IDW - Transformers: War's End #4

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Inks by: Matt Froese, Rik Mack & Maria Keane

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assists by: Ed Pirrie & Ben Pirrie

Letters by: Jake M. Wood & Nathan Widick

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Exarchon attempts to infest the body of Devastator, but due to his gestalt spark, he can resist, much to Exarchon's shock. The stress of the defiance causes Devastator to fall apart into his component parts.

Exarchon turns to the other bots assembles around him to usurp one of them instead, leading to most of them to run away in fear.

Flamewar is left behind by accident, as she was asking the Constructicons what it was like to be combined, when Exarchon attacks her, intending to take her body, but is interrupted by Soundblaster, who informs him that there are enemies nearby, taking him down below again. Flamewar runs away too, before she can be attacked again.

Elsewhere, the assembles Autobots and Decepticons work on their plans, when the Decepticon scientists arrive, revealing their plan to use the last Titanspark, whose casing has been rigged to trap Exarchon if he tries to usurp it. They are also going to have Mindwipe hypnotize Exarchon to make him attempt it. The assembled forces agree with this plan, despite it sacrificing a future Titan...

Down below, Exarchon infestsbgis spark into the giant drill and launches it towards the Allspark, where he intends to fuse with the planet itself, and conquer the world.

The Autobot team inside the base hear all of this, and start tunneling to intercept the drill with Zetar.

Exarchon ends up returning to the surface with the Clone-Drones, whist Soundblaster and his Infiltration Troopers go after the Autobots, to allow the plan to succeed.

On the surface, the combined forces meet with Exarchon's troops, and a full battle erupts, leading to Mindwipe managing to hypnotize Exarchon, and Cyclonus opens the Titanspark casing for him to usurp.

With Exarchon seemingly defeated, Onslaught and the others are forced to surrender, and Sixshot collects the spark to bring to Megatron, however Pyra Magna shatters the spark, not allowing Megatron to have an Exarchon-infused Titanspark.

The underground team manage to reach the drill, but are attacked by Soundblaster and his crew, Zetar does manage to core through the drill, destroying it, but hurting himself, and causing a large explosion in the process.

The Autobots escape the drill tunnel before it collapses in on itself, and Landmine deliberately leaves Frenzy there, recognising him as the one who killed Brainstorm, and starting this whole situation.

On the surface, Sixshot and Pyra Magna split up their forces, due to their differing ideologies, and Cyclonus decides to remain in the Canyons, now that his war is finally over. Sixshot returns towards Iacon with the Constructicons, and Pyra is intending to extract the Autobots still down below.

Landmine and the others down below make their ways out of the tunnel, and into the lab, where they hear a "worp" sound, and notice that the Imploder that was on display in the lab is now missing...

Characters

Autobot

Pyra Magna - Truck

Sunstreaker - Car

Jumpstream - Car

Windcharger - Car

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Sureshot - Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Decepticon

Sixshot - Jet/Tank/Gun/Car/Winged Beast

Slipstream - Jet

Shadow Striker - Car

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Hyperdrive - Car

Blackjack - Car

Bitstream - Jet

Mindwipe - Bat

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Swift - Helicopter

Tracer - Helicopter

Roughstuff - Truck

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Threefold Spark

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon Body Abandoned for Titanspark

Exarchon - Drill Cores by Zetar

Soundblaster - Hovercraft Likely Trapped in Tunnel Rubble

Rumble - Cassette Likely Trapped in Tunnel Rubble

Frenzy - Cassette Trapped in Alternate Mode, Trapped in Tunnel Rubble 

Onslaught - Tank Captured by Sixshot

Brawl - Tank Captured by Sixshot

Vortex - Helicopter Likely Captured by Sixshot

Clone-Drone Army - Jets

Other Cybertronian

Last Titanspark Rigged to trap Exarchon, destroyed by Pyra Magna when Infested

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet 

Scrapper - Front End Loader

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Scavenger - Excavator

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Hook - Crane

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt 

Grudge (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Paragon (Ghost)

