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 - Lost Light #15

Title: The Scavengers in: Kill All 'Cons

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Brendan Cahill and Sara Pitre-Durocher

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Grimlock, shackled, is taken to meet with Scorponok and Flame, where he demands to know what has been going on, and even feigning that he doesn't know or care about the Scavengers, whom he killed in his cell just before.

Scorponok and Flame explain that they took the Magnificence from Grimlock's chest, but that it has developed some sort of moral code, not answering anyone that it deems untrustworthy, however due to Scorponok having human brain patterns inside his head, thanks to his previous bonding with Abraham Dante, he is still able to get answers from it. Soon however, the Scavengers arrive and surround Scorponok and Flame, taking the Magnificence from them. They explain that Nickel was able to force Grimlock into his dinosaur mode, letting him think clearer, thanks to her theory that he has extra pressure on his brain module in robot mode, making him unable to think properly. Spinister is allowed to examine his brain in this mode, so he can be back to his old self. In the process Krok gets the idea to have Nickel and Spinister carefully take the Scavengers to pieces and make it look like they've died, so they can get Grimlock out, and escape when the guards leave the cell open, since why would someone lock up a cell of corpses?

The team try to figure out what Scorponok's ultimate goal is, but he is unwilling to tell them, however Fulcrum just asks the Magnifence. Scorponok, unwilling to let someone else take his thunder, he opens his chest and reveals his ultimate goal...a purple baby human with a Decepticon insignia printed on the face inside a pod. He plans to transplant all Decepticon sparks into organic bodies, allowing them to reproduce and create a massive army that they will then be transplanted into new mechanical bodies, to finally take down the Autobots.

Scorponok offers to let the Scavengers join him as commanders in his new army, if they simply kill Grimlock. The crew however immediately decline the offer, stating that they don't want to go back to war.

Scorponok is disappointed, but simply waves his hand, taking control of all their sparks, utilizing their badges being made from their spark casing as weapons. He intends to use their sparks to power the next few organic Decepticons, however before he can succeed, Nickel reaches the Magnificence, which gives her the solution, she throws her communicator to Scorponok, telling him it's a call for him.

Scorponok puts the communicator to his head, where he hears Tarn, who's voice slowly and painfully paralyses him. Flame calls for help from the other troops on the ship, whilst Grimlock prepares to finish off Scorponok, being stopped by Misfire, who wants to rescue the baby, since she's innocent in all this.

Soon, the Scavengers, now with the Firstborn of the new Decepticon army and the Magnificence in tow fight their way to a transmat suite, led bythe Magnificence's direction, where Misfire explains his plan, they should head to Garrus-9, so they can use their spark extractor technology to remove the Decepticon spark from the baby, and place it back inside one of the many dead bodies in the prison.

The Magnificence gives them the galactic coordinates to Garrus-9, but brings up that the organic baby will not survive a trip through the transmat chamber. Grimlock takes the baby's pod and places it inside his Magnificence brace, keeping it safe. However Misfire realizes that this means Grimlock can't join them in escaping, which he is not allowing. The Scavengers huddle up to decide what to do, but Grimlock just shoves them through the portal and destroys the controls, and gets ready to fight their oncoming attackers alone, declaring that he'll protect the baby, like Misfire protected him...

The Scavengers arrive inside Grimlock's old cell in Garrus-9, where they find the door locked, their communicators are all gone or broken, and the Magnificence has stopped working....leaving the crew to ask Krok what they should do now....

Several years earlier, Flywheels is rescued from floating in space by Krok and his crew, the Foragers, who have just stolen a prison escort ship, and Misfire starts trying to think up a new name for their group...

Nearby, Scorponok and Flame met a large ball of light which declares itself as "The Grand Architect" and tells them that they belong to him now....

