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A Bridge Too Close, Part I

2022-03-08T03:42:33Z

Prowl245: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|ep=28
|ep2=25
|prev2=Black Friday (episode)
|next2=A Bridge Too Close, Part II
|image=TFA ABTC1 Space Bridge operational.JPG
|caption=Closer... closer...
|title="A Bridge Too Close, Part I"
|airdate=[[June 28]], 2008 (Canada) [[July 5]], 2008 (USA)
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
|continuity=[[Animated cartoon continuity]]}}

'''The Decepticons kidnap Bulkhead to aid in Megatron's ultimate plan to take over Cybertron.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Megatron branding.jpg|thumb|left|"Can't you just paint the insignia on our chests?" "Now, where's the fun in that?"]]

Now serving under [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] have completed construction of the villain's [[space bridge]]. They are rewarded for their efforts by being officially inducted into the [[Decepticon]] army in a small ceremony led by Megatron, with [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] serving as witnesses (and, for some reason, holding candles). After the Constructicons have recited the oath of allegiance, Megatron [[branding|brands]] them, quite literally, with a [[Redeco|color-change]] for their armor and eyes thrown into the bargain. At Megatron's instruction, [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Professor Sumdac]] fires up the bridge, but when it fails to activate due to the professor's simple lack of understanding of the technology, Megatron realizes that he will require additional help...

[[File:TFA ABTC1 Screamer Clones Argue.jpg|thumb|"There's something in your [[Sensor|optic]]." "No, there isn't!"]]

On [[Earth]]'s [[Moon (moon)|moon]], [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] gloats over five new [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]] of himself, to which he is in the process of putting the finishing touches. The final clone is completed and, like its fellows, brought online with a tiny chip of the [[AllSpark]] that gives Starscream life. Immediately, however, Starscream has to wrestle with the various wacky personalities the clones have wound up with, each one an exaggerated aspect of his own: [[Skywarp (Animated)|a coward]], [[Sunstorm (Animated)|a sycophant]], [[Thundercracker (Animated)|an egomaniac]], [[Ramjet (Animated)|a pathological liar]] . . . and [[Slipstream (Animated)|a short-tempered female who insists that Starscream not ask what aspect of his personality gave birth to her]].

Megatron contacts [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in order to have him [[DataNet|track down]] the top space bridge engineer on the planet. Shockwave is surprised to report that the engineer in question is on Earth—it's [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]! Megatron decides to capture Bulkhead personally and instructs Lugnut and Blitzwing to pick up an item from [[Sumdac Tower]] to aid in “convincing” the Autobot to help them. When Lugnut points out that Sumdac cannot be trusted in the base alone with the Constructicons, Megatron decides to take the professor with him. As all this scheming goes on, however, someone else is listening in—the mysterious “Blue Racer” that [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] recently encountered.

[[File:TFA ABTC1 painting time.JPG|thumb|left|Optimus Prime has deemed this image in need of a caption!]]

At the [[Autobot Earth Base|Autobot base]], Bulkhead is working on his latest painting, an abstract rendition of [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]]. Unfortunately, backseat artistry from the other Autobots winds up ruining the painting, and Bulkhead goes for a walk with Sari to vent a little. Bumblebee follows to apologize, but just as he catches up to them, Megatron appears in the sky overhead and opens fire. Using Sumdac as a human shield to stop the Autobots from firing back, Megatron continues to rain destruction down on the Autobots as Bumblebee and Sari argue over whether or not Sumdac has been working with Megatron.

[[File:TFA ABTC1 Megatron Sumdac Hostage.jpg|thumb|right|...dads?]]
Suddenly, the Blue Racer speeds onto the scene, and Bumblebee, believing the enigmatic speedster to be working with Megatron, chases him off through the city and manages to run him off the road. When he attempts to report his success to Bulkhead, though, there's no response—because Megatron has captured Bulkhead and is airlifting him away. Bumblebee's failure is compounded by the next turn of events: The Blue Racer reveals himself to be [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]], a fast-talking member of the [[Elite Guard|Cybertron Elite Guard]] who has been covertly monitoring Megatron's activities.

Back at the Decepticon headquarters, Bulkhead refuses to help Megatron, so the villain unveils the fruit of Blitzwing and Lugnut's labor: a [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] unit! Faced with the threat of once again having his body taken over and being used to destroy his fellow Autobots, and failing to elicit any help from [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] or [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]], Bulkhead relents and agrees to work on the space bridge.

At the Autobots’ base, Blurr relates his mission to [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] and company and brings them up to speed, quite literally. While Prime leads the rest of the team to the Decepticon base, the location of which is provided by Blurr, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] and Sari head for Teletran-1 to try to get it online one last time. Just like [[Lost and Found (episode)|last time]], their efforts lead to nothing, forcing Ratchet to attempt one last drastic approach: using the AllSpark fragments the Autobots have gathered to jump-start the ship's systems.

[[File:TFA ABTC1 Bulkhead Sumdac.JPG|thumb|left|Merry Christmas!]]

Prime's team is led by Blurr into the Decepticons’ coal mine base, where they are immediately attacked by Lugnut and Blitzwing. The fight is a brief one, as Blurr uses his super-speed to bind the odd couple with [[stasis cuffs]]. Meanwhile, as the space bridge nears completion, Bulkhead insists on modifying many aspects of Sumdac's design, and winds up in an argument with the human, which Sumdac interprets as Bulkhead trying to sabotage the bridge deliberately. When the bridge is activated, however, it functions perfectly—Bulkhead knew full well that Sumdac's design was wrong, and he corrected it!

[[File:TFA ABTC1 Screamer Clones Emerge.jpg|thumb|right|Why, I'm beside myself! And myself! And...]]
As the bridge flares into life, Prime's team bursts into the main chamber, but they are instantly immobilized by cement booties, courtesy of Mixmaster. With the Autobots out of the picture, it seems there is nothing to stop Megatron now...until the roof of the cavern explodes, and Starscream and his clone army make their grand entrance!

[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|To be continued...]]
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (14)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (15)
*[[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] (16)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (19)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (2)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (3)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (4)
*[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (5)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (9)
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] (10)
*[[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]] (11)
*[[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]] (12)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] (13)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] (15)
}}

==Quotes==
"Ah, never before have I seen such an impressive group of lethal fighting machines! And pretty good-looking, if I do say so myself."
:—The ever-humble '''Starscream''' comments on his clone army.

"So, which part of me did you come from?" 
"Don't ask." 
''[sigh]'' "This is going to be a long orbital cycle."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Slipstream, the female clone'''

"I just didn't think my head was so big." 
"That's your leg."
:—'''Sari''' and '''Bulkhead'''. Oh, the irony!

