IDW - Transformers/Back to the Future #4

Written by: Cavan Scott

Art by: Juan Samu

Colours by: Candice Han

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editors: David Mariotte & Chase Marotz

Plot

In the dark 2015, the few remaining Autobots are fighting, and dying to the giant Decepticon, Watchtower. 

Gigawatt gets fixed by Doc Brown, allowing him to time travel again, but before he can, he gets shot by Watchtower, protecting Marty and Doc. Gigawatt transforms and Marty gets inside regardless, but he can't build up speed, forcing Skilz and Doc to push the Autobot to speed him up to 88 mphnto time travel. They're successful, but everyone else is dead, with Watchtower about to step on the left behind Doc and Skilz...

Gigawatt and Marty arrive in 1984, and intercept Rumble in the real time machine, his human slave, Biff Tannen turns against Rumble, but the Decepticon manges to escape after shooting Gigawatt again.

Rumble makes his way into the crashed Ark, intending to wake up the Decepticons, but finds the Autobots having been awoken by Gigawatt and Marty already. Rumble tries to escape again, but Biff and Marty dump the collected Energon on top of him, crushing him.

In the aftermath, Optimus thanks Marty for his help, but he's distracted by the dying Gigawatt. Optimus convinces him to return the time machine to Doc Brown in the real 2015, and end this time disruption...

Marty arrives in 2015, to see everything back to normal, and Doc shows him that Gigawatt is alive after all, thanks to the Autobots and their allies. Optimus reveals that in his time, the Autobots are living in secret, protecting the humans, but can now fight and live in the open, thanks to his work.

Gigawatt, Marty and Skilz return to 1985, where life is back to normal, or better. Gigawatt and Skilz look over their human friend from a distance, as Marty is gifted a new truck from his parents...one which weilds a small purple insignia on the grill...

Characters

Autobot

Gigawatt - Modified DeLorean Time Machine

1984/Good 2015 Optimus Prime - Truck

1984/Good 2015 Bumblebee - VW Beetle

1984 Jazz - Porsche

1984 Ratchet - Ambulance

1984 Brawn - SUV

Good 2015 Hot Rod - Sports Car

Good 2015 Skilz - Hoverboard

Bad 2015 Rodimus Prime - Caravan Killed by Watchtower

Bad 2015 Bumblebee - VW Beetle Killed by Watchtower

Bad 2015 Skilz - Hoverboard Likely Killed by Watchtower

Decepticon

Bad 2015 Watchtower - Hill Valley Courthouse

1985 Rumble - Cassette Crushed under Energon Cubes

1984 Megatron Disassembled in Ark 

1985 "Marty's Truck" - Pick-up Truck

Human

Marty McFly

1984/Good 2015 Biff Tannen

1985/Bad 2015 George McFly

1985/Bad 2015 Lorraine Baines-McFly 

Good 2015 Doc Brown

Bad 2015 Doc Brown Likely Killed by Watchtower

Other

Good/Bad 2015 Einstein, the Dog

Notes

• It's kind of ironic that the series about time travel is several months overdue, isn't it?
• The giant Decepticon isn't named in the comic itself, but the rollcall page informs us he is "Watchtower". Due to his size, he is probably a Titan as well.
• We never saw the future, successful version of Megatron in this series, maybe because the concept would destroy our minds?
• Rumble recognises Gigawatt as an Autobot, but he was a Decepticon originally. Unless he was always supposed to join the Autobots after waking up on the Ark?
• Biff's outfit in the good future seems to be based on the regular outfits of the Witwicky family in the G1 cartoon
• The ending implies that Marty's new truck is a Decepticon in disguise, it's unclear who it could be, but the first thing that comes to mind would be one of the Dreads from the Movie series.

IDW - Transformers/Back To The Future #2

Written by: Cavan Scott

Art by: Juan  Samu

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editors: David Mariotte & Chase Marotz

Plot

In 1985, Gigawatt tries to get Marty to help him to save the future, but the human is scared at the sight of another giant robot, assuming he's with the ones who have enslaved his family. As a result, Starscream attacks the newcomer, and almost takes him out, until Marty throws the skateboard he's carrying at the Seeker, and it unexpectedly transforms into the Autobot Skilz, who manages to knock down Starscream, allowing Gigawatt to transform, and Marty and Skilz get onboard, and they time travel to 2015.