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Decepticon

Misfire/Flyhigh - Jet Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

Fulcrum - K-Class Bomb Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

Spinister - Helicopter Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

Crankcase - Van Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

Nickel - Rocket Ppowered Car Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

Krok Trapped in Grimlock's Old Garrus-9 Cell

"The Firstborn"

Tarn - Tank (Voice Recording)

Flywheels - Tank/Jet (Flashback Only)

Rat-a-tat-tat (Mentioned) Spark used to Power "The Firstborn"

Thundersaur (Mentioned) Dead

Grand Architect's Faction

Scorponok - Scorpion Paralyzed by Tarn's voice message

Flame - Car

Worldsweeper Crew

The Grand Architect (Flashback Only)

The Infinites (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Agnoizer/The Curator (Mentioned)

Sparkeaters (Mentioned)

Human

Abraham Dante (Mentioned) Presumably Dead

Notes

• Further adding to the theory that the Magnificence is the remains of one of the Knights of Cybertron, it is said to have developed a moral code, rather than just answering every question asked.
• Scorponok mentions that he still has traces of Abraham Dante in his head, this implies that they are not binary bonded any more, likely meaning that he was removed in Garrus-9, and possibly died It's also likely that the Firstborn's genetic information likely came from Dante, since it does look quite human.
• I totally called it last issue with Nickel and Spinister making it just look like they were all killed by Grimlock!
• It's revealed that Grimlock's brain damage for the last few years has been due to pressure being applied to his brain...maybe if Spinister had of given him an actual check-up over these last years then he would have been fixed ages ago!
• Okay....having a baby human inside Scorponok is getting us dangerously close to pregnant transformers being canon and not just a creepy fan-art sub-genre...I agree with Fulcrum, it's disgusting...
• I don't get Scorponok's plan...I mean I'm sure he can transplant sparks into organic bodies, that's not much different to having organic alternate modes, or the Treecons from last issue, what I has a problem with is the reproduction thing, and then using the sparks from the offspring to create a massive Decepticon army in the future....why would a spark, which would be added to the body following birth naturally, also be reproduced too? That's not how sparks work...if he was making a Decepticon Matrix or something, then sure, but this makes no real sense to me.
• This issue confirms an earlier reveal that the Decepticon insignia is made using a piece of the Decepticon's own spark chamber, and that Scorponok used this process to control other Decepticons, as he did with making Grimlock sleep and wake up last issue. This is also likely further reasoning for the Decepticons and even Drift acting weird and combining during the Chaos event.
• Tarn is shown to have recorded a special message for Nickel on her communicator, allowing her to paralyze an opponent if needed. We learned last issue that he could use his vocal powers over a communicator when he did it to Shockwave, so it also turns out that he can do it via recordings.....did he never just try using this skill over a loudspeaker or something?!
• We don't see Scorponok again after the Scavengers get the Firstborn out of his chest, so he might actually have been killed by Tarn's voice message! (Also Grimlock was about to skewer him with his sword before he was stopped so they could rescue the baby)
• So, Grimlock actually does appreciate Misfire's help over the past few years, and now wants to do the same to keep the Firstborn safe. I wonder how long until he gets captured by the Worldsweeper's crew or Scorponok using his spark control power again?
• So, the Scavengers arrive in Grimlock's old cell in Garrus-9...I have a couple of questions....Why would the Magnificence send them there? They wanted to get to the spark extractor room, so why send them to his cell? Also during Last Stand of the Wreckers, the team find Grimlock's cell empty....why did they lock it back up after opening it?
• I'm not too worried about the Scavengers however, we saw in issue 12 that Agonizer could find them on a random planet to rescue them, so I'm sure he can do it again!
• It's revealed that Crankcase, before properly joining the Scavengers, was the pilot of the prison ship carrying Misfire to prison. The ship appears to be the Weak Anthropic Principle, and it was shown that Crankcase was the ship's pilot in More Than Meets The Eye.
• Just as with the corpse theory from last issue, I also called that Flywheels' disappearance from the group after leaving the Garrus-9 escape ship would lead to him meeting the other Scavengers for the first time.
• To my utter shock however, it turns out that Scorponok is NOT the Grand Architect, but rather some other figure who takes the form of a ball of light in space...intriguing....
• Okay, here's my theory on the finale of this series now: The Knights of Cybertron, are the Guiding Hand, and the five symbols we've seen repeatedly representing them are their individual sigils. The Grand Architect will be revealed to be Adaptus, who is known for being the supposed originator of the transformation cog, and his sigil resembling a gear. If true then my theory on Epistemus being the Magnifence, Solomus being the crystal inside the Matrix (creating the original map to Cyberutopia), Primus being Cybertron itself, and Mortilus just being an alternate name for Unicron, we have information for all members of the mythical quintet.
• If my theory is true, then the Grand Architect is not evil, and is just trying to prepare for the upcoming return and rampage of Unicron/Mortilus.