'''Sari''': No, don't shoot! You'll hit my dad! 
'''Bulkhead''': She's right! 
'''Bumblebee''': So what are we supposed to do? Fight him with snappy comebacks?
:—'''Bumblebee''' conveniently forgets his normal attack strategy.

"All right, Zippy, start talking!" 
"First of all, the name's not "Zippy"! As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've ever met another bot named Zippy, so one can only assume that you came up with "Zippy" in reference to my speed, which may be technically accurate, but lacks a certain creativity!" 
"Eh...eh-eh..." 
:—It took '''Bumblebee''' a long time to get '''Blurr''' to start talking. From this point on, he doesn't shut up.

'''Bumblebee''': Woah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up! 
'''Prowl''': Did he just say Bulkhead? 
'''Optimus Prime''': ''Our Bulkhead?'' 
'''Ratchet''': ''An expert?'' On anything?!
:—The Autobots aren't terribly impressed with Bulkhead.

"I must be a bigger pain in the gearshaft than I thought." 
"Well, well, well, look who just got to the party!" 
"Don't ''start'' with me, woman!" 
:—'''Starscream''' [[Total War!#Quotes|openly admits]] one of his primary faults, much to '''Slipstream's''' annoyance.

"Okay, I give. I'm officially no longer the fastest thing on wheels."
:—'''Bumblebee''' is humbled after seeing Blurr's speedy takedown of Blitzwing and Lugnut.

==Notes==

===Transformers references===
[[File:ABridgeTooClosePart1-MegatronHandExtendtion.jpg|thumb|right|His special hand! There's none other like it!]]
*Shockwave's report on Bulkhead appears to be in the form of [[Tech Spec]]s.
*After branding, the Constructicons' color schemes match those of their Generation 1 counterparts.
*Megatron takes control of the Headmaster unit by launching his middle and index fingers, connecting himself to it via extendible cables - possibly a callback to [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]] and his "special arm".
*What Starscream says about his clones is similar to what [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|his Generation 1 cartoon counterpart]] remarked on [[Starscream clone (G1)|his clone]].

===Real-world references===
*In ''{{w|The Bridge on the River Kwai}}'', [[Obi-Wan Kenobi|Alec Guinness]] is a prisoner of war who is forced to build a bridge. Even though the bridge will help his enemies, he builds the bridge to the best of his ability just to demonstrate how capable he is. In "A Bridge Too Close"...replace "Alec Guinness" with "Bulkhead".
*The title is a reference to the movie ''{{w|A Bridge Too Far (film)|A Bridge Too Far}}''.
*Among the parts needed for a space bridge are "[[hollow cathode tube]]s", parts which until recently made up computer monitor displays.
*Megatron's line "I plan to make him an offer he cannot refuse..." is likely a reference to the famous line from ''{{w|The Godfather}}''.

===Animation or technical errors===
*When Mixmaster encases Optimus and Prowl in concrete, his colors shift back to his neutral, pre-Decepticon color scheme.
*When Megatron attacks the Autobots, his cockpit changes from black to grey for a brief moment, then back.
*When Megatron transforms with Isaac Sumdac in his cockpit, Isaac moves from his cockpit/feet to his chest; complete with new ropes tying him.
*Blurr's mouth disappears for a frame after he introduces himself to Bumblebee and is pointing at him for the second time.
*Right before Starscream and his clones take off, the Skywarp-esque one looks like he's.......um.......

===Continuity errors===
*Not so much an error as a quirk: During the engagement in the mines, Icy Blitzwing is scowling noticeably, while Hothead Blitzwing is...''smiling???''
*When Bulkhead is brought into Decepticon HQ, Prof. Sumdac says his name as if he is surprised to see the Autobot, despite the fact that Sumdac was ''there'' when Bulkhead was kidnapped by Megatron.
*It's odd that while Bumblebee wasn't fast enough to catch up with Blurr with his turbo boosters in "[[Velocity (episode)|Velocity]]", he can catch up to him and hit him while he hasn't got them on in this episode. Maybe he was doing the speed limit?
*How exactly did Megatron know about the Headmaster unit or for that matter that it was being kept at Sumdac Tower?
*So no one told Optimus that one of his crewmembers was an expert on the devices they were tasked with repairing? It never occurred to anyone that the commander of a space bridge repair crew might need to know who is the expert on space bridges amongst said crew? Similarly, after Primus knows how long repairing space bridges, no one ever noticed Bulkhead actually seemed very familiar with the functioning of such devices?
* If the Elite Guard knows Bulkhead is such a genius and the greatest expert in his field, then why did they give him such an unimportant job as maintenance guy on a repair crew? Isn't that kind of a waste of his genius?

===Trivia===
*So in all the months that Isaac Sumdac has been missing, it never occurred to anyone that the Decepticons kidnapped him? Perhaps everyone thought he was dead.
*All of the heavy exposition is given to the guy who talks really, really fast. Handy.
*Megatron initiates new Decepticons by [[branding]] the symbol onto them with cattle brands. How bovine.
*This is not the first time Bulky has transformed his [[Total Meltdown|kibble into a chair]].
*Starscream opens a hatch on his head to pick parts from his AllSpark fragment to bring the clones to life, suggesting that in all of the episodes when you do see it, he has his hatch open, exposing the AllSpark fragment.
*Starscream's clones are never named on-screen in the original version. The Japanese dub has Slipstream namesdrop them all while pointing out their personalities, and after that introducing herself instead of giving Starscream her original sassy response.
*This episode, along with part 2, was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as "[[Transformers Animated Volume 13]]".

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La porte d'à côté, 1ère partie'''" ("The Next Door, 1st Part")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die Weltraumbrücke, Teil 1'''" ("The Spacebridge, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 30|30 July]] [[2008]]

'''Spanish (Latin America)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A un puente de distancia, parte 1'''" ("A bridge away, part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 6|6 December]] [[2008]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Un Ponte Troppo Vicino (Prima Parte)'''" ("A Bridge Too Close (First Part)")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 4|4 April]] [[2009]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Sorezore no Omowaku'''" (それぞれの思惑, "Respective Expectations")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 18|18 September]] [[2010]]
::* New [[stock footage]] for Bulkhead's transformation, him doing the introduction, and the return of the additional sound effects last seen in "[[The Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]" during the [[title sequence|opening sequence]].
::* The [[Otoboto family]] attempt to win a Wingblade Optimus on answering what year did Transformers begin airing in Japan (the hint: "25 years ago"). The correct answer is "[[1985]]", but instead of writing "9", [[Tatsuya Otoboto|Tatsuya]] wrote the hiragana for "sha" しゃ.

