IDW - Transformers Galaxies #12

Title: Storm Horizon,  Part 3

Written by: Brandon Easton

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Plot

Ultra Magnus gears up in extra armour and attacks the Kworian vessels attacking Alpha Trion's ship, but is only taking out their weapons, as he sees no need to kill the alien species.

He makes it to Trion's ship, but I'd stopped from rescuing him by Sounbkaster, who insisted that the ancient Cybertronian fulfill his side of their agreement and attacks them.

The doomed ship is caught in the gravity well of the Black Sphere, but Magnus us able to grab Trion and escape in time, with Trion making sure the ship is still capable of flying, so Soundblaster can try to escape too.

Later, after Magnus and Trion return to the Fist of Iacon they make the concerning discovery that their proximity to the Black Sphere has altered their perception of time, and they've been gone for seventy cycles more than they thought.

They return to Cybertronian space, but are disturbed by the news of Megatron's revolution, though Alpha Trion suggests that they can use the artefacts of the past that he's been researching and hunting for to try and help defeat Megatron in the present...

Meanwhile, 66 cycles earlier Soundblaster returned to Cybertron long before his foes, where his master, Shockwave, is displeased with his failure, but Soares his life since he's in a good mood, as his army if Insecticons are ready to bring in the future for the Decepticons...

Characters

Cybertronian Expeditionary Force/Colonial Security

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Chromedome - Car

Victory Leo - Lion/Jet

Fist of Iacon Crew Members

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Octane - Truck/Jet Imprisoned by Magnus

Spinister - Helicopter Imprisoned by Magnus

Bombshell Clones - Bill Weevils

Skrapnel Clones - Stag Beetles

Kickback Clones - Locusts

Megatron - Mining Vehicle (Footage Only)

Other Cybertronian

Alpha Trion

Omega Supreme - Battle Station (Mentioned)

Termagax - Armoured Van (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned) Overthrown

The City Guardians (Mentioned)

Other

Kworians (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue marks the end of the Galaxies series, to be followed by the new Escape mini series.
• The background characters in Magnus' crew are just generics, rather than any of the previously seen characters from the earlier issues.
• Magnus' armour upgrade looks sort of similar to his Prime counterpart's second design, with the wings and rounder design.
• Due to the time dilation from the Black Sphere, over seventy cycles have passed in the outer universe. This might sound like a lot, but that works out as about 2 Earth months in real time (one Cycle is shorter than one Earth Day) So they won't be too late when rejoining the war.
• Megatron's speech being played on repeat from Cybertron is the one we see being broadcasted in issue 25 of the main series.
• The ending with the army of Insecticon clones is the culmination of Shockwave's experiments with Exarchon's cloning technology, which was also alluded to in Escape #1
• Soundblaster's master (and by extension the rest of the Splice Traders too) is revealed to be Shockwave.
• Soundblaster's resemblance to Soundwave isn't explained yet, but since his master is Shockwave, we can probably assume he's a clone of the Senator, possibly implying more clones in the future of other characters.

IDW - Transformers Galaxies #11

Title: Storm Horizon, Part 2

Written by: Brandon Easton

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Plot

Ultra Magnus and the remains of the crew of the Fist of Iacon head into the Black Sphere system to look for Alpha Trion on Spinister's orders (as he still has some of his crew hostage). Chromedome detects a Cybertronian ship on a planet in the system that is made from diamonds (due to the high pressure from the black hole) so Magnus heads down alone to investigate.

On the planet, Obsidar, he encounters the natives who try to chase him off, but run off after he easily defeats them in battle, and finds the cloaked Cybertronian ship.

Inside, he discovers that the ship is from Kaon, not somewhere Alpha Trion would hang around in, and sends the ships information back to his ship.

Whilst in the ship, he is attacked by its occupant, Octane, whom he easily takes down and discovers that he is a Splice Trader who is carrying corpses from the Tether fall, but insists that Alpha Trion isn't amongst the corpses.

When the ship is shot at from outside, Magnus drags Octane out with him, and finds Spinister and his crew. Spinister intends to kill Octane for hoarding bodies from his boss, but Magnus insists that he be brought back to Cybertron to face trial for his crimes. Spinister's bored if his heroic speech, so decided to end their arrangement and execute him and his captured crew.