IDW - Lost Light #14

Title: The Scavengers in: The Ties That Bind

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher and Brendan Cahill

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Several years ago, Shockwave flies away from Garrus-9 during it's occupation by Overlord, he has several other prisoners with him for plans that he is keeping quiet for now. Shockwave received a call from Tarn of the DJD during his escape, and the two exchange pleasantries, Shockwave knows that he is at the top of the DJD's hit-list and offers the rest of his crew, other people on the list, in place of him going free. Tarn rejects the offer, since he plans to complete the list in exact order. This causes Shockwave to have a small meltdown since it makes no sense to do things in that way, leading Tarn to use his manipulative voice ability to try and cause Shockwave's spark to explode.

Flywheels and Flame have been listening to this call in secret and rush to Scorponok to escape before the DJD can actually kill Shockwave, and come after them afterwards. The three of them jump from the ship, just before Shockwave shoots his communicator, stopping Tarn's attack. Before the DJD can go after him again however, Bludgeon and his team arrive on the scene to rendezvous with Shockwave, forcing the DJD to abandon this target for now...

Today, Nickel tries calling Deathsaurus on his own communicator from Troja Major, which is where she and the Scavengers were spirited to before by Agonizer. Nickel is unimpressed by the Scavengers, especially Grimlock however since he was a major target on the DJD's list.

Nickel soon joins the Scavengers inside Agonizer's store where they are informed that Flame stole the Magnificence from a friend of Agonzier's, Mengel, and that after studying her files on it, believes that the Magnificence is one of the Knights of Cybertron's final forms. He asks the Scavengers to retrieve it in exchange for literally anything they want. They agree for an absurd amount of money and are warped to the planet, Confluence, where Flame's signal was last located.

The team arrive on the planet, in the middle of a forest, however Fulcrum realizes that something is wrong, as Confluence is supposed to be a desert planet. Suddenly the trees around them transform and surround the Scavengers, reminding them of the first time they found Grimlock and saw a dead one of these robots in a chair on the ship.

Grimlock goes to action and takes down the "Treecons" with ease. During the battle, Nickel reveals that she is a member of the DJD, but before the Scavengers can do anything, Grimlock tells them to leave her alone, as she is one of them now.

Soon, Scorponok explodes from the ground and attacks the Scavengers, Grimlock goes to attack him, but Scorponok just waves a claw, sending Grimlock unconscious.

Scorponok's crew put the Scavengers on their Worldsweeper ship and leave the planet. The Scavengers, bar Grimlock wake up in a cell, where the team explain how they found Grimlock on Clemency and have been trying to fix his mind ever since. They decide to look inside Grimlock's chest to see if Scorponok has a device in there that allowed him to knock him out before, but all they find inside is an empty cavity, with what looks like a brace for the Matrix to sit inside....

Scorponok arrives with Flame and some guards, who reveals that it's not for the Matrix, but the Magnificence. He and Flame reveal that they stole it from Grimlock after driving him mad and discarding his body on the ship he was found on.

Scorponok wakes Grimlock up using his claw trick again, having determined that the Scavengers are not part of the group he thought they were originally. Upon seeing Spinister next to him seemingly messing with his inner-chest parts, Grimlock reacts badly and tears off his arm. Scorponok and the others leave as Grimlock proceeds to seemingly attack his cellmates as they scream in pain...