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''O Jeden Most Za Blisko, Część 1'''" ("A Bridge Too Close, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Uma Ponte Muito Próxima, Parte 1'''" ("A Bridge Too Close, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season Two ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Sechs: Schwarzer Freitag (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2011 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Vol. 7 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2014 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season Two ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Too Close, Part I}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Maximals Strike Back, Part 3

2022-01-27T00:29:38Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Beast Wars]]'' #12
|prev=Maximals Strike Back, Part 2
|next=Beast Wars issue 13
|title="Maximals Strike Back, Part 3"
|image=BW21 12 cvrA.jpg
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[January 26]], 2022
|coverdate=January 2022
|written by=[[Erik Burnham]]
|art by=[[Josh Burcham]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]], [[Jazmine Joyner]] and [[Riley Farmer]]
|continuity=''[[Transformers: Beast Wars]]''
}}

'''The remaining Maximals seize the Golden Disk at the same time that Megatron springs his latest trap... but to make it off the battlefield alive, both sides might have to lose to win.'''

==Synopsis==
Outside the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] tries to keep [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s attention long enough for [[Nyx]] and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] to complete their respective missions without drawing undue attention—while Megatron ruthlessly pummels the Maximal commander, Nyx successfully shoots out the stolen starship's [[Transwarp Drive|transwarp drive]]; when an enraged [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] pounces, Nyx incapacitates him with a custom-built taser weapon designed to keep the mad scientist at arm's length. Meanwhile, [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] finds himself caught in a difficult situation: removing the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] from the ship's optical drive has tripped the ''Darksyde'''s defences and locked Rattrap in Megatron's private quarters. Nyx races to rescue her comrade as [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] finally gets even with [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] by baiting her into accidentally firing on [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] instead, allowing an enraged [[Skold]], still reeling from [[Razorbeast]]'s death, to grab his paralyzed body and uses it as an improvised bludgeon to hit [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] in the face. While a wounded [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] uses his [[Optic weaponry|optical lasers]] to eliminate [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] from the fight, Nyx struggles to free Rattrap and radios Primal for backup. Rescuing his comrades will clue Megatron into their ''real'' game, but there's no other way—the Maximal leader feigns weakness long enough for an overconfident Megatron to close in for the kill; when he recieves a gorilla fist in the face for his troubles, Megatron charges up his weapons moments before Optimus impales him through his [[beast mode]] head. The catastrophic explosion immolates Megatron's beast body in a fiery explosion, and knocks him unconscious just long enough for Primal to abandon the fight and break into the Predacon base.

Watching from afar, a horrified Blackarachnia realizes that her new leader ''isn't'' unbeatable: as she scuttles away to reconsider her allegiances, an enraged Skold continues pummelling Rhinox and screams at him to fight back. Despite everything that's transpired, however, Rhinox won't raise a hand against her: Rhinox has befriended and even loved Predacons, and despite everything that's transpired between their two factions on this planet he understands her loss. If hurting ''him'' helps her to come to terms with that pain, then he'll gladly take a few punches... but those words cause Skold to close her eyes and admit that she'd find no satisfaction in killing him. Furious with the Maximals, the Predacons, and herself, Skold quietly tells him to leave now, before she changes her mind.

In the ''Darksyde'', Optimus and Nyx struggle to rescue Rattrap; although they just barely manage to force the doors open long enough for Rattrap to make it out with the Golden Disk, they're not far from the exit when a force field bars their way. On the other side of the field, Tarantulas and a damaged but still-functioning Megatron bar their way, and Megatron gloats that as soon as he's out of a [[CR chamber]] he'll annihilate the three of them. Optimus, however, has a different play in mind, and calmly informs the Predacons that, if they don't walk free, then he'll destroy the disk entirely. Without a functioning transwarp drive, they'll be stuck on this planet forever... and if Megatron tries to hijack their ship, the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', then they'll trip the self-destruct mechanism and kill everyone. Tarantulas hisses that Primal's bluffing—the ship ''has'' no automated self-destruct function—but Rattrap reminds him that the last time he broke into their computer system, Rattrap threw him out the window before he could access the ship's primary network. Optimus calmly offers a compromise: he'll return the Golden Disk, ''if'' Megatron lets him and all of the other Maximals walk freely. A furious Megatron screams in rage... but ultimately accepts their terms.

As the remaining Maximals board their improvised shuttlecraft, Nyx laments that they went through all that for nothing; they're no closer to retrieving the disk than they were when they set out. Fortunately, Rattrap has a surprise for them—before their faceoff with Megatron, Rattrap took the precaution of copying all the files on the disk! Dinobot growls that they should've taken Megatron prisoner while they had the chance, but Optimus reminds him that they're not going to jail Megatron aboard their ship until they're ''certain'' that they can fly it back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to face justice. Rattrap demands to know when Primal planned to tell the rest of them about this self-destruct mechanism... but Primal reveals that the entire ploy was a very convincing bluff.

As Tarantulas and Megatron watch them leave, Megatron growls that he's once again underestimated the Maximals, and that bad habit has cost him the best chance yet to dispose of Optimus and his crew permanently. For the moment, Megatron will put aside his dreams of galactic conquest: all that matters now, he vows, is impaling Optimus Primal's severed head on a pike. Tarantulas, meanwhile, has plans of his own: as night falls, he lays [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s mangled body on a slab and gets to work, musing that death does not necessarily mark the end of one's usefulness...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
* [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] (2)
* [[Nyx]] (4)
* [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (5)
* [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (6)
* [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (9)
* [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] (11)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s|c2=
* [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] (1)
* [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (3)
* [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (7)
* [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] (8)
* [[Skold]] (10)
* [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (12)
* [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s corpse (13)
}}

==Quotes==
"A long time ago, there was a warrior from an alien race. He'd let his opponents hammer away at him until he had them where he wanted them, and then he fought back. I think he called the strategy '''rope-a-dope'''. No idea why."
:—'''Optimus Primal'''

"I believe that Cybertronians are more alike than different. I've befriended some Predacons, loved some. I'd be '''devastated''' to see them die, so I understand your pain. And if a few free punches help you cope...then I can take them."
:—'''Rhinox'''

"So when were you going to tell me that the ''Axalon'' had a self-destruct there, cap? I don't want someone to accidentally trip it while we rewire the bridge..." 
"Self-destruct? We don't have one of those. You should know that." 
"But you--... I am '''never''' playing cyber poker with you again."
:—'''Rattrap''' and '''Optimus Primal'''

"Deciphering this disk is no longer my top priority. Nor is the conquest of Cybertron. Now, more than anything else... I want Optimus Primal's '''head''' on a '''pike'''. I want to watch the '''light fade from his eyes''' and to decorate my throne room with this trophy as a warning. I will have this, Tarantulas. '''So swears Megatron'''."
:—'''Megatron'''

"There can be life '''beyond''' death, oh yes... shall we see how long it takes to get there?"
:—'''Tarantulas''' dissects Terrorsaur