The 2015 they arrive in, turns out to be one where the Decepticons have been ruling the planet for over 30 years now, with the remaining Autobots led by Rodimus Prime. Once there, the Autobots explain to Marty that Emmett Brown is responsible for this future, as when he travelled to the original version of 2015, Rumble stowed away, a D feigned innocence to get Emmett to fix him up from his I juries following the earlier battle with Bumblebee.

Now in the future, Rumble contacts Megatron, telling him that he's finally gotten ahold of the time machine, and gives his location in Emmett's lab, but when he arrives, Megatron is revealed to be beaten down and near dead, having been overwhelmed by Optimus and the Autobots. seeing this sad sight, Rumble steals the time machine and travels back to 1974, where he enslaved Biff Tannen, and forces him to help him collect Energon for ten years.

In 1984, the future version of Rumble leads Tannen to Mt St Hillary, where they activate the Ark, and command it to only revive the Decepticons, allowing Megatron to slaughter most of the still sleeping Autobots. Afterwards, Megatron decides they don't need two Rumbles, so he kills the time travelling one, but saves his head, so the scientists can study it to learn his secrets.

One of the Decepticons, Gigawatt, realized just how evil Megatron is when he executed some humans for their teams getting behind schedule, so he scans the captured Time Machine, and escapes, quitting the Decepticons, but gets shot in his chest, damaging his flux capacitor.

Afterwards, Gigawatt joined the Autobot resistance and told them about what happened. Gigawatt intended to travel to 1974 to stop Rumble's mission from the start, but his flux capacitor's damage sent him to 1985 instead, where he happened to find Marty. Rodimus, knowing of Marty from their data on Emmett Brown ask if he knows how to fix the flux capacitor, but he states that the doctor is the only one who knows his to do that, and they don't know where he is now...

Meanwhile, in the Hill Valley Workcamp, George McFly stumbles out of exhausting, prompting Scrapper to prepare to terminate him and his wife, until he is shot from behind and electrocuted by Emmett Brown, who asks the McFlys if they will help him to save the world from the Decepticons...

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Gigawatt - Modified DeLorean Time Machine

Skilz - Skateboard

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

1984 Optimus Prime (Flashback Only) Killed by 1984 Megatron

Hound (Flashback Only) Likely Killed by Megatron

Jazz (Flashback Only) Likely Killed by Megatron

Original 2015 Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Scrapper - Front End Loader Electrocuted by Doc Brown

1985 Rumble - Cassette (Flashback Only) Killed by 1984 Megatron

1984 Megatron - Gun (Flashback Only)

Original 2015 Megatron - Gun (Flashback Only) Near Death

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Flashback Only)

1984 Rumble - Cassette (Flashback Only)

Flamewar - Motorcycle (Flashback Only)

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet (Flashback Only)

Shockwave (Flashback Only) Being Rebuilt

A Seeker (Flashback Only) Being Rebuilt

Other Decepticons (Flashback Only) Being Rebuilt

Human

Marty McFly

Doc Emmett Brown

George McFly

Lorraine Baines-McFly

Other Hill Valley Slaves

Biff Tannen (Flashback Only)

Pasadena Workcamp Coordinator (Flashback Only) Killed by Megatron

Arleta Workcamp Coordinator (Flashback Only) Killed by Megatron

Other

Einstein, the Dog

Notes

• Skilz, the newly introduced Autobot who was disguised as a skateboard is (obviously) based on the Armada character, Grinder, but with a slimmer body and new colour scheme
• From the characters available in the dark future of 2015, we can assume that bumblebee was the only survivor of the Autobot slaughter in 1984, with Rodimus, and others like Skilz arriving afterwards from Cybertron.
• Due to the nature of time travel, some alternate versions of the same character appear in this issue, so the character list might get a bit confusing....I'm assuming this will be the same in the next two issues too...
• As I guessed in the last issue, Rumble snuck aboard the DeLorean and used it to manipulate the timeline in the Decepticon's favour.
• Gigawatt being a former Decepticon could be a reference to his toy not featuring an Autobot insignia.
• So, if Gigawatt can scan the DeLorean to turn into a fully working time machine...can the others do the same too?