Unfortunately for Spinister, Magnus gas backup, his mission is being escorted by Colonial Security Officer Victory Leo, who comes in to save the day.

Now having the upper hand, Magnus pins down Spinister to demand to know where Trion is, and Spinister admits to having net him, but only to give him maps of the uncharted space in the Black Sphere system and a Kworian shuttle in exchange for Alpha Trion's Energon supply. 

Magnus isn't sure if he can really trust Spinister, due to his profession, but is forced to believe him when Alpha Trion himself appears to corroborate his story, albeit through a hologram.

Trion explains that he left clues to his location in case something happened to him, but they signalled too early when he entered the Black Sphere system due to the systems odd nature. Magnus wants to know why he's working with Splicers and why he is being escorted by someone who looks like Soundwave. Trion says he wasn't aware if the former, but doesn't have time to explain the later, as his shuttle is being attacked by an alien fleet right now, and they need help....

Characters

Cybertronian Expeditionary Force/Colonial Security

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Chromedome - Car

Victory Leo - Space Shuttle/Winged Lion

Blue Erector - Truck

The Fist of Iacon Crew

Decepticon

Octane - Truck/Jet

Soundwave - Hovercraft (Flashback)

Slipstream - Jet (Flashback)

Sixshot - Gun/Car/Jet/Tank/Winged Wolf (Flashback)

Other Cybertronian

Alpha Trion

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Spinister - Helicopter

Cybertronian Splicers

Tether Victims (Corpses Seen)

The Cybertronian Founders (Mentioned)

Other

Obsidar Natives

Organic Splicers

Kworians (Flashback)

Splicer boss (Mentioned)

Notes

• In the opening panel Alpha Trion mentions the Tabernacle of Tarn-Hauser Gate, which is a reference to the Netflix cartoon series. The subsequent discussion about erasing the losers of war's histories is a reference to Blade Runner.
• Octanes ship is decorated with a Decepticon/Ascenticon insignia, but since this issue is presumably set around the time of issue 23, where they are going by the Decepticon name exclusively now. So we can assume that he is at least related to the group.
• Spinister's scythe weapon appears to be made from his alternate mode propellers...which I'm pretty sure the toy cannot do...
• Victory Leo FINALLY makes his western media debut here, his partner Star Saber has appeared a few times in recent years, do it's about time!
• Ultra Magnus mentions how Soundblaster looks a lot like Senator Soundwave, marking one if the only times a repaint has been pointed out in universe. We also see Soundblaster in the shadows when Magnus thinks about Kaon, so he's possibly a Decepticon, and has a relationship with his mould-mate.
• The Splicer Boss mentioned this issue isn't identified here, but it could be Soundblaster, due to his prominence and proximity to Alpha Trion here.

IDW - Transformers Galaxies #10

Title: Storm Horizon, Part 1

Written by: Brandon Easton

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Plot

During the war against the Threefold Spark, Ultra Magnus fought bravely and made a name for himself as a powerful General, and at some point made friends with the wise sage, Alpha Trion.

In the present day, Magnus is working for the Cybertronian Expeditionary Force and us currently stationed aboard the Fist of Iacon shuttle in deep space. Following a solo mission he receives a message from Jazz, saying that Alpha Trion gas gone missing, and he wants him to find him. Magnus immediately gas the ship redirected to his last known coordinates.

Soon, the shuttle arrives at the Decimus Sector, where Splice-thieves are known to lurk. Upon arriving they're attacked by an unidentified shuttle, but they easily disable them, forcing them to crash on a nearby planet, Kworia.

Magnus' smaller shuttle craft heads down to investigate the shuttle, but can't land close due to the landscape. They land elsewhere and start walking toward the shuttle, finishing a hidden message along the way, seemingly from Alpha Trion saying he's searching for the lost artifacts of the Age of Expansion. They don't believe it's true, but most if the team decide to perform a deep scan of the area to see why someone would plant an obvious trap like this.

Magnus heads off on his own and finds the area near the trash full of Splice-thief ships, and finds that he's unable to communicate with the ship.