Provoke (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Primus (Mentioned)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• This issue marks the finale of the Wars End series, and is concurrently the end of the Transformers main comic series, to be followed up by Fate of Cybertron at the end of June.
• Exarchon refers to the Clone-Drone Army as "Seekers" this issue, this is a bit of an error, since the Seekers were formed to counter the Clone-Drones.
• Strangely, we don't see the Deathsaurus body, post-Exarchon's extraction. While previous issues clarify that he would be dead, we never see it here 
• We don't see what happens to Vortex, Soundblaster, Rumble or Frenzy at this issue's climax. It can be assumed that Vortex was captured along with the other Combaticons, but the latter three appear to be trapped underground. I wonder if Fate of Cybertron will show us anything about them?
• Zetar cores through the drill that was infused with Exarchon's spark, which was designed to infect the Allspark, and never speaks, or shows his eyes after the attack...so is there a chance that Exarchon somehow infested inside Zetar when he destroyed the drill?
• Skywarp steals the Imploder that he appeared with at the end of Transformers #43 from Exarchon's Sonic Canyon base, and we know that he goes to intercept Optimus and his crew on their way to Darkmount with it.
• Cyclonus seems to retire this issue from fighting, now that Exarchon is finally (hopefully) dead.
• So it seems like, if the original timeline would have been maintained, then Exarchon's drill would have hit the Allspark, and infested the planet, making it inhospitable for Cybertronians, leading to their deaths or enslavement.

IDW - Transformers: War's End #3

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assists by: Ed Pirrie

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

In the Sonic Canyons, Pyra Magna's and Sixshot's forces fight against Exarchon and his followers. During the fight, Jumpstream arrives to warn about the return of Devastator, when she sees Onslaught about to kill Cyclonus, but she saves his life, seemingly changing history, and the fight comes to a brief halt.

Elsewhere, Devastator joins up with Exarchon's forces, along with Slipstream's team. Everyone is impressed with the combiner, especially Exarchon.

At Shockwave's hidden base, Exarchon is admiring Sunstorm, and his extreme energy exposure. Exarchon wants to infest him, but Shockwave denies him, explaining how dangerous he is.

Soon Megatron arrives at the base to speak to Shockwave, which interests Exarchon too.

Before Megatron arrives, Exarchon ignores Shockwave, and releases Sunstorm, intent on infesting him, as well as Megatron. The Decepticon leader however denies him too, shooting into his chest, and smashing him into Sunstorm, who proceeds to accidentally smelting him.

Megatron orders Skywarp to head to the Sonic Canyons to find out Exarchon's secrets and to return them to him, whilst he remains behind to discuss what Shockwave's been up to in secret.

Feeling his other body's destruction, and not wanting to risk being left in just one body, he attempts to infest Devastator as his own....

Characters

Autobot

Pyra Magna - Truck

Jumpstream - Car

Groundbreaker - Jet

Sunstreaker - Car

Windcharger - Car

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Sureshot - Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Perceptor (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Car/Gun/Winged Beast

Swift - Helicopter

Blackjack - Car

Acid Storm - Jet

Ion Storm - Jet

Nova Storm - Jet

Sunstorm - Jet

Rage - Car

Three-fold Spark/Affiliated Decepticons

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon

Exarchon/Flatline - Van Blasted by Megatron, Smelted by Sunstorm

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Onslaught - Tank

Brawl - Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Shadow Striker - Car

Slipstream - Jet

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Hyperdrive - Car

Clone-Drone Army - Jets

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Provoke (Ghost)

Paragon (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Constructicons (Mentioned)

Other

"The Quintessence" (Mentioned)

Notes

• This marks the penultimate issue of the Wars End comic :(
• Jumpstream appears to avert her predicted death by saving Cyclonus' life this issue. She even mentions feeling odd after doing it.
• Slipstream and most of her crew join up with Shockwave's crew under Exarchon.
• Shockwave is revealed to be the one to summon Devastator this issue, most likely initially to be used against Megatron and the Autobots.
• Sunstorm's energy exposure storyline, though most likely planned to be different, has been used for defeating part of Exarchon.
• It doesn't appear that Megatron killing Exarchon was a part of his intentions, he was most likely hedging his bets on who to ally himself with, perhaps intending for Exarchon to infest Megatron.
• Nova Storm appears to have recovered from her apparent death by magnetic crushing from Windcharger.
• I wonder if Exarchon infesting Devastator would affect the six components. Could this be a situation similar to the Aerialbots in the old IDW continuity, who were only the Earth Enigma when combined.