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* As she battles Tarantulas, Nyx reminds him of their last confrontation back in [[Savage Landing Part 3|issue #3]]. The exchange reveals that she's added a new, electrified taser weapon as a back-up weapon, should the Predacons ever capture her again.
* When Blackarachnia pulls a [[stun beam]] on Cheetor, the Maximal notes that he suggested taking a full complement of stun guns board their ship before their fateful voyage—although it hasn't really come up since [[Savage Landing Part 1|issue #1]], that installment ''did'' show him acting as the ship's primary gunner and weapons specialist.
* While talking down an enraged Skold, Rhino notes that he's befriended and even loved Predacons—he's spent most of the series thus far advocating a non-violent approach to their problems; in [[Savage Landing Part 4|issue #4]], he pointed out that Maximals and Predacons have cooperated for centuries.
* With Optimus Primal caged behind a force field, Megatron gloats that he got the idea from their last encounter—in the climax of [[Savage Landing Part 6|issue #6]], Optimus and his forces retreated by using the ''Axalon'''s force field to deflect enemy fire. In the same exchange, Rattrap recalls his fight against Tarantulas in the same issue, which ended when he used a [[GCMG-Five|cargo-loading exoskeleton]] to punt the Predacon out the window.
* Two issues ago, in [[Maximals Strike Back, Part 1|issue #10]], Tarantulas saved Terrorsaur from Megatron; as he reminded Terrorsaur then, however, this was simply out of a practical concern that if Megatron atomized him then there'd be nothing left for him to salvage. Now that Terrorsaur's gone, it seems as though Tarantulas will make good on that promise...

===Transformers references===
* Shocked by the sight of Megatron's defeat, Blackarachnia skitters away and grumbles that she'll have to reconsider her allegiances. That's exactly what she did in the third season of the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|original ''Beast Wars'' cartoon]], when she joined the Maximals after realizing that Megatron's attempt to change history would erase ''her'' from existence as well.
* Buoyed by Optimus's victory over Megatron, Cheetor gloats that his commander has the spark of a "big bot" after all—this was, of course, his nickname for the Maximal leader in the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon.
* Although Megatron survives the catastrophic failure of his weapons system, the explosion burns away all of the synthetic flesh on his tyrannosaur head and reduces it to a metallic endoskeleton. As it happens, the metallic head is drawn to resemble ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]], who began life as a rubbery theme park animatronic who later lost his outer coating. Coincidentally, both characters were voiced by [[David Kaye]].
* Megatron's fantasy features another glimpse of Cybertron's unique "gashed" moon, an astronomical feature that first appeared in the [[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Machines'' cartoon]] and later appeared in [[Savage Landing Part 1|issue #1]] of this comic.

===Real-world references===
* In his battle with Megatron, Optimus feigns exhaustion, then hits back at a surprised Megatron to catch him off-guard. He notes that he got the idea from a legendary "alien warrior" who called the tactic "rope-a-dope"—he's likely referring to the [[human]] boxer {{w|Muhammad Ali}}, who popularized the strategy in his famous {{w|The Rumble in the Jungle|1974 match}} against {{w|George Foreman|George Foreman}}.
* "Alas, poor Terrorsaur", quips Tarantulas as he holds his comrade's severed head, paraphrasing the famous monologue from Dinobot's beloved ''{{w|Hamlet}}''.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A:''' Optimus and Megatron do ''King Kong'', by [[John Yurcaba]]
* '''Cover B:''' Optimus and Nyx try to rescue Rattrap, by [[Philip Murphy]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover:''' Optimus and Megatron, by [[Jamel Jones]] and [[Ronda Pattinson]]

<gallery>
File:BW21 12 cvrA.jpg
File:BW21 12 cvrB.jpg
File:BW21 12 cvrRI.jpg

</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' #125

==External links==
* [https://majorspoilers.com/2022/01/25/preview-transformers-beast-wars-12/ Preview]

[[Category:Beast Wars (2021) issues]]

Decepticon

2020-07-08T18:40:13Z

Prowl245: /* Japanese cartoon continuity */

{{factions|decepticon|decepticong2|ttdecepticon|sgDecepticon|ascenticon}}
{{disambig2|the Transformers faction|the ''Robots in Disguise'' episode|The Decepticons}}
[[File:Symbol decept reg.png|upright=1.4|thumb|Get this tattooed on you and all you'll need is a black trenchcoat and a long ponytail. Then people will love you.]]

{{quote|'''''Decepticon''' (di-sep-ti-con) A member of a subversive sect or society. From the noun — 'deception'; one who deceives.|the [[New Cybertronic Dictograph]]}}

The '''Decepticons''' are one of the primary factions in the ''[[Transformer]]s'' mythos. They are typically concerned with such things as conquering [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], defeating the [[Autobot]]s, amassing large quantities of [[energon]], developing powerful weaponry, and beating people up. Not necessarily in that order.

Unlike the Autobots, whose leader is a [[Prime (rank)|Prime]] bearing a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]], the Decepticons are led by the [[Decepticon leader|most powerful]] of their ranks. This tends to cause some conflict, given how generally ''every'' Decepticon thinks that they're the most powerful. Also, the Decepticons are not exactly the most compassionate beings in the universe, but not all fight for greed. More than a few have a [[Thundercracker (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|sense]] [[Scourge (Cybertron)|of]] [[Dreadwing (Prime)|honor]], while others believe that Cybertron would be better protected by [[Decepticon Empire|aggressive expansion]]. Ultimately, the Decepticons desire to protect their homeworld, even if it is at the expense of others. [[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Usually]].

In at least [[2019 IDW continuity|one universe]], the faction starts off being named the '''Ascenticons''' before taking its more traditional appellation.

{{quote|The Decepticons are a malevolent race of robot warriors, brutal and merciless. The Decepticons are led by a single undeviating goal: total domination of the universe.|[[Narrator]]|[[Secret Files of Teletraan II]]}}

==Generation 1 continuity family==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
[[File:Thelaststand-prepare.jpg|left|upright=1.95|thumb|MUSTER THE GOOMBAS! HAND OUT THE DE-EVOLUTION GUNS! PREPARE FOR DESTINY!]]
The Decepticons emerged from the gladiatorial [[Games|State Games]], which caused [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]'s rise to public prominence - in the aftermath of the destructive Vos-Tarn War, Megatron was able to use his fame and charisma to unite both the survivors and the planet's malcontents into a new army. His plan was to turn Cybertron into a mobile cosmic dreadnought and conquer the galaxy. {{storylink|State Games}} The Decepticons developed new technology to allow them to transform into attack vehicles and weaponry, launching a devastating attack that killed billions and shook the planet from its orbit before [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] turned the tide.

