them a visit soon...
• Due to delays, the end of Escape gets spoiled in this issue, with us learning that Straxxus leaves the planet, and Wheeljack's team turn it into a refuge for neutrals etc.
• The Insecticon clones are also revealed to still exist and eat away at the dead/weak they encounter in the wilderness.
• Pyra and her followers have joined the Autobots since their last appearance, as has Ultra Magnus. We don't know if the rest of his crew has joined them, but considering their character histories we can probably assume they have too.
• Perceptor refers to some bots having special abilities upon forging, in the previous IDW continuity these were referred to as "Outliers" but they don't seem to have a name in this continuity yet.
• Sunstorm is still irradiated following his misadventure on the Winged Moon, he is also shown to definitely have the damaged mind and religious zealotry of his Dreamwave counterpart.
• The bot that notices Jumpstream when she is travelling to the alternate universe isn't named or seen too clearly, but we can assume due to his teleportation abilities, shape and future comic covers, that this is Skywarp.
• It's unclear where the timeline divergence happened in the alternate universe, as we seen several bots who fought against the Three-fold Spark, but are now on different sides, amongst the corpses, suggesting that this is a universe where Exarchon won the war, but then Sunstreaker is seen with an Autobot insignia, something we haven't seen on the main universe counterpart yet, suggesting that it could be a future event?
• In a previous flashback we heard Exarchon saying he had plans for Megatron, here we can assume that his plans were to take over his body.
• Something to be noted is that Exarchon's Megatron body doesn't have the fusion cannon that his main universe counterpart has, so that's another point in the "Exarchon won the war" column.