IDW - Transformers: War's End #2

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Skywarp arrives at Decepticon HQ, and warns them about Exarchon's return, and that he has plans at the Sonic Canyons, which must be stopped or Cybertron will fall.

Megatron, who was in the middle of peace talks with Optimus, agrees to Optimus to a ceasefire, so they can handle Exarchon. Megatron orders Sixshot and Slipstream to lead their teams to the Sonic Canyons to handle the situation.

At the Sonic Canyons, the Autobot team are hiding from Exarchon, when Zetar digs through the ground, having found something underground for them to see. Exarchon has a Clone Drone army, a massive drill and an Imploder...

Pyra Magna, having received a distress call from the Canyon team heads there with his Compatriots, but Pyra orders Jumpstream to not join them, as she wants to avoid her death, as predicted by her future travels. 

Soundblaster and his team arrive to assist Exarchon, on Shockwave's orders, with some of them heading into the tunnels to deal with the Autobots.

The Decepticon teams arrive, but Slipstream has been ordered by Shockwave to stand back, and not join the fight. Some of the team disobey and join the fight immediately, and the others start to question Shockwave's commands...

The Decepticons engage the Exarchon-allied bots in the Canyons, but the giant dragon form of Exarchon joins the fight to deal with the Decepticons, however Pyra's team arrkves just in time to join the battle too.

Back in Iacon, the Science team confront Megatron, about whether it is a good idea to create a new Titan, with Exarchon wandering around.

Meanwhile, Jumpstream sees a shooting star, and decides to follow it, since she can't join the battle, however she soon discovers that it is actually Devastator, who has returned to Cybertron to join the battle. She cannot contact Pyra, due to the interference from the Canyons, do she teleports there, to give the warning in person, despite the risks....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Pyra Magna - Truck

Jumpstream - Car

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Groundbreaker - Jet

Sunstreaker - Car

Windcharger - Car

Sureshot - Buggy

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Starscream - Jet

Slipstream - Jet

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Gun/Car/Winged Beast

Shadow Striker - Car

Blackjack - Car

Hyperdrive - Car

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Tracer - Helicopter

Swift - Helicopter

Roughstuff - Truck

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

Mindwipe - Bat

Bitstream - Jet

Astrotrain - Train/Shuttle 

Three-fold Spark

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Onslaught - Tank

Brawl - Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Clone-Drone Army - Jets

Exarchon/Flatline - Van (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Devastator - Construction Gestalt

Last Titan Spark Inert

Lodestar - Titan Ship (Mentioned)

Insecticon Clones - Insects (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Other

Flyts

Rust Worms

Exarchon's Re-makers (Flashback)

Notes

• We see the other side of the conversation between Optimus and Megatron from Transformers 41 here.
• Starscream and Soundwave are finally working together now, ever since Soundwave has hated him for taking his job as head of intelligence.
• Jumpstream notes that Cybertron was intact when she went to the future, so she thinks history ahs already been altered with the Rust Worms eating the surface as they currently are.
• Both Cyclonus and Jumpstream are present by the end of the issue at the Sonic Canyons, where the future version if Swift told Jumpstream she saw them die...
• Exarchon is revealed to possess an imploder, which is the same weapon used to kill the Titans Croaton and Vigilem.
• Deathsaurus/Exarchon seems to take some interest in who Onslaught is. We see in the dark future that Onslaught was one of the bodies he used in that period.
• Jumpstream absentmindedly comments that she sees a Titan when she sees a shooting star in the sky, much like Rubble did back in the early days of the series.
• Exarchon further comments this issue about how he was altered by the "Quintessence" and we even see tendrals operating on him in the flashback. I think we're seeing the Quintessons here...
• Exarchon's plan is revealed to be to infest the Allspark itself, in order to control all of Cybertron itself.
• Team Stream, who are affiliated with Shockwave, seem to be opposed to Exarchon's return, unlike the rest of his crew.
• The Decepticon scientists are now apprehensive about creating a new Titan, most likely due to how he infested Croaton during the original war.
• Devastator returns to Cybertron this issue, having gone on a rampage on Malyax in Galaxies, and having a brief cameo showing his travelling to Cybertron on a meteor a few issue ago.