Back at the shuttle, Chromedome notices the signal jamming too, but also notice multiple Cybertronian hyperspace signatures in the area Alpha Trion vanished too. Suddenly the doors are hit by gunfire and the ship is boarded by several shadowy figures...

Magnus breaks into the Splicer compound and finds Spinister is behind the Splice-ring here. Spinister reveals that he's looking for Alpha Trion too, and knows his signal ended at the "Black Sphere", a system heavily affected by a black hole, and he wants Magnus to go there for him to find Trion for him.

Magnus begins to refuse, but stops when he is shown the prisoners from his crew, forcing his hand, agreeing to help him in exchange for their safety...

Characters

Cybertronian Expeditionary Force

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Chromedome - Car Captured by Splicers

Erector - Truck Captured by Splicers

Discharge - Fire Truck Captured by Splicers

Powertrain - Truck Captured by Splicers

Rest of Fist of Iacon Crew Some Killed/Captured by Splicers

The Threefold Spark

Threefold Spark Troops (Flashback)

Exarchon (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Jazz - Car

Spinister - Helicopter

Splicer Victim Killed by Spinister

Cybertronians in Spinister's Crew Some Killed by Magnus

Megatron - Mining Vehicle (Flashback)

Alpha Trion (Flashback)

Other

Splice-Thieves

Organics in Spinister's Crew

Native Kworians

Silicon Energy Leeches Killed by Magnus

Notes

• Ultra Magnus' flashback design is based on his design from the mtmte comics, while his present day body is based on his current Siege toy.
• This issue has a bit of a mtmte vibe to it, with Magnus and Chromedome serving on a deep space vessel and an enemy of theirs is Spinister (though all three of them have very different personalities compared to the older series)
• Megatron is shown as one of Magnus' co-warriors during the flashback, but he has his classic fusion cannon there, which we didn't see him use in the previous flashbacks. He could have picked it up and lost it during the war I guess though 
• Among the Threefold Sparks' forces we see a couple more Seeker body types, implying that, along with Skywarp being shown to be a past member, the Seeker body may have originally been designed as some of Exarchon's bodies.
• Chromedome is shown using his Titans Return body, whilst the other characters with current toys are all based on Siege designs.
• It's shown that Magnus used to be a lot more violent and cold before being influenced by Alpha Trion.
• It's mentioned that Cybertron's spacebridge communications array has been damaged. This was likely either done during the Reversionist attack or when the Tether collapsed.
• We don't see a badge on him, but from Sentinel's previous statements that he intends to pass the Matrix to him, we can assume that he's an Autobot here.
• The potentially fake message from Trion saying he's looking for artifacts from the Age of Expansion seems like a callback to the start of the Galaxies series where the Enigma of Combination was found. We also known from dialogue that the other artifacts aren't being looked for, most likely due to the dangerous monster created from the last one found.
• It's unknown yet if this version of Alpha Trion is a member of the Thirteen Primes, OR whether this version of the Primes are just normal bots like the previous IDW continuity, or more mythical like they usually are.
• Considering his comments about things being different on Cybertron and his being exiled, it's likely that Spinister is a part of the Rise, and us referencing the (then) upcoming attack on the Senate from issue 23, since this issue was originally meant to be released around the same time as issue 22.

IDW - Optimus Prime #18

Title: The Falling Interlude: The First Who Was Named

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher and Livio Ramondelli

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Optimus, now chained up by Shockwave asks what happened to his old friend, and how he is posing as Onyx Prime. Shockwave happily explains it all to his friend...

After he was drawn into the singularity in Crystal City, he was launched twelve million years into the past, badly injured, but still alive. He is soon found by a roaming shepherd, the original Onyx, who asks if he can help him. Without hesitating Shockwave kills Onyx, sending his beasts running to safety. One of the "beasts", a biped remains, who Shockwave named Megatronus.

Soon, Shockwave manages to gather the beasts again, and becomes known as Onyx Prime. Along with Megatronus, he teaches them to fight, creating an army of his own. Before long, he sends Megatronus out to create his Darklander army and begin his siege on other territories. Shockwave dons his full disguise as Onyx and sets out to unite the Thirteen Primes to create their new society.