Megatron, Shockwave and others were lost on Earth for four million years; as Optimus was too, the Autobots swiftly lost ground to Decepticon leaders [[Trannis]] and [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]]. Cybertron was devastated and conquered, causing the cream of the Decepticons to leave the burnt-out planet to form a [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]] out in the stars, while Straxus threw all those he considered weak into the [[Smelting pool]]. The Empire would go on to slaughter and Cyberform planet after planet, their actions unknown on Cybertron.

Eventually the Earth-bound Decepticons would awaken in 1984, sparking off a new front in the war. After the presumed suicide of Megatron, an escalation in fighting would see Decepticon leadership fragment and change hands rapidly, with frequent clashes, plots and counter-plots between the primary leadership, namely [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], and [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], until most of them were killed in the [[Underbase]] conflict, leaving Scorponok the only surviving commander. A brief truce with the Autobots was held when [[Unicron]] attacked in 1991, but Scorponok was killed in the following conflict. Immediately after this, [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] came to power. Charismatic and driven, Bludgeon turned the beaten Decepticons into a new army; after a defeat on [[Klo]], they regrouped and reorganised. ([[Another Time & Place|In one reality, they were immediately massacred afterward.]])

{{--}}

====Earthforce====
{{Earthforcefiction}}
In the side-continuity of [[Earthforce]], while Unicron continued on to Cybertron, Megatron and Shockwave continued a Decepticon civil war on Earth with a small handful of troops - wasting most of their time trying to take each other out. Eventually Soundwave and Starscream overthrew them, uniting both factions into a stronger Decepticon force. The two former leaders attempted to regain their position but never appeared to succeed.

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
Bludgeon invaded Earth with the intention of capturing the Matrix and making a new generation of Decepticons, but Megatron returned, killed Bludgeon in one-on-one combat, and stole this plan. However, the threat of the Cybertronian Empire forced an alliance between the Autobots and Decepticons again.

====''Classics''====
{{noteclassics}}
{{groupstub}}

====''Regeneration One''====
{{NoteRG1}}
Following Bludgeon's defeat on Klo, the Autobots turned their attention internally to Cybertron, repatriating Decepticons who chose to lay down their arms while leaving Bludgeon's faction free to conquer other planets and build up his [[Warworld]]. Having abandoned Earth to its own devices, the Autobots were unaware of Megatron's revival, and his subsequent devastation of the planet with the help of his horde of [[Zombie|zombified]] Decepticons (which included a few Autobots in its ranks by circumstance). The horde was stopped when Optimus Prime killed Megatron once and for all.

Meanwhile, [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] used the Decepticons on Cybertron to subvert the Autobots' peace, destroying the [[Last Autobot]] and clearing the way for Bludgeon's eventual return. In the interim, [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]] launched his own covert invasion of Cybertron, with the intent of using his [[Gene Key]] to overwrite the [[CNA]] of every Autobot on the planet, turning them into Decepticons. Scorponok's efforts were ultimately thwarted by [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]], and Bludgeon's subsequent invasion was ultimately repelled by [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]], but at the expense of leaving the Autobots virtually defenseless.

While Rodimus led an Autobot task force on a preemptive strike against the Cybertronian Empire's [[Hub (G2)|Hub network]], the [[Dark Matrix|Dark Matrix creature]], which had manipulated events on Cybertron, Earth, and [[Nebulos]], spread itself across Cybertron, turning every Transformer it could reach into [[Shadow-leech]]es. The last known surviving Decepticons were [[Ravage (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ravage]], [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], and [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]], who, facing extinction, renounced the ways of the Decepticons and became ambassadors for peace.

===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
[[File:Ffod4 early soldiers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

The Decepticons began life as a line of military hardware robots created by the [[Quintesson]]s, alongside the consumer goods robots that would become the Autobots. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}} It is unknown exactly what role the military hardware robots played in the eventual rebellion of the robots against their creators; the only ones seen to participate in the conflict were the Autobots' ancestors, led by [[Alpha Trion (G1)|A-3]], but given their fighting ability, the proto-Decepticons seem like they would have made logical soldiers in the fight. {{storylink|Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming}}

Following the defeat of the Quintessons and their exile from Cybertron, a brief period of peace descended, before the base differences between the two breeds of robot led to the outbreak of conflict. Lusting for power, the Decepticons, as they now called themselves, rallied under [[Trannis|a leader]] and began a war with the peaceful Autobots, who proved unable to match their inborn military skills. After the fall of several successive Autobot leaders, the heroic robots turned to stealth, and invented the art of [[transformation]]; with this edge, [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] defeated the Decepticons' leader, ending the war and ushering in the prosperous [[Golden Age]] of Cybertron. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}
[[File:Masterplan2 earth germ.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"Excuse me, do you have seating for 3?"]]
Over time, the defeated Decepticons married transformation technology with [[robot mode]] flight powers, leading to the creation of [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] around nine million years ago. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}} Gathering like-minded warriors like the loyal [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]], the emotionless [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] and the young upstart [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], and brain-washing others into his service with the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]], {{storylink|The Secret of Omega Supreme (episode)|The Secret of Omega Supreme}} Megatron slew Sentinel Prime and reignited the war. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}} Against the Autobots under the command of new leader [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], the protracted warfare ran for five million years, draining Cybertron dry of energy and forcing the Transformers to seek new power sources on other planets. When Optimus Prime's best and brightest departed on this quest aboard [[Ark (G1)|a spacecraft]], Megatron's elite followed them, and the battle that erupted led to a crash-landing on prehistoric Earth that entombed all the combatants in stasis for four million years. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}

In 1984, a volcanic explosion led to the reactivation of the Transformers; the Decepticons were first to recover, and immediately set about plundering Earth's natural resources to build a [[Victory (G1)|space cruiser]] that would take them back to Cybertron. Sabotaged in mid-flight, the ship crashed into one of Earth's oceans, {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 3}} but the Decepticons survived and rebuilt the crippled craft to serve as their new [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|headquarters]] for the continuing conflict on the planet. A [[space bridge]] was established between Earth and Cybertron, and any resources the villains could purloin would be sent back to the dying planet to secure their stranglehold over it. {{storylink|Transport to Oblivion (episode)|Transport to Oblivion}}
[[File:FFOD5 Decepticons attack.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4]]
At some point over the next twenty years, the Decepticons focused their attentions away from Earth and managed to take complete control of Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to relocate to twin moonbases on Cybertron's two satellites, and to [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] on Earth. In 2005, learning that the Autobots planned a major strike to retake Cybertron, the Decepticons launched an [[Battle of Autobot City|attack]] on Autobot City, with disastrous consequences for the Autobots. The battle saw one of the Decepticons' long held dreams achieved in the death of Optimus Prime, but Megatron was damaged, and left to rot in deep space, along with several of his wounded followers. Found by the monster planet [[Unicron]], Megatron was reformatted him into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]], and the others into [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s, in return for their servitude. Soon after, while Unicron was attacking the Decepticon-controlled Cybertron, Galvatron duelled with the new Autobot leader [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]], who triumphed and hurled him into the void of space. Their world and their forces devastated and their leader gone, the Decepticons were easily routed by the Autobots, who forced them into exile on the burned-out world of [[Chaar]] while they retook and restored Cybertron. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