IDW - Transformers: War's End #1

Written by: Brian Ruckley 

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Inks by: Matt Froese

Colours by: John-Paul Bove & Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Geomotus and Landmine are sent to the Sonic Canyons with some Autobot guards to investigate the area, as Optimus and the other higher-ups think that something will happen there regarding Exarchon.

Eventually the team encounter a set of old automated weapons that weren't disabled following the war. Unable to stop them, the team elect to jump further down the canyons to (relative) safety.

At his base, Exarchon explains to Shockwave how he jumped into Provoke's body and managed to survive. He offers positions in his new bid to conquer Cybertron to Skywarp and Shockwave, the latter of which is willing to listen when he mentions there were secrets he kept, even from him back in the original war.

Soon, Soundblaster and the Combaticons, minus Blast Off, who is AWOL, agree to join Exarchon, but Skywarp is uninterested and warps away. Onslaught tries to stop him, but Exarchon doesn't care. He says that he has something important in the Sonic Canyons, and that the Autobots are already there...but adds that HE is also there too...

Back at the Canyons, the Autobots survived their fall, and Geomotus soon finds an artificial shaft in the ground, which Zetar tries to drill down to inetrcept it, but the entrance opens, and Exarchon, in his new Deathsaurus body exits and prepares to kill the intruders...

At Iacon, Cyclonus approaches the Decepticon's HQ, still holding the decapitated head of Provoke/Exarchon and demands to see Megatron, after a short fight with the guards, Sixshot comes out and agrees when Cyclonus mentions Exarchon...

Sixshot brings Cyclonus to Megatron, but the Decepticon leader isn't interested, but Sixshot brings up all the strange occurrences recently, like strange revivals and disappearances such as Flatline and Deathsaurus.

Characters

Autobot

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Sureshot - Buggy

Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Pyra Magna - Truck (Mentioned)

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Crystal City Defenders (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Car/Gun/Winged Beast

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Starscream - Jet

Gutcruncher

Roughstuff - Truck

Blast Off - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Threefold Spark

Exarchon/Flatline - Van

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Onslaught - Tank

Brawl - Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Exarchon/Provoke (Flashback) Dead

Exarchon's Last War Body (Flashback) Dead

Exarchon/Ruckus - Buggy Dead

Clone Swarms (Mentioned) Destroyed

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Paragon (Ghost)

Provoke (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Cosmos - Orbiter (Mentioned)

Swindle - Van (Mentioned)

Insecticons (Mentioned)

Other

Flyts

Rust Worms (Mentioned)

Exarchon's Re-makers (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue is mentioned as happening concurrently with Transformers 40, with the attack on the Crystal City being referenced multiple times.
• It's very likely that the events of "War's End" was originally meant to be the B story of the main series, but due to the approaching end of the IDW license, they simply released it as its own series to allow the story to be completed properly.
• Just like with Bumblebee and Elita-1 in the main series, Geomotus and Landmine don't have Autobot insignias this issue, but are very clearly sided with them, so I'm just marking them as Autobots here.
• Optimus thinks that something will happen at the Sonic Canyons, most likely, because of Jumpstream's time jump, where she learned that she and Cyclonus are killed there.
• The Sonic Canyons seen here are explained as being named for the air moving through pores in the fissures of the mountain ranges.
• Cyclonus killed the Provoke/Exarchon vessel in Transformers #39, he is shown to still be holding her head here.
• Roughstuff and Gutcruncher are shown positioned together as guards, both were previously employees of Swindle's, who were apparently undercut by him.
• Soundblaster confirms that he was created by both Shockwave and Exarchon, though it's not mentioned here, it is still very likely that he is a clone of Soundwave, for some reason.
• Blast Off is mentioned as having left to meet someone, most likely Cosmos on the Winged Moon, as the two were shown to have started a relationship in the Valentine's Day special.
• When Zetar transforms, he is shown separating and reassembling, much like his current Selects toy...does this mean his parts can turn into weapons too then?

IDW - Transformers #39

Title: Darkness, Once Gazed Upon, Part Three

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Andrew Lee Griffith

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Nathan Widick

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Smokescreen tries to get Swindle to arm the unarmed members of their team, Magnus, Elita and Bumblebee, but the bar owner insists he doesn't have any weapons in his bar 

Suddenly, the wall blows in, with Sixshot leading a crew of Decepticons inside, and orders them to kill everyone except Magnus, as Megatron wants him alive...