Later, the guards notice one of the bars on the cell is shorting out, so they approach it, where they find Grimlock standing over his dismembered friends, demanding to speak to Scorponok...

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Decepticon

Misfire - Fighter Jet Torn Apart by Grimlock

Fulcrum - K-Class Bomb Torn Apart by Grimlock

Spinister - Helicopter Torn Apart by Grimlock

Crankcase - Van Torn Apart by Grimlock

Krok Torn Apart by Grimlock

Nickel - Rocket Car Torn Apart by Grimlock

Damus/Tarn - Tank (Flashback Only)

Amp/Kaon - Variable Voltage Harness (Flashback Only)

Scissorsaw/Tesarus - Metal Grinder (Flashback Only)

Crucible/Helex - Smelting Chamber (Flashback Only)

Dominus Ambus/Vos/The Pet - Turbofox (Flashback Only)

Forestock/Vos - Rifle (Flashback Only)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Flashback Only)

Flywheels - Tank/Jet (Flashback Only)

Bludgeon - Tank (Flashback Only)

Skip - Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Bomb-Burst - VTOL Jet (Flashback Only)

Finback - Hovercraft (Flashback Only)

Skullgrin - Tank (Flashback Only)

Kakuryu - Monster (Flashback Only)

Rairyu - Monster (Flashback Only)

Doryu - Monster (Flashback Only)

Goryu - Monster (Flashback Only)

Birdbrain - Monster (Flashback Only)

Bristleback - Monster (Flashback Only)

Scowl - Monster (Flashback Only)

Icepick - Monster (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Deathsaurus - Dragon (Mentioned)

Overlord - Tank and Jet (Mentioned)

Howlback - Cassette (Mentioned)

Mystery Gear Faction

Scorponok - Scorpion

Flame

Prison Guards

"Treecons" - Trees Many Killed by Grimlock

Other Cybertronian

Agonizer/The Curator

The Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Other

Mengel (Mentioned) Killed by Black Block Consortia 

The Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

The Omega Guardians (Mentioned) Ascended to a Higher Realm

Notes

• So we finally see who was in Shockwave's specially selected team! It was a bunch of Decepticons who were also on the DJD's list, so he could use them as bargaining chips for his own freedom. Good guy! Judging from the Dinoforce and Skip being amongst the guys there however, it seems likely that they ended up joining with Deathsaurus after Shockwave abandoned them some time after this flashback scene.
• This also shows how Scorponok and Flame escaped from Garrus-9, which was where we last saw them in continuity.
• Bomb-Burst, Skullgin and Finback were last seen during the Stormbringer era where they appeared to be killed during the story. I guess it's possible they survived their "deaths" and were captured afterwards though.
• Also the planet Garrus-9 is officially named as Elba in IDW now, after being named that in the Animated continuity
• The Vos seen in the opening flashback is clearly supposed to be Dominus Ambus in disguise, with the hooked hands, but he's otherwise drawn like the later Vos, which was not his character model.
• Flywheels isn't seen floating with Scorponok and Flame in space after escaping the ship, most likely he's flown away in jet mode to eventually join with the other Scavengers.
• Bludgeon's role in this story is a bit confusing. Scorponok's dialogue implies that Bludgeon and his crew were amongst the escapees with Shockwave. However Shockwave was freed after the bulk of the opening attacks from the Purge, when we saw Bludgeon and his team going after Kup's team at the very start of the Purge...so...was he somehow freed early and kept in touch with Shockwave in some way?
• So, turns out I was wrong, and the guy who rescued the Scavengers and Nickel last we saw them was Agonizer. He was previously mentioned as being familiar with Krok in the past, so I guess this makes sense!
• It's implied by Nickel that Grimlock was the one who caused Tarn's facial scars.
• It's theorized in this issue that the Magnificence was originally a member of the Knights of Cybertron who shed his body to focus solely on knowledge. This is somewhat similar to the story of Epistimus, one of the Guiding Hand who was reduced to a brain module in the final battle of the Hand...maybe this is the same brain?
• Nickel confirms this issue that Grimlock WAS at one point a Decepticon, and defected to the Autobots.
• Wow this issue resolves a lot of loose plot threads around the Scavenger's adventures! The Treecons, Worldsweeper, Grimlock locked in a Stasis Pod and even the strange experiments they encountered on Clemency were all caused by Scorponok's group
• The mystery around Grimlock's condition is also explained. When Garrus-9 was attacked, the Magnificence, which was previously stored under the Aequitas computer was moved into a special brace placed into Grimlock's chest, which could only be opened by Grimlock being broken mentally. Scorponok used the Warren (currently being used by Getaway to reach Cyberutopia) to steal Grimlock from G-9 and drove him mad to release the orb.....wait...then why did it end up in Mengel's hands if they got it out of Grimlock's chest?
• Hmmm...looking at the bodies of the Scavengers, none of them look any worse than just piecing themselves back together, especially since both Spinister and Nickel are medics.I doubt they're dead (plus the solicit for next issue seems to imply they survive too)
• I don't know why, but the weird storm on Troja Major makes me think that it's going to be under attack from Unicron soon...maybe the radiation is an early attack of his in this universe?