{{quote|Once the Decepticons held the quadrant through terror, now we scrap like [[Slaarg]]s over a few [[energon cube]]s.|[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]]|[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1]]}}
[[File:Rebirth 2 Decepticon offerings.JPG|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
On Chaar, the Decepticons faced constant energy shortages and engaged in constant in-fighting over what little they did have. Determined to restore order, Cyclonus hatched a plan to locate the lost Galvatron, in hopes that he could lead the Decepticons to glory once more. Although they were successful, Galvatron proved to have been driven insane by his experiences, and while his return did herald the recommencement of hostilities with the Autobots, the Decepticons never quite recovered their old standing, continuing to operate on Chaar throughout 2006 and regularly entering into ill-fated alliances with the Quintessons. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness}}

Eventually, the Decepticons went into hiding following the resurrection of Optimus Prime. When they returned, it was in force, launching an attack on Autobot City in order to steal the key to the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]] on Cybertron, intending to use the chamber to overload the sun and destroy Earth and Cybertron together. The battle for the key carried several of their number to the planet [[Nebulos]], where they became [[binary bonding|binary bonded]] to the planet's evil rulers, the [[Hive (G1)|Hive]], as [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] and [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmasters]]. They returned with the key to Cybertron, but Autobot intervention caused the energy of the chamber to backfire on them, hurling their battlestation [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], with the amassed forces of the Decepticons aboard, off into the far reaches of the universe. {{storylink|The Rebirth}}

{{--}}

====Japanese cartoon continuity====
{{note|In Japanese cartoon continuity, the events of "The Rebirth" do not occur, and Headmasters and Targetmasters have a different origin.}}
[[File:FourWarriors Decepticon Headmasters flaming balls.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|There were more burning rocks in the Japanese continuity.]]

Following the return of Optimus Prime, the Decepticons consolidated their power base by heavily fortifying Chaar and turning it into an actual, functional base of operations. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} Their ranks were swelled with the addition of the Decepticon Headmasters—Cybertronians who had fled their homeworld millions of years before and taken up residence on the planet [[Master (planet)|Master]], but who had been exiled by the local leader [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress]] for an attempted coup. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}} Headmaster commander [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] coveted leadership of the Decepticons for himself, and finally obtained it when the Autobot Headmasters entombed Galvatron in an iceberg. {{storylink|The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg}} Under Scorponok's leadership, the Decepticons nearly succeeded in destroying the Earth with [[crysmagnetal]] and [[plasma energy]], but upon the destruction of Scorponok's [[Transtector]], they ultimately elected to finally withdraw from Earth once and for all. {{storylink|The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)}}
[[File:BirthHeadmasterJrs Decepticon Jrs in transtectors.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1]]
The Decepticons returned to Chaar, and over the next few years, fought the Autobots on [[Athenia]] in a series of space-based exchanges that became known as the [[Master Wars]]. Circumstances changed when the mysterious alien [[Devil Z]] was able to brainwash Scorponok, placing him and by extension, the entire Decepticon army, under his command. {{storylink|Master File No, 1}} While Scorponok, now known as "BlackZarak", continued to lead the Decepticons' space based forces, a small group of [[Pretender]]s operating under Devil Z's direct command on Earth furthered the evil alien's attempts to fuse human and Transformer life to create the ultimate lifeform by bringing about the rise of the [[Headmaster Junior]]s and the [[Godmaster (lifeform)|Godmasters]]. {{storylink|Birth! Headmaster Jrs}} {{storylink|Super Warriors - The Godmaster Brothers}} A group of Autobot Pretenders worked to counter his schemes by doing the same, and the repeated failure of his human Transformers to triumph over their Autobot counterparts led Devil Z to conclude that he had been incorrect, and that humanity was of no use to him. He transformed the Headmaster Jr and Godmasters into full robotic lifeforms, but soon after, he and BlackZarak were destroyed by the Autobot leader [[Ginrai (human)|Ginrai]], and the Decepticons fled the Earth once more. {{storylink|A Battle... and Then...}}
[[File:Deathsaurus throne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Leadership was briefly taken up by [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]], but by the year 2025, the Decepticon army was reorganized under the new Emperor of Destruction, [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]], and began attacking numerous different planets all across the galaxy in pursuit of a world they could take for their own. {{storylink|The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber}} Deathsaurus led the [[Breastforce]] and [[Dinoforce]] in attack on Earth, seizing enough energy to reactive his [[Planet-Destroying Fortress]], but he was stopped by the new Autobot [[Supreme Commander]], [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. {{storylink|Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification}}
[[File:TVMJuly1990Mashougun.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Deathsaurus' defeat marked a decline in Decepticon activity, but soon a more supernatural force seized command: [[Violen Jiger]], a being made up of the spirits of many defeated Decepticons, rallied together [[Nine Great Demon Generals]] from throughout Decepticon history to capture for him the Autobots' new [[Energon Z]], and the life-giving [[Zodiac]], which he would combine to create a "[[Decepticon Zone]]" from which he could conquer the universe. His plans were stopped by new Autobot leader [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], {{storylink|Transformers: Zone (franchise)|Zone}} and the Zodiac was instead used to bring Optimus Prime back to life. This stood in the way of the plans of the mysterious alien [[Dark Nova]], so he used his powers to resurrect Galvatron from his Arctic tomb and transform him into Super Megatron. The Decepticon army was virtually non-existent under Dark Nova; Super Megatron had no actual Decepticon troops at his command, merely Dark Nova's [[Novaroid]] and [[Galaman]] warriors, though they did bear the Decepticon insignia. Dark Nova later upgraded Super Megatron into Ultra Megatron, then merged with him to become "Star Giant", but was destroyed by the resurrected Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Transformers: Return of Convoy (franchise)|Return of Convoy}}

By the year 2035, Decepticon leadership had been taken up by the enigmatic [[Scrash (OC)|Scrash]], and fighting was primarily occurring in outer space once again. The development of [[Power Core Combination]] by the Autobots and their human allies on Earth drew Scrash's attention back to the planet, and he sent [[Battle Gaia]] and the [[Jet Corps]] to create distractions while a team of Decepticons reformatted to be able to take control of the Autobots' new inventions were sent to steal the combiner tech. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination (franchise)|Operation Combination}} Some reports suggest that when his plans were foiled, Scrash himself made another attack on the planet along with his warriors [[Flashwing]], [[Deathplay]], [[Darkfly]] and [[Sharpedge]] which also met with failure. {{storylink|Generation 1 cartoon timeline (Japan)#After_2025|2007 timeline}} [[File:G2 Humans killed Megatron's friend.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|There were also more gigantic plastic army men in the Japanese continuity.]] Following this, Megatron retook command of the Decepticons, but with his damaged sanity circuits repaired, he abandoned his evil ways and united the Decepticons with the Autobots as the [[Cybertron Alliance]]. This was not to last, unfortunately, when a misunderstanding led a human military unit to kill [[Kiloton|a Decepticon]], prompting Megatron to begin the war all over again. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|Autobots vs. Decepticons: Combat Secrets}}