IDW - Transformers/Back to the Future #1

Written by: Cavan Scott

Art by: Juan Samu

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editors: David Mariotte & Chase Marotz

Plot

Rumble and Ravage have been deployed to Hill Valley where they are enjoying watching a kid in a Delorean being shot at and chased by some Libyan terrorists, however they're shocked when he suddenly vanishes and returns later. Analysing the area, Soundwave and Megatron determine that the vehicle is a time machine, and the too Cassettes are tasked with capturing it for them.

The duo follow Marty McFly and Doc Brown to Marty's neighborhood where they attempt to steal the time machine, but the Autobot Bumblebee finds and attacks them. When their fight starts to draw attention from the humans, Bumblebee band Ravage transform to hide, and Bee reverses over Ravage, crushing him in cassette mode.

Shortly afterwards, Doc Brown uses the Time machine again, shocking Bee to its abilities, but he neglects to report it to Optimus, who tells him to return to base.

Marty soon goes to bed, exhausted from his journey to the past, however he is soon awoken by his father, now wearing identical jumpsuits to the rest of the family, and are all led outside, where Marty finds the whole town has been enslaved by giant robots, the Decepticons.

Marty realises that something must have happened to the time stream and he needs to get away from the robots to try and find Doc Brown to try and resolve it. He escapes the human work camp, chased by Starscream, but the Decepticon is knocked out by the Delorean appearing through a time portal.

Initially Marty thinks it's the Doc inside the car, but it begins to transform, revealing another robot, Gigawatt, he knows who Marty is, and needs his help to fix the time stream!

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Hound - Military Jeep

Gigawatt - Delorean Time Machine

Decepticon

Megatron - Gun or Tank

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Ravage - Cassette Crushed by Bumblebee

Rumble - Cassette

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Scrapper - Front End Loader 

Human

Marty McFly

Doc Emmett Brown

George McFly

Linda McFly

Dave McFly

Lorraine Baines-McFly

Coordinator Biff Tannen

Libyan Terrorists

Other Human Slaves

Needles (Mentioned) Presumably Dead

Other

Einstein, the Dog

Notes

• This comic series is part of the now constant "Transformers Vs X" series, which in this case is also being used to advertise the new Gigawatt figure from the special collaboration line.
• The opening page features a note from Doc Brown that essentially tells the audience to enjoy the comic, and don't worry about continuity, much like we were told at the start of the MLP crossover series.
• This story is set at around the end of the first Back to the Future movie, where Marty travels through time and saves Doc Brown from his murder 
• The Transformers side of this continuity seems to be based on the designs from the G1 cartoon again, but Rumble us coloured his more traditional red and black colours, rather than using Frenzy's colours like in the cartoon.
• It's unclear why Marty was immune to the timeline changing after he returned him, maybe he was protected by the trans-temporal particles around him?
• Starscream's bullying of Biff Tannen in this story mirrors Biff's own bullying of the McFly boys in the main timeline.
• It's not revealed what happened in the past to cause the new Decepticon ruling timeline, but I'll guess that when Doc Brown went through time Rumble snuck aboard, managed to get to the past where he woke up the Decepticons early.

IDW - Optimus Prime #12

Title: Primeless Part 2

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Thundercracker and Buster arrive at Sanctuary Station where he finds Cosmos and the resident Decepticons all present, however Cosmos takes a headcount and finds that two shuttles are gone, one is accounted for, but the other is just gone...making everyone wonder who could have taken it...

In Mexico, Jazz is cornered by a bunch of humans with EDC weapons. The Colonists rush the scene to both protect Jazz and disarm the humans. They manage to scare off a bunch of the humans, and even capture some of their weapons, whilst also capturing one of their attackers too.

Jazz soon leads the Colonists across the border back into America where they are being led to the weapons dealers by their captive, where they wind up in a seemingly abandoned town.

Jazz gets the human to fetch the dealers, which he does, before escaping. The dealers begin to panic as the Transformers reveal themselves, with Jazz even crushing one of them...to reveal that he is actually a holomatter avatar, as Jazz had already figured out. The two avatars fade away and the Transformers tear apart the town, managing to find the weapons cache.

Soon a pair of motorcycles speed away, only to be stopped by Aileron, forcing the duo to reveal themselves to be Rumble and Frenzy, who surrender.