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye: Revolution

Title: The Scavengers in: Nothing Will Ever be the Same Again!

Written by: Nick Roche and James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Chris Mowry

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Four weeks ago, Crankcase began talking to an individual called "Cons4eva" on The Big Conversation, and within a couple weeks the two have sparked a near-romantic relationship, and decide to meet up on Earth...

Today, Grimlock is rampaging through Texas, and causes horrible damage everywhere he goes. A member of GI Joe from the area is trying to investigate the situation, but he has no idea what he's doing. Soon, two apparent agents of MASK appear and suggest they work together to solve the giant dinosaur attack. The GI Joe member, MP3, heads out in his "Action Van", whilst the MASK agents summon their vehicles, a pink Cybertronian jet and a purple helicopter, emblazoned with Decepticon insignias...

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Crankcase is panicking about his imminent meeting with his new love, and he reveals to Krok and Fulcrum that he hasn't seen him, or even learned his real name. The two other Decepticons leave with him for moral support, but decide to leave Misfire and Spinister behind, since they're "playing nice" with Grimlock in his room (unaware that Grimlock is on a rampage, and the others are chasing him right now). Outside, they come face-to-face with Cons4eva, who is revealed to be...THUNDERWING?!

Spinister and Misfire follow the path of destruction to chase Grimlock, when they realize that MP3 has disappeared, they back-track and find him with his van broken down. MP3 decides to drop out of the mission, so the "MASK agents" take off their masks to say goodbye, Spinister's "head" underneath is just a smaller version of his mask, and Misfire's is a deformed cyclops creature, causing MP3 to pass out in shock. After his passing out, the Decepticons hear about Grimlock rampaging on his radio, so they begin to head out again.

Back at the Weak Anthropic Principle, the Decepticons are scared of Thunderwing being present, since he destroyed Cybertron and Nebulos in the past. They attack him, and return to the ship, planning to get Grimlock's help in the fight, however Thunderwing manages to smash his way into the ship, then turns back into his true form, a Dire Wraith...

Spinister and Misfire arrive in Arlington, where they witness a paramedic revive a human who had stopped breathing, then realize that MP3 was probably not dead like they decided...Spinister quickly heads back to where they buried him hoping to save him.

Back at the WAP, the Dire Wraith is revealed to be Cons4eva, and he wanted Crankcase's help to initiate "The Crossover" a ceremony from Temptoria where three separate species work together to open a portal to a new universe. Crankcase says he doesn't wish to come with him, but will help him to travel to the new universe though, but they still need a third species to help them....Just then, Spinister returns with an unconscious MP3 in his arms, asking for help.