Following their founding of society, Shockwave manages to convince the others to attempt Expansionism, and spread their message to the stars, however on the first world they encounter Shockwave manipulates things so the Cybertronians attack the natives, slaughtering them, and traumatising Alpha Trion, who was there to document the mission.

When they returned to Cybertron, Prima had a screaming match with Megatronus, blaming him for the slaughter on the unnamed planet. This eventually leads to Shockwave manipulating Liege Maximo into, in turn, manipulating Megatronus into attempting to kill Prima. During their battle, Solus rushes to help Prima, but she ends up being run through by her own Star Saber, Megatronus escapes, taking the sword with him, and the other Primes renounce him as "The Fallen".

Liege Maximo is captured for his manipulation of Megatronus, imprisoned inside his own Titan, Vigilem, with his people charged to be his wardens and keep him away forever. After Vigilem is sent away, Prima leads a mission with "Onyx" and Trion to hunt down Megatronus aboard his own Titan, Emissary.

Soon, Prima and Onyx encounter Megatronus on planet Tsiehshi, where Megatronus manages to cleave Prima in half with ease, however "Onyx" betrays Megatronus and decapitates him, and brings their bodies back to Emissary, where he tells Trion that they died fighting each other. Trion believes his story and they are interred back on Cybertron.

Emissary takes Prima's body into space, however "Onyx" sabotages Emissary, causing him to eventually crash onto the prehistoric world of Elonia, bringing about the end of the era of the Primes...

Back in the present, Shockwave explains that all he has done has been to spear-head the progress of Cybertron, even these dark days he has brought about by attacking the planet. Optimus disagrees, which Shockwave always knew he would. 

He decides to give Optimus the chance to change his mind, by sending him into the Singularity too...as he pushes him right into it....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab Thrown into Crystal City Singularity by Shockwave

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City Seemingly Dead

Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Needlenose - Fighter Jet

The Primes

Onyx Prime/Shockwave

Liege Maximo

Megatronus/The Fallen (Flashback Only) Killed by Shockwave

Prima (Flashback Only) Killed by Megatronus

Solus Prime (Flashback Only) Killed by Megatronus

Alpha Trion (Flashback Only)

Alchemist Prime (Flashback Only)

Amalgamous Prime (Flashback Only)

Nexus Prime (Flashback Only)

Quintus Prime (Flashback Only)

Vector Prime (Flashback Only)

Micronus Prime (Flashback Only)

"The Arisen" (Flashback Only)

Maximal

Iguanus - Iguana

Snarl - Lion

Backstop - Rhino

Ramulus - Ibex

Other Maximals/Herd Members (Flashback Only)

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Mistress of Flame

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Devastator - Constructicon Combiner

Original Onyx (Flashback Only) Killed by Shockwave

Vigilem - Space Ship (Flashback Only) Lobotomized by The Primes

Emissary - Space Ship (Flashback Only) Crashed into Elonia by Shockwave

Arcee - Cannon (Flashback Only)

Galvatron - Cannon (Flashback Only)

Omega Supreme - Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Omega Sentinel Army - Space Shuttles (Flashback Only)

Darklander Army (Flashback Only)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Ancient Headmasters (Mentioned)

Other

Primitive Elonian (Flashback Only)