The team soon learn that Rumble and Frenzy have been supplying humans with ex-EDC weapons for money and out of boredom. Jazz asks if Optimus sent the Colonists after him, which Aileron denies, but suggests that Optimus would be glad to see him again. Jazz however isn't happy and feels that Optimus left him out to dry when he returned to Cybertron instead of helping him when he was ambushed before.

Soon another problem occurs to the group, if they arrest the Decepticons for their illegal weapons dealings, then the other Decepticons might get angry, and due to their current uneasy peace, it might be wise to just let them go unpunished. Slide is furious, and she knows that Optimus would suggest the same thing and sweep all these troubles under the carpet.

Jazz decides to stay on his own on Earth for a while and heads off, all whilst Slide continues to egg on Aileron and her duties...the Decepticons are happy to be let go though!

The Colonists return to Autobot City with most of the weapons, and tell Jetfire where the rest are for pick up, and are told that Soundwave ha left for Castle Destro. Aileron heads off to her room for some rest...but cannot settle down or sleep after today's events....

Characters

Autobot

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Jazz - Sports Car

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Arcee - Sports Car (Mentioned)

Kup - Pick Up Truck (Mentioned)

Tracks - Muscle Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Rumble - Motorcycle

Frenzy - Motorcycle

Sky-Byte - Shark

Laserbeak - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Needlenose - Fighter Jet

Slugslinger - Twin Nosed Fighter Jet

Squawkbox

Unidentified Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Mentioned)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Acid Storm - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Squeezeplay - Crab Monster (Mentioned)

The Seekers (Mentioned) Defunct

Colonist

Slide - Rear of Oil Tanker

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Roulette - Muscle Car

Mistress of Flame (Mentioned)

Sterling - Car (Mentioned) Dead

Oiler - Front of Oil Tanker (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Cosmos - Orbiter

Primus (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Junkions (Mentioned)

Human

Russell Hathaway

Patricia Heaton

Leon Weaver

Mateo Chavez

Lori Ho

Earl Howard

Mexican Vigilantes

Madame President (Mentioned)

Earth Defence Command (Mentioned) Defunct

Skywatch (Mentioned) Defunct

GI Joe (Mentioned)

United Nations (Mentioned)

Destro (Mentioned)

John Powell (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Buster the Dog

Notes

• Shockingly this issue isn't drawn by Kei Zama but rather Andrew Griffith, the original artist for the Robots in Disguise series, which this series is the successor to. He is really good at emulating her style!
• Cosmos' subtitle in this issue is "Autobot Ally" implying that he has left the faction following his previous appearance in the series.
• The two weapons dealers that Rumble and Frenzy are posing as use the likeness of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction.
• And lo and behold it is revealed that the guys involved in spreading EDC weapons to the humans were Rumble and Frenzy all along...they are jerks!
• Jazz seems under the impression that Optimus just left him to fend for himself when he was ambushed by GI Joe....did he forget that Optimus sent him a warning?! I know most others wont know about that, but surely Jazz would!
• Midnight Express claims that the colonies can do well by themselves....uh...bullshit? You are from Caminus, a colony that was on the verge of death due to a lack of resources. It got so bad you sent random teams into space to hope to find Cybertron....
• Metrotitan/Autobot City is shown to be at the Arctic Circle by the end of this issue. This was where we found it when GI Joe came to ask Soundwave for help in the main First Strike story.
• From the Colonist's interview panels it seems like Slide has developed a two-faced personality and is talking up Optimus in public, but sowing seeds of doubt behind the scenes...sounds sort of like her apparent idol Pyra Magna...

IDW - Transformers vs G.I. Joe #1

Title: I Saw Three Ships

Written by: Tom Scioli and John Barber

Art, Colours and Lettering by: Tom Scioli

Production by: Chris Mowry

Edits by: Carlos Guzman

Plot

General Flagg shouts at Snake-Eyes, whilst he's living out a peaceful life in solitude and basically forces him to re-enlist in GI Joe.

The Joes go full out in a battle with a Cobra group, led by Tomax and Xamot, but which ends with the Twins being captured by the Joes. Elsewhere, Destro wants to send in reinforcements, but the new Cobra leader, Serpentress tells him not to, as she wants the Joes to believe that Cobra is disorganized following Cobra Commander's death.