In the basement, Headlock is trying to make it to the hidden tunnels before the fight can start, when he finds "Ruckus" exploring, interested in what is inside one of the Immersion Chambers.

During the battle, Smokescreen finds Swindle's secret weapons cache, and arms himself with as much as he can carry, rejoining the battle in full force.

Elsewhere in Iacon, Cyclonus finds "Provoke" leaving the medical center, and confronts her, pointing out her recent contradictions and odd behaviour, forcing her to reveal her true identity as Exarchon, intending to take his body as a replacement. After a short battle, Cyclonus tears out her spark, and destroys it, realising that Ruckus is likely to also be an Exarchon host, he knows what needs to be done...

Meanwhile, "Flatline" has made his way to Shockwave's secret base, where he is repairing Skywarp from his recent injuries caused by Sky Lynx, and reveals his identity as Exarchon to his former follower...intending to finish their old mission.

After a hard battle, the Autobots manage to escape from Swindle's bar, but Swindle as his staff are left behind. In the underground tunnels, the Autobots, plus Bumblebee and Elita, regroup, but they know they're unlikely to get back to Crystal City before the Decepticons attack the city to try and take down the Autobot army.

In the aftermath of the battle, the bar is destroyed, and Sixshot warns the owner to stay in line from now on, or this will be the least of his troubles.

Swindle starts to complain about his lot on life now, when he notices Ruckus' corpse in the basement. Suddenly Deathsaurus, now infested by Exarchon, bursts through the remains of the roof, and heads into the skies, intending to crush Cybertron under his feet again, and to keep it crushed this time....

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Chromia - Car

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Arcee - Car

Smokescreen - Car

Decepticon

Sixshot - Car/Jet/Tank/Gun/Winged Beast 

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Ravage - Cassette

Catgut

Treadshot

Gutcruncher

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Jolt - Car

Scatterspike - Van

Green/Orange Security Guard Killed by "Provoke"

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Three-fold Spark

Flatline/Exarchon - Van

Provoke/Exarchon - Big Wheeled Vehicle Killed by Cyclonus

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy Killed Self to Infest Deathsaurus

Deathsaurus/Exarchon - Dragon

Other Cybertronian

Swindle - Van

Trickdiamond - Car

Roughstuff - Truck Joins Decepticons

Headlock - Forklift

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Elita-1 - Car

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet Under Repairs from Shockwave

Gridlock (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Paragon (Ghost)

Provoke (Ghost)

Notes

• Roughstuff is shown switching sides to the Decepticons here, confirming that the Devepticon badge he had a couple issues ago was just a mistake.
• Flatline is confirmed to have been taken over by Exarchon this issue, after being attacked by the ancient evil in issue 36 
• Following her physical death, Provoke returns to being one of Cyclonus' ghosts again
• Deathsaurus was shown to be in the immersion chambers previously in the series, having decided to live out his days killing Cliffjumper in there...wonder if Exarchon will have an urge to kill Cliffjumper now too?

IDW - Transformers #38

Title: Darkness, Once Gazed Upon, Part Two

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Megatron meets with Mindwipe in secret, to entrust a Titanspark to him, intending for him to use it to create a new Titan, and eventually restore the Forge to create a new Decepticon army for Megatron's cause.

Soundwave calls Megatron away to deal with the newly imprisoned Ultra Magnus. The war general tries to make Megatron see sense, and warns him that Ruckus is somehow connected to a returning Exarchon.

The Decepticons don't believe him, and Megatron has him imprisoned with the captured Senators. Strika however, knowing that Magnus wouldn't lie, suggests that they do look into Ruckus, in case there's any validity to Magnus' claims.

Elsewhere, Cyclonus goes to see "Provoke" again, but finds her researching Cybertron's history some more, and not seeming to have regained her own memories any further.

After leaving, the ghosts of his former teammates/his inner thoughts further suspect Provoke isn't actually herself due to her strange behaviour and even speak patterns...

The Autobots send a small strike team into Iacon to recover Ultra Magnus, with Smokescreen getting them inside using a hidden tunnel through Swindle's bar, calling in a favour with the bartender to give them free passage to leave the city later.

Magnus is taken to the Senate prison, where he finds the Senators dying, but refusing to give in to Megatron's demands.