Defeated by Optimus Prime in a duel in the [[Mirtonian constellation]], the badly wounded Megatron disappeared with the Decepticons into the far reaches of the universe, and the war appeared to be over once more. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!}} Alas, it was not to be so, as a [[Galvatron II|parallel version of Galvatron from an alternate dimension]] appeared and took control of the Decepticon army, renewing hostilities {{storylink|Hybrid Style Convoy Black Version}} and bolstering their forces with the addition of biomechanically-engineered monsters. {{storylink|MP-1B Cybertron Commander / Convoy Black Ver.}}

===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
The Decepticons fought the Autobots in the Great War but were ultimately defeated and forced to sign the [[Pax Cybertronia]] which left them in a second class position. A small number of Decepticons were granted amnesty for their crimes but by the era of the [[Maximal]]s, most of these had retired. The Decepticons were succeeded by the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] who shared their ancestors' dream of galactic conquest and schemed to quietly subvert the rule of the Maximals. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:DeceptLitho.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|"My Liege, when did you get that sw—" "CAN'T HEAR YOU, FANWANKING"]]
The Decepticons arose out of the [[Gladiatorial combat|underground fights]] that Megatron once partook in. After discovering certain secrets about Cybertron's origin, including massive [[planetary engine]]s, Megatron began using the games to recruit combatants. For nearly half a million years, they grew in numbers and trained, until they rebelled against the [[Council of Ancients]] and took [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]] by force.

While the war raged on, the Constructicons repaired the engines and introduced a mecha-forming process, but what they really needed was a power source. Megatron became convinced that he could find one powerful enough within the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]], which was in the possession of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]. However, when Megatron finally killed the Prime, he discovered that it was not within him. Soon after, Optronix became Optimus Prime, and Megatron initiated a plan: an assassination team under Communications Officer [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] would elimate the Prime and claim the Matrix, while Military Operations Commander [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] would lay siege to Iacon, preventing the Autobots from coming to Prime's rescue.

However, Megatron made two mistakes: he informed Air Commander [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] of his intentions, and he underestimated Optimus Prime. The Prime managed to erase some of Megatron's memories of what he discovered, while Starscream activated the mechaforming process using energy from the planetary engines. The engines were destroyed before the process was complete, ruining both. {{storylink|Transformers: The War Within|The War Within}}

After Megatron disappeared with Optimus Prime in a space bridge test, Shockwave became Decepticon leader, though Starscream and High Auditor [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] broke off with their own splinter factions shortly afterwards. The Decepticons allied with [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]'s Autobots and [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]'s [[Lightning Strike Coalition]] (an Autobot splinter group), to stop the machinations of [[The Fallen]]. {{storylink|Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages|War Within: The Dark Ages}} Several thousand years later, Shockwave was prepared to sign a peace treaty with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], who had become Autobot leader, the LSC, and Ratbat's [[Ultracon]]. However, Megatron returned with the [[Air Warrior|Aerospace Extermination Squadron]], an army of [[Quintesson]] created [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] drones, whose abilities allowed the Decepticons to fully conquer Cybertron and enslave the Autobots. The Decepticons' control over Cybertron was ended when Optimus Prime returned to Cybertron and the Air Warriors were defeated. {{storylink|Transformers: War Within: The Age of Wrath|War Within: The Age of Wrath}}

When Megatron disappeared along with the ''Nemesis'' crew, Shockwave again emerged as Decepticon leader, this time as head of a triumvirate including Ratbat and [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. With [[energon]] becoming scarce, Shockwave agreed to work with Ultra Magnus and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] in the creation of the [[Micromaster]]s, Transformers who were downsized for better fuel efficiency. Shockwave suffered a rebellion when [[Skystalker (G1)|Skystalker]] overthrew him, using Shockwave's severed head as a tool. {{storylink|Transformers: Micromasters}} However, all Transformers on Cybertron entered [[stasis lock]] when the [[Great Shutdown]] occurred.

Around 1,000 B.C.E., Shockwave was reactivated by Scourge, and then defeated the Unicronian Transformer. Studying Scourge and discovering some of the secrets Megatron had learned, Shockwave made peace with the Autobots, installing himself as Head of State with an [[Autobot High Council]] as a legislature, while Ultra Magnus became his senior security officer. However, the High Councillors were unsuited for peace time government, and gradually gave Shockwave more and more power... which is exactly what he had planned.

On Earth, the ''Nemesis'' crew was reawakened in 1984. Cut off from Cybertron, the Decepticons concluded that they had no other choice but to conquer the planet. Megatron soon learned that others had come looking for them, including [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]]. The Decepticons captured Jetfire and the Dinobots except Grimlock, and used the hostage situation to force Grimlock to serve the Decepticons. Additionally, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] located Earth and served under Megatron. In 1998, the Autobots allied with humanity to defeat the Decepticons. They were to be returned to Cybertron in the ''[[Ark II]]'', but Shockwave, through a human intermediary, sabotaged the ''Ark II'', causing the ship to crash and send the Transformers aboard into stasis lock.

Renegade members of the [[United States military]] managed to capture the Decepticons and a number of Autobots, intending to use them as instruments of war, but [[Lazarus|Adam Rook]] later stole them and set himself up as an arms dealer. Unfortunately, Megatron overwhelmed the programming that kept him a prisoner, and freed the other Decepticons. Megatron then intended to unleash a technovirus on Earth, but the Autobots defeated him. {{storylink|Prime Directive}}

A year later, Shockwave arrived to tie up loose ends, quickly capturing Megatron and the ''Nemesis'' crew. Starscream ejected Megatron out of the ship carrying them to Cybertron, leaving him to die in space. The ''Nemesis'' crew were granted amnesty, but Starscream quickly recruited them into going back to Earth to conquer the planet, taking the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] with them. Shockwave was finally overthrown when Optimus Prime united the Autobot resistance groups, but he escaped with a small number of troops. {{storylink|War and Peace}}

Meanwhile, Megatron was rescued by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]], who repaired his memory loss. Using some recovered Air Warriors, Megatron located the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], who were used to take control of Shockwave's small army. On Earth, Starscream's failures during [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]]'s rampage were reason enough to convince the ''Nemesis'' crew to mutiny against Starscream in Megatron's favor. With two combiner teams, an army of Seekers, Soundwave's cassettes, and knowledge of Earth's connection to Cybertron, Megatron prepared to lead the Decepticons on the conquests of Earth and Cybertron {{storylink|Transformers: Generation 1 (Dreamwave) |G1 ongoing}}...