Duke and Scarlett travel to a mystery location to discuss with the heads of GI Joe about an incoming asteroid, which they know to be an alien species from a planet called Cybertron, and that the aliens within want a meeting.

Later, three alien ships appear and Hawk meets with the aliens inside. One of them, Ravage, talks with Hawk about the humans surrendering to the Decepticons. Before long Snake-Eyes for some reason shoots Hawk from afar (but doesn't kill or seemingly hurt him at all) and a fight breaks out. The ships turn into giant robots (Starscream, Shockwave and Soundwave) and start attacking the Joes.

It's revealed that earlier the Joes remembered the fight from Issue #0 and the robots who were involved, and decide to get the Colton Bolt ready for usage if needed. The battle continues in the present, and the Joes run away at the last second before the Colton Bolt shoots down a death beam from space and bits the larger Transformers which Laserbeak and Rumble fly away, only to be captured by Cobra in a ship of their own, and are offered sanctuary with them.

Later the Joes return to base, when Flagg receives a message from Scarelett and her team on the ship, Defiant, where they are approaching Cybertron, intending to invade it....yeah....

Characters

Decepticon

Soundwave - Space Ship Maybe Killed by Colton Bolt

Shockwave - Space Ship Maybe Killed by Colton Bolt

Starscream - Skystriker Jet (Formerly Space Ship) Maybe Killed by Colton Bolt

Ravage Maybe Killed by Hawk's Magic Tomahawk

Rumble

Laserbeak

Megatron (Mentioned)

GI Joe

General Flagg

General Austin

Snake-Eyes

Duke

Hawk

Lady-Jaye

Scarlett

Flint

Gung--Ho

Spirit

Dial Tone

Roadblock

Beachhead

Mutt and Junkyard

Flash

Ace

Joseph Colton (Flashback or Hologram)

Way too many Joes to name...

Cobra

Serpentress

Destro

Tomax Captured by GI Joe

Xamot Captured by GI Joe

Cobra Troops

Cobra Commannder (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Street Prophet

Notes

• I would just like to begin these notes by mentioning that I am not really a major GI Joe fan, so I have NO idea who a lot of the unnamed characters are in this comic (and the bad art doesn't help much with identification)
• A lot of scenes seem to suddenly jump from one scene to another without any sort of narrative (such as the non-transition between page 1 and 2)
• The Serpentress (named in the after-commentary) seems very clear to be the Baroness having survived the explosion in issue #0. The name and design are in homage to Serpentor.
• Wow, those are some terrible looking Spaceships the Decepticons turn into huh?!
• Also, the Decepticons all seem to be acting very oddly, they all seem to ACTUALLY worship Megatron as a god, even Starscream....
• Starscream demonstrates scanning a new alternate mode here when he takes on a Skystriker jet as a new mode (then randomly starts "merping"...I dunno why)
• I'd guess from the piledrivers that it is Rumble who appears here, despite him having the cartoon's colouring mistake of making him look like Frenzy
• Hawk's Tomahawk does something to Ravage, again due to the art it's unclear but it seems to have slashed into his head...the characters don't even seem to know what's going on here
• So the Joes have death rays in orbit around Earth and have built spaceships with the intention of invading an alien world....are we SURE these are the good guys?
• Also, why do the humans have technology that allows for any of that, including the means to communicate instantly from another planet?!
• Seriously, I hope there's no oxygen on Cybertron when they land at this rate!
• Snake-Eyes appears to have broken things off with Scarlett after his injury.
• I would assume that the bulk of the Joe's spaceship is made from the remains of Bumblebee's spaceship from Issue #0

IDW - Robots in Disguise #22

Title: Soundwaves

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith (Present Day) and Livio Ramondelli (Past)

Colours by: Priscilla Tranontano (Present Day) and Livio Ramondelli (Past)

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Four million years ago, Soundwave is transplanting former Sennator Ratbat's brain module from his body, and taking it into his custody, when Shockwave arrives and asks what he intends to do with Ratbat now, they comment on how the massacre of the Senate is a massive event in history, and Shockwave comments on how Megatron is how battling Sentinel Prime, and offers to create Ratbat's new body for him.

In the present, Soundwave and Shockwave start too battle, with Soundwave disgusted with his lack of loyalty, Shockwave reveals that he knows Soundwave is alone, and tells him that he shouldn't have come here, however Soundwave reveals that all his cassettes are with him, and calls them out.