The Autobot team break into the prison, and manage to free Magnus, but can't manage to save the Senators as well, due to their limited numbers and time, with the rest of the Autobots reinforcing Crystal City for an expected attack from Megatron.

Magnus joins the other Autobots in escaping, reluctantly leaving the Senators behind, potentially to die, and manage to get to a closed Swindle's.

Swindle tries to protest having the Autobots there, due to the Decepticon's rules, but he's ignored by the Autobots, who also want him to allow Bumblebee and Elita-1 to escape with them, and to arm the two of them, as well as Magnus, so they can defend themselves when the Decepticons give chase.

Unknown to any of them, Trickdiamond disapproved of Swindle's deal with Smokescreen, so she informed Starscream, who passed it on to Sixshot, who is now outside the bar, ready to kill everyone inside....

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Chromia - Car

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Smokescreen - Car

Arcee - Car

Greenlight - Car

Gauge - Energon Detector Vehicle

Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Sixshot - Jet/Car/Tank/Gun/Winged Beast

Strika - Battle Tank

Starscream - Jet

Slipstream - Jet

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Blackjack - Car

Mindwipe - Bat

Twirl - Jet

Tentakil - Squid

Nautilator - Lobster

Cy-Kill - Motorcycle Crushed Under Senator Prison Door

Offroad - Van

Triton

Scatterspike - Van

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Jolt - Car

Ravage - Cassette

Gutcruncher

Treadshot

Catgut

"Green Horns" Killed by Smokescreen

"Green Antennae" Kicked into Senate Prison by Chromia 

Rest of Sixshot's Team

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Provoke/Exarchon - Big Wheeled Vehicle

Crisscross Dying from lack of Energon

Swindle - Van

Trickdiamond - Car

Roughstuff - Truck

Kaskade Comatose

The Imprisoned Senators Dying from lack of Energon

Highfire (Ghost)

Paragon (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Flatline - Van (Mentioned) Missing

Termagax - Van (Mentioned)

Streetwise - Car (Mentioned)

Motormaster - Truck (Mentioned)

Headlock - Forklift (Mentioned)

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft (Mentioned)

Elita-1 - Car (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Insecticons Swarm (Mentioned)

Other

The "last" Titanspark

Rust Worms (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue confirms the assumption that just about everyon had, that Megatron did recover at least one of the Titansparks from the Pyramid Forge before it was destroyed. He says it was just the one that survived, but I think it's safe to say he's lying again...
• We've known that Arcee was part of the Autobots for a few issues now, but we now learn that Greenlight and Gauge joined her.
• Soundwave appears to be under the impression that Ruckus is still comatose, and no-one seems to deny this. We learned he (really Exarchon) joined the Decepticons last issue, so maybe they're just letting anyone join, without going through Sixshot and the others now?
• Gridlock mentions that his body was taken by Termagax to try and figure out the weapon that killed him. We have seen his head amongst her belongings whenever we've seen inside "House". This also implies that she probably doesn't know the answer still though.
• Roughstuff has lost his Decepticon badge since last issue, so maybe he only has it for when on duty?
• The Senate building being turned into a prison has been referenced since the uprising, but we actually see it here. The main Senate meeting room is holding the shackled Senators, who are being deprived of Energon until they join the Decepticons. The windows and holes in the walls and ceiling are also covered in energy grates that can slice up anything on contact.

IDW - Transformers #37

Title: Darkness, Once Gazed Upon, Part One

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Winston Chan & Guido Guidi

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assist by: Ed Pirrie

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime meet with the Immersant Codexa, who relates how they learned of Exarchon's altered state during the original war, but by that time it had cost them many lives, including those of Cyclonus' team. Optimus asks his mentor if she thinks Exarchon is back, and she, connected to the many sparks of the planet, agrees that it is likely, even conjuring the name Ruckus as a potential victim of his...

Back in Iacon, Cyclonus barges into Swindle's bar, to see a fully revived Ruckus, claiming to have recovered from his near-death state, and is now learning what he's missed. He tries to question him about what happened, but the new Decepticon seems uninterested in talking to him.

Swindle ushers Cyclonus out, since he's not a Decepticon, and might get his place shut down by Megatron. Cyclonus leaves, but is getting suspicious by these recent miraculous recoveries...