Cybertron's First Victims (Flashback Only) Dead

Notes

• Wow sometimes being behind schedule on these things does have it's benefits! The planet that Emissary is shown crashing on has been confirmed as being Elonia in Unicron #0
• So...turns out Shockwave is pretty much responsible for everything that happened in Cybertronian history, even the seemingly coincidental stuff, such as the Eukarian ship that would end up doing the Hearts of Steel re-enactment being filled with a crew that just happened to look like the main G1 cast of Transformers. We know that "Onyx" sent them towards Earth, where he knew his younger self was going to experiment on them...YIKES!
• Shockwave has immense knowledge of what happened on Cybertron in the early years of the Primes because he listened to the stories told by Alpha Trion.
• It's revealed here that Shockwave was launched twelve million years into the past when he was drawn into the Crystal City singularity. We learned a while ago that Bumblebee was somehow alive inside the Singularity, and thanks to the Unicron #0 preview, we knew he was going to be returning to the "real world" soon anyway. So at least this isn't out of the blue I guess?
• In an astonishing amount of detail, the original Onyx, whom Shockwave killed and replaced is shown to be a quadruped, where the Shockwave version of him has been mostly bipedal...and people just thought that was an art error!
• It's revealed here that Shockwave named Megatronus here, explaining why his name is similar to Megatron's, given that in this continuity Megatronus' name was unknown until recently.
• This issue explains that Shockwave, knowing of their doomed futures, managed to manipulate the Primes to doing as he pleased, especially when manipulating Megatronus and Liege Maximo
• It's revealed here that, despite what was shown in earlier stories, Solus Prime was killed by Megatronus stabbing her with her own Star Saber.
• This issue confirms that the Matrix was indeed originally the hilt to the Star Saber
• Briefly during the flashback we see a heavily silhouetted figure of "The Arisen". We should presumably discover who he really is, and his supposed connection with Optimus soon

IDW - Optimus Prime #15

Title: The Falling Part 1: Surfeit of Primes

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Kei Zama

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Mistress of Flame, having come to speak with Alpha Trion, recounts her mission to Antilla, and reveals that when there, she saw Onyx Prime, and a giant mountain-sized eyeball. One of her crew, Magrada was killed there. and recounts how Praesida was killed by Onyx years later when on Caminus, telling her that Onyx was after her and her friends.

Scoop, now dismissive of believing in "gods" after his experience with Starscream being the "Chosen One" scoffs at the Mistress' story, having been invited there by Alpha Trion as he was the one who unearthed the Dark Cybertron prophecy. Trion suggests that the two of them could learn something from each other, but Mistress has to leave, however she does suggest to Scoop that perhaps his anger is better aimed towards the one who actually betrayed him, rather than the Primes.

The Mistress leaves and heads towards the space bridge where she meets with Windblade, in preparation for a visit from Optimus.

On Earth, Optimus officially opens up an Ore-13 mine along with Marissa and the President with human and Cybertronian workers to help with the rebuilding of Cybertron, whilst also providing jobs for the people of Earth. Some humans are protesting the event as they still hate Cybertronians, and even feel that Joe Colton and his crew (which includes several known terrorists mind you) should be freed.

On Autobot City, above the mine, Arcee hangs out with Aileron, and discusses the new Protoforms on Cybertron, with Arcee looking forward to seeing them develop and hopefully living in peace. The two are interrupted when they notice Slide screaming about Optimus again, and almost spills the cover-up of Frenzy and Rumble smuggling weapons in front of Arcee.

Optimus returns to the city with the first shipment of Ore-13, where Optimus is a bit annoyed with the protestors and is flippant with Pyra when she asks how it went, with him even joking about Pyra being happy they "got the humans to do their bidding", just as Marissa berates him for the poor joke.

Optimus is about to head back to Cybertron, when Aileron arrives dragging Slide with her to explain her attitude to Optimus. She begins to explain things, but Optimus has to leave, but reminds her that they have lost a lot of innocent life in the war, and they should celebrate their lives instead of having them stagnate their own lives. Pyra suggests that Slide and the other Colonists go to the Ore-13 mines to learn what they are trying to do on Earth.

Optimus soon on Cybertron and presents the Ore-13 to the Council of Worlds to use as they please amongst Cybertron and the colonies. The Mistress approaches Optimus to ask him about his past vision on Earth, just after the annexation, but before they can talk the sky suddenly goes dark...

Scoop visits Starscream in his cell, but before they can really do anything Bumblebee's "ghost" tells Starscream that there's a giant eye in the sky!!

Onyx Prime addresses the Council, presenting Liege Maximo as his prisoner to be judged for his crimes, along with anyone else who works against Cybertron. Optimus addressed himself as the defender of Cybertron and it's allies and demands Onyx to speak with him. Onyx agrees, especially since he holds Optimus, as the "Arisen", responsible for Cybertron's fall!