Grimlock has stopped his rampage, and digs into the ground of a building site, when Misfire appears, Grimlock draws a sword from, the ground and rushes towards Misfire, but stops just before hitting, so he can show him the names of the other Dinobots on the hilt, Misfire realizes that the sword was a gift from his friends, and also remembers that this was where he was arrested and sent to Garrus-9, the last time he saw the other Dinobots. Grimlock calms down, and both of them return to the ship...

Later, MP3 agrees to help with the Crossover, after realizing that this is what he's been waiting for, and the reason he didn't resign from GI joe like the rest of his team had. The trio of misfits work together to open the portal, but it's much too small for any of them to enter.

Later on, Cons4eva hitches a ride with the Scavengers to the next starhub, as he doesn't believe in the mission on Earth and wants a fresh start. MP3 agrees to join the Scavengers as their first human member, so he sends his resignation letter through the portal, which can send things anywhere the user desires, but before he can get onto the ship, Fulcrum takes off, refusing to allow him aboard, since he hates humans so much (it's all those pores!) Leaving MP3 to rummage through the portal, hoping to get the letter back before Scarlett an read it!

Characters

Decepticon

Misfire - Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Crankcase - Van

Fulcrum - Bomb

Krok

Thunderwing - Space Ship (Illusion Only)

"Starscream's Ghost" (Chat Room Only)

"Trypticat" (Chat Room Only)

"Cassette Man" (Chat Room Only)

"Till All Are Con" (Chat Room Only)

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Slag - Triceratops (Mentioned)

Sludge - Apatosaurus (Mentioned)

Snarl - Stegosaurus (Mentioned)

Swoop - Pteranodon (Mentioned)

GI Joe

MP3

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Duke (Mentioned)

Webcam (Mentioned) Resigned from GI Joe

Startup (Mentioned) Resigned from GI Joe

Blue Tick (Mentioned) Resigned from GI Joe

Tommy Staples (Mentioned) Resigned from GI Joe

Other Human

Brandon

Amarillo Police

People in Arlington

MASK (Mentioned)

Other

"Cons4eva"

The Brand (Mentioned)

Temptorians (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue continues the new trend of the MTMTE parts of crossovers not including the regular cast of the series. Titans Return focused on the Luna-1 crew, and this one focuses on the recurring Decepticon team called "The Scavengers".
• We see in this issue that "The Big Conversation" is just a Decepticon forum board/chat room where everyone has profiles etc. It's also apparently accessible from other networks, like the Earth's internet!
• People not being as scared as you may think they'd be when Grimlock is rampaging across Texas is probably due to the Transformers being known to exist on Earth again over the past year or so.
• Spinister's holomatter model appears to be female, despite the height and male name.
• Crankcase's history with Thudnerwing was shown in Stormbringer, where he was part of the Nebulos Infiltration Team, where most of the team were killed by the zombie-like Decepticon.
• Spinister's comments that no one knows what MASK is, is likely due to both their recent forming in continuity, and the series only just beginning in the real world.
• So...Spinister and Misfire thought MP3 was dead, so they buried him...AND HE WAS STRUGGLING AS IT HAPPENED!! Hey I guess it's lucky they didn't pull him apart for spare parts like they did to Flywheels after his death!
• The entire dialogue regarding "The Crossover" is littered with jokes regarding the concept on crossover comics. It's hilarious if you are in the know :)
• Grimlock's sword is located underground in a building site, implying that the Machination base that was at that location was demolished at some point since Maximum Dinobots.
• The Admin Force are quite pathetic in the GI Joe troops, they make their own names, costumes and technology. They're basically the "unofficial fan club " of GI Joe rather than a real part of it.
• It's unclear how Cons4eva could turn himself into Thunderwing, since the Dire Wraiths in this series are parasites and not just shapeshifters like they were in Marvel. It's possible that he used the often mentioned black magicks of the group to change his appearance.
• Slug's name is still "Slag" here, due to the sword being gifted BEFORE his name change due to Arcee's complaints of inappropriateness.