Magnus and Prime start to leave Codexa's chamber, when Magnus notices that the entrance has been shut, despite him leaving it open, leading to him leaving, ready to fight, immediately finding a Decepticon crew led by Soundblaster holding the rest of the guards at gunpoint.

The Autobot general smashes through them, freeing the other Autobots, allowing them to defeat the Decepticons, and distracting them enough to allow Optimus to escape with the rest of his guards 

Ultimately, Magnus is forced to be left behind, leading to him being knocked out, and taken towards Iacon, for Megatron to deal with him later. Shockwave then orders Soundblaster, over the communicators, to seal Codexa's chamber, so Optimus cannot consult with her again...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport Captured by Decepticons

Ironhide - Van

Groove - Motorcycle

Grotesque - Winged Beast

Backstreet - Car

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Slipstream - Jet

Shadow Striker - Car

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy 

Roughstuff - Truck

Astrotrain - Trackless Train/Space Shuttle

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Hyperdrive - Car

Blackjack - Car

Tracer - Helicopter

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Swindle's Bar Patrons

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Voice Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

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

The Threefold Spark

Exarchon - Jet (Image)

Clone-Drone Soldiers - Jets (Flashback) Dead

Turmoil - Tank (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet 

Swindle - Van

Codexa Immersant, Sealed into Chamber

Other Immersants 

Paragon - Treaded Vehicle (Flashback) Captured by Turmoil

Provoke - Motorcycle (Flashback) Shot in Chest, Infected by Exarchon off-panel 

Gridlock - Gun-Mounted Vehicle (Flashback) Kill by Headshot, by Unknown Weapon

Highfire - Jet (Flashback) Killed off-panel

Grudge - Truck (Flashback) Killed off-panel

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback)

Highbrow - Helicopter (Flashback)

Dai Atlas - Drill Tank (Flashback)

Quake - Tank (Flashback)

Brawn - Van (Flashback)

Seekers - Jets (Flashback)

Other War Cybertronian's (Flashback)

Flatline - Van (Mentioned)

Strika - Battle Tank (Mentioned)

Croaton - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Dead

The Titans - Titan Ships (Mentioned)

Strika's Heavies (Mentioned)

Turmoil's Prisoners (Mentioned)

Other

Exarchon's "Re-Makers" (Mentioned)

Neutronians (Mentioned) Mostly Extinct, due to Turmoil

Rust Worms (Mentioned)

Notes

• With Cyclonus' team being shown in colour for the first time properly here, it makes it a lot easier to figuring out what their alternate modes are. So I have made my guesses based on these in the character list above.
• Provoke's eyes are shown to be yellow in the flashback scenes, while the version of her seen in the present day has red eyes, making it quite clear those are a side effect of Exarchon's body snatching. Interestingly though, when we see an image of Exarchon later this issue, we see his eyes were blue...
• Optimus theories here that the person he speaks to when he meets with the Immersant Codexa is not actually her, but the collective consciousness of Cybertron's sparks, possibly the afterlife.
• There's a mostly grey scale jet transformer hanging around in the command room when Nominus was being briefed on Exarchon's abilities, he never speaks or makes much notice of himself, but he seems too detailed for just a background character...I think that may be one of Exarchon's bodies...
• We learn here what has been predicted already, Exarchon is able to take over another Cybertronian's spark, overwriting it, and can possess multiple bodies at once, we do learn here though that once possessed, the process seems to be irreversible, and he is limited to controlling three bodies at any one time.
• Cyclonus previously claimed that he lost track of Provoke's body after her apparent death, but we learn here that he was dragged away before he could recover her body, before Strika's Heavies could arrive to finish the battle.
• Roughstuff is shown to be Decepti-branded now, he was a part of the Rise originally, but was arrested before being branded, and allied with Swindle's crew. The latter is shown here, but I can't see a Decepticon badge on him, meaning he's probably still unaligned, despite his bar being Decepticon-only now.
• Ruckus, really Exarchon, is shown to have joined the Decepticons, most likely to try and spread his influence again, and either recruit new soldiers or just cause trouble.
• Soundblaster is shown to be able to hold Cassettes in his chest, an ability that his mould-mate Soundwave hasn't been shown to have yet in this continuity.
• Ultra Magnus, in his Siege body, is being captured by the Decepticons and brought to Megatron? I sure hope this goes better than it did in the War for Cybertron cartoon...