Before the revolution, Soundwave and Megatron meet up, and discuss the future of the Decepticons and the government in general. Soundwave suggests to Megatron to allow his Decepticons to be captured by the senate and sent to Kaon, where the senate would hold an emergency session, called by Ratbat, at Soundwave's behest, so they can attack them from the inside, and wipe them out.

In the present, Soundwave and his cassettes fight Shockwave and Dreadwing, but due to the Ore-14 in the caverns neither side can win, and everyone who is killed is instantly revived again.

In the past, Megatron welcomes Senator Shockwave to his forces, and has Soundwave act as his handler. Soundwave takes an instant disliking to him and even tells Megatron that one day he'll need to kill him. Further in the past, Megatron meets with Soundwave in the Gladiator pits on Ratbat''s orders to make an alliance with him. Soundwave is having problems with his abilities with so many people near him, but Megatron impresses him with his truthfulness and his attitude towards the cassettes being equal beings, unlike how the rest of the world sees them (with Functionalists being prevalent still). Soundwave understands Megatron's real goal - he want's equality.

In the present again, Soundwave and his friends are allowed to leave, as Shockwave knows how pointless a battle with no possible victor is, and he knows Soundwave cannot stop him anyway. He contacts Jhiaxus and has him transport the Metrotitan from Gorlam Prime to him.

In the distant past, Ratbat finds Soundwave and his cassettes hiding out underground, where Soundwave is trying to isolate himself due to his abilities. Ratbat promises him various things, but in the process insults Ravage and the others.

In the present again, Soundwave returns to the Decepticon camp and tells them of what Shockwave is up to, or at least what he knows about it, and tells them that a major battle is about to start, just as a bright light comes from the Crystal City again.

A long time ago, Ravage, Lasserbeak and Buzzsaw are hanging out when they come across a distraught Soundwave struggling with his abilities. They start to help him by giving him something to focus on, and focus his powers onto as well...forging an eternal bond.

Characters

Autobot/Future Autobot

Grimlock - Armoured Truck (Flashback)

Sentinel Prime - Truck (Flashback - Hologram Only)

Orion Pax - Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon/Future Decepticon

Soundwave - Van

Ravage - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Laserbeak - Data Disk

Rumble - Tank

Frenzy - Tank

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Dreadwing - Stealth Bomber

Astrotrain - Space Shuttle/Train

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Needlenose - Jet

Waspinator - Wasp

Megatron - Tank (Flashback)

Senator Ratbat (Flashback)

Thundercracker - Jet (Flashback)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback)

Blackwall (Flashback)

Scorponok (Flashback)

Other Decepticons (Flashback)

Other

Jhiaxus

Gorlam Titan

Cybertronian Senate (Flashback) Killed by the Decepticons

Gladiator Audience (Flashback)

Monstructor - Gestalt (Mentioned)

Senator Proteus (Mentioned)

Senator Decimus (Mentioned)

Ratioists (Mentioned)

Functionalists (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the last prequel story to the Dark Cybertron event
• The flashbacks spliced into this story are in reverse chronological order.
• This story shows that when Soundwave transplanted Ratbat's spark into a cassette he also took the brain module too. It also shows that the cassette wasn't his new body, but just a storage device, as Shockwave says he'll design him a new body.
• Shockwave reveals that the pointless battle between Dreadwing and Soundwave was just to test if he had his cassettes with him, as he assumed he'd call on them if they were.
• It's revealed here that the plan to allow the Decepticons to be captured by the Senate was Soundwave's, and that he was manipulating Ratbat all along as he never liked him.
• Grimlock and Scorponok are shown fighting in the Gladiator pits, showing us a part of their unseen history.
• It's revealed that Soundwave joined Megatron originally because he didn't see his cassettes as inferior, or as beasts, like the others did, but as equals.
• It's also shown here that Soundwave is an Outlier of sorts, but learned his control from Ravage (who is able to smell unlike anyone else), which is why he cares so much for his cassettes, as they saved him.
• Rumble and Frenzy are still able to be stored within Soundwave, despite being tanks now.
• The Ratioists are most likely something to do with the Original Thirteen, as it's been mentioned that all Transformers are descended from them, and that they all represented a different type of Transformer (bestial robots, female etc)