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/"The Arisen" - Truck Cab

Alpha Trion - Shuttle

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Arcee - Sports Car

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Dust Up - Sports Car

Jumpstream - Sports Car

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

"Getout" - Dragster Car

Bumblebee - Car ("Ghost" Only)

Autobot Colonist Recruits

Slide - Rear of Oil Tanker

Roulette - Muscle Car

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Bump - Armadillo

Gimlet - Lobster

Oiler - Front of Oil Tanker (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet In Jail

Scoop - Front End Loader

Iaconian Civilians

Beast Horde

Onyx Prime

"Optimus Primal" (Flashback Only)

"Beast Megatron" (Flashback Only)

Other Beasts (Flashback Only)

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Mistress of Flame/Former Matriarch of Incaendium

Liege Maximo Captured by Onyx Prime

Rum-Maj

Wreck-Gar Still Just a Head

Airazor - Eagle

Moonracer - Sports Car

Knock Out - Sports Car

Elita One

Strika - Battle Tank

Fireshot - Part of Jet

Vanquish - Part of Jet

Cybertronian Miners

Sharkticons - Sharks

Praesidia (Flashback Only) Seemingly Killed by Onyx Prime

Magrada (Flashback Only) Seemingly Decapitated by Onyx Prime

Former Mistress of Flame (Mentioned) Dead

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned) 

New Protoforms (Mentioned)

Protoform Sideswipe (Mentioned)

Sterling - Car (Mentioned) Dead

Nova Prime - Truck (Mentioned) Dead

Metalhawk - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

The Old Senate (Mentioned) Defunct

Human

Marissa Faireborn

Madame President

Flint

Chameleon 

Human Miners

Human Protestors 

Joe Colton (Mentioned) Jailed on Cybertron

The Iron Ring (Mentioned) Jailed on Cybertron 

Other

The Solstar Order (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue is set after the Till All Are One Annual, as it features Starscream in jail and Windblade as the leader of the planet. This also means that this issue is set about a month after issue 14 as that was the period of time spent in the Annual
• Okay I know it looks bad, but we don't actually see Onyx kill Magrada here, maybe he was trying to save her from a ninja or something? I just think he may be a secret "good guy".
• So....Caminus' star started to die as Mistress of Flame returned to the colony following the mission to Antilla, and the previous Mistress died as well...does anyone else think she was involved with these "events" too?
• Also...are we going to learn Mistress' real name soon?
• Amongst the Beast Horde are Optimus Primal and Beast Megatron, considering the formers role in the new Power of the Primes toy line, I think they'll get properly introduced in this storyline.
• So...a giant mountain sized eye? I wonder if that is related in some way to Unicron? Well it's either that, or the Triptych Mask is much bigger than expected...
• So the Mistress and Windblade are on better terms now, following their last meeting where the former slapped the latter for heresy.
• In the Ore-13 mine on Earth, one of the workers appears to be Skram, but he died by Sandstorm's hands in Punishment. So I am renaming him Getout here, which was a member of the Maximal Command Security Force that was seemingly based on him.
• Awwww...Arcee looks actually happy when talking to Aileron about the new Protoforms and the new Sideswipe.
• Why is Elita on Cybertron with the Council of Worlds representatives? She's not one of them, and at least Strika is there to represent Carcer.
• Hey...Starscream's cell sure looks quite nice...almost like a hotel room (in fact most hotel rooms I stay in are comparatively smaller than his cell!)
• The hologram of Starscream's "true self" appears to be able to move, as it's in a totally different pose to what it was in the Annual.
• Oh cool! Onyx Prime has captured Liege Maximo...guess someone should call Chromia and her crew and let them know they can come home now huh?
• Onyx appears to confirm that Optimus is the thirteenth Prime "The Arisen", unless he just refers to him as that because he knows that others believe him to be it.
• It's mentioned in this issue about "the last time Liege Maximo attacked Cybertron"....when did this happen? The only thing Maximo has done really is escape from jail, and evade further capture since the end of the Titan Swarm attack.
• Windblade off-handedly jokes that Optimus has annexed the Solstar Order...considering the apparent events of the upcoming Darkest Hour storyline including Unicron attacking Elonia, the HQ of the Solstar Order...maybe he should?