IDW - Transformers #36

Title: Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

At the Medical Center in Iacon, Provoke is using a database to catch up on what has been happening since she went missing, and asks Cyclonus to leave her alone, so she can do this herself. Cyclonus agrees, but the "ghosts" in his head comment on how something is off about the situation they've found themselves in...

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons at the edge of the Sea of Rust is in full swing, with Termagax's Spectrosynth Drones helping the Autobots take down the Decepticons.

Inside House, Termagax controls one of the drones to recover the Enigma from its hiding place inside the facility, with the intention of taking it out of reach of needed.

Unfortunately for Termagax, Skywarp has entered the battlefield, intending to claim the Enigma himself, so he can use it to prove his worth and to use it for leverage. Skywarp proceeds to teleport through House, until he finds the Enigma, and claims it for himself.

Eventually Skywarp warps to the top of House, declaring that he controls the Enigma, and they should all listen to him. Jumpstream arrives just in time, despite her injuries from his time travelling earlier, and Pyra asks her to reclaim the Enigma from Skywarp.

The two teleporters fight over the Enigma, but Skywarp proves to be the superior 'porter, but before he can escape, Sky Lynx crushes him in his maw, and scorches him at point-blank range, forcing him to drop the Enigma.

The ancient artifact lands next to Skytread, who intends to use it to retake his leadership role from Sixshot, but the larger Decepticon simply shoots him, sending him and the Enigma plummeting into the Rust Worms, devouring Skytread in the process.

Cybertron starts quaking again, with the bedrock around the Sea falling apart, freeing the worms, and forcing the two Rmies to escape, abandoning the Enigma in the process.

Termagax and Optimus comment that the Enigma has probably survived the Rust Worms, but it will be near impossible to recover it for now, but are now more worried about the Rust Worms being loose on the planet, potentially spelling out their doom...

Back at the Iacon Medical Center, Flatline is baffled that Ruckus, another practically-dead patient has awoken. Provoke suggests that it's not outside the realms of possibility for him to have been revived this way on his own, but Flatline refuses this, saying it is absolutely impossible.

"Provoke", now annoyed, drops the pretense and attacks Flatline, stating that Exarchon will have to be "Three once more"....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Ironhide - Van

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Jumpstream - Car

Sunstreaker - Car

Sureshot - Buggy

Arcee - Car

Groove - Motorcycle

Flareup - Motorcycle

Vibes

Pipes - Truck

Smokescreen - Car

Springer - Helicopter/Car

Pointblank - Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Powertrain - Truck

Backstreet - Race Car

Big Daddy - Car

Wheel Blaze - Fire Truck

Brawn - Van

Javelin - Car

Subsea - Submarine

Other Autobot Fighters

Decepticon

Sixshot - Jet/Car/Tank/Gun/Winged Wolf

Skytread - Tank and Jet Eaten by Rust Worms

Nova Storm - Jet

Red Wing - Jet

Wingstun - Jet

Ion Storm - Jet

Hotlink - Jet

Battleslash - Helicopter

Weirdwolf - Wolf

Gutcruncher

Offroad - Van

Runamuck - Car

Runabout - Car

Crasher - Race Car

Flame Feather - Bird Monster

Other Decepticon Fighters

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Termagax - Armoured Van

Skywarp - Jet

Cyclonus - Jet

Provoke/Exarchon - Wheeled Vehicle

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy

Flatline - Van Attacked by Exarchon

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Kaskade Comatose

Codexa Immersant

"House"

Spectrosynth Drones

Paragon (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Primus (Mentioned)

Nexus Prime (Mentioned)

Citadel - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Dead

Old Cybertronian Senate (Mentioned)

Other

Rust Worms

Flyts

Termagax's Specimens (In Jars)

Notes

• It's shown here that Termagax manually controls her Spectrosynth Drones, but can leave them on a sort of auto-rin feature to allow her funer control on a single drone.
• An area that Skywarp warps into looks like it's a power source of some sort, but actually also resembles a spark chamber to an extent...is this more proof to my theory that House is a hidden Titan?
• It's mentioned that Nova Storm is potentially able to retrieve the Enigma from the Rust Sea, implying that she might have survived having her internal parts crushed by Windcharger last issue.
• My theory of Exarchon living on inside Provike's body is shown to be absolutely the case here! Yay for validation!