{{note|...At which point Dreamwave went bankrupt. Damn.}}

===2005 IDW continuity===
During the reign of [[Nominus Prime]], Cybertronian civilization was stratified by a [[Functionism|Functionist]] society that equated one's worth as an individual with the usefulness and uniqueness of one's altmode. Among the impoverished lower classes was a young, idealist miner named [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]] who sought to peacefully end Functionism as an institution. His [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|treatise]] gathered momentum among Cybertron's working class,{{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} but the Decepticon movement didn't come about until later, when an embittered and disillusioned Megatron began circulating more radical and violent samizdat writings. Indeed, the name Decepticon was taken from one of Megatron's favorite rallying cries: "You are being deceived." They soon began scaring people in high society.

Despite the Senate's best efforts to quash the burgeoning social movement by instituting a [[Clampdown (event)|clampdown]] {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}} and having Megatron reassigned to distant mining colonies, {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} they proved unable to suppress Megatron for long; soon, the Decepticon leader found a way back to Cybertron {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} and eventually spearheaded an uprising in [[Kaon]], taking the city and killing [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Oriring #4}} The Decepticons soon began spreading across the planet, recruiting downtrodden victims of Functionist society, smuggling illegal weapons, {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 3: Behind My Bleeding Back|Behind My Bleeding Back}}, and carrying out terrorist strikes in advance of their main assaults. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Although Sentinel Prime's successor [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta]] attempted to restore order, but his destructive, morally dubious campaign led to both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] and Megatron teaming up against the mad Prime and killing him. Although they'd overthrown the Senate and yet another Prime, it was clear that Megatron sought to institute a brutal dictatorship of their own, {{storylink|Overthrown}} and Orion—now "Optimus Prime"— rose up to fight back against the Decepticons. {{storylink|Rise}}

As the war spread into space and beyond, the Decepticons first sought to institute a [[Decepticon Empire]], conquering, razing, and [[Eco-structuring|cyberforming]] organic worlds into colonies in their new [[Constellate]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Under Megatron's command, the Empire included a [[Decepticon Secret Service]] that handled spying and tech acquisitions; {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}} penal colonies like [[Styx]]; Tactical Assault Units like the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave|Spotlight: Shockwave}}, and the elite [[Decepticon Justice Division]], assembled to hunt down and kill traitors to the cause. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} The war they started proved ''too'' destructive for Cybertron to handle, and the Decepticons had to abandon it after the disastrous [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] incident. {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer}}

Despite Megatron's vision of "cleansing" the galaxy of impure organic lifeforms, the Constellate proved too costly to sustain; in its place, the Decepticons devised the [[infiltration protocol]]: {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} a cheaper method by which undercover Decepticons would gather intelligence, deploy [[Facsimile construct|facsimiles]], and deliberately inflame pre-existing planetary tensions, effectively manipulating the natives into annihilating themselves. {{storylink|The Transformers: Infiltration|Infiltration}} In extreme circumstances, the Decepticons would send in a [[Phase Sixer]] like [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] to destroy whatever remained. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sixshot}}

In the early 21st century, after eenturies of cloak-and-dagger warfare against the Autobots across the galaxy, Megatron finally dropped infiltration protocol; during the [[Surge (event)|Surge]], Decepticons across the galaxy abruptly broke cover and launched an all-out offensive on major Autobot positions. {{storylink| Bullets}} Megatron and his innermost forces attacked Earth, where they ran amok for almost a year before Optimus Prime and his Autobots were able to recover, grievously wound Megatron, and drive his forces from the ravaged planet. Starscream took control through a charade of wielding the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron}} The counter-offense left the Decepticons in tatters; some Decepticons remained on Earth, where they fruitlessly scrounged for fuel, while others retreated with Starscream to a barren asteroid, wehre they began to cannibalize each other for energon and spare parts. After three years of convalescence, Megatron finally returned and took back his rightful position. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Later, Megatron allowed himself to be captured and brought to a mostly restored Cybertron, where he used a [[space bridge]] built into his body to summon the Decepticon army to him. Everyone but Megatron and [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Shockwave]] were brainwashed by [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] and/or [[D-Void]] into combining with the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s to form a "[[Deceptigod]]". {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} Once the monster was defeated, the weakened Decepticons were all captured by the Autobots. They were imprisoned and kept under control using [[inhibitor/deterrence chip]]s in their heads, and the war was considered over. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} Megatron was believed dead after standing up to the creature.

Though many Decepticons returned to Cybertron, an even greater number of cells opted to remain in space, communicating with each other and waiting for an inevitable call to arms. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

The Decepticons were released and eventually, in the interests of peace, the chips were deactivated. An uneasy peace emerged between Decepticon, Autobots, and the [[NAIL|returning neutrals]], with Starscream rising to power as the Decepticon spokesman (after arranging the death of their previous spokesman, Ratbat, before he could start another war). {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}} Out in space, however, the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] refused to accept the war was over and continued hunting down and murdering anyone on their 'list'. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Megatron soon returned, having spent the intervening time in the wilds of Cybertron, learning about the "strange energies" that allowed the Deceptigod to form and communicating them with his inner circle of loyalists. Wielding a new [[Devastator (G1)|combiner]], he and his followers once again attempted an uprising, but the Autobots successfully quashed the conflict and managed to imprison Megatron once again. In the ensuring chaos, Starscream abandoned the Decepticons managed to convince the NAILs to support him as the sole leader of Cybertron; with their support, the remaining Autobots and Decepticons were exiled from Iacon. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head}}

Following the [[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]] crisis, Megatron allowed himself to be put on trial on [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]], having supposedly abandoned the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Thanks to a technicality in the Luna 2 legal system, Megatron was allowed to join the ''[[Lost Light]]'' crew in its quest for the [[Knights of Cybertron]], postponing his ultimate verdict until the Knights could judge him in person. However, in exchange for his continued freedom, Megatron was forced to recite a statement declaring his renouncement of all Decepticon ideals and ordering all remaining Decepticon forces to stand down and do the same. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} In the aftermath of Megatron's defection [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] took command of the Decepticons. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Galvatron led them to Earth where they forged an alliance with the EDC. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} According to Ravage, however, Galvatron would be instantly abandoned if Megatron gave the word. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}

After Galvatron's demise, {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}} the Earth-based Decepticons fell under [[Soundwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Soundwave]]'s command and worked, somewhat uneasily, alongside the Autobots within the [[Council of Worlds]]. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} Out in space, [[Nickel]] assumed command of [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]' troops with the cell being caught in the crossfire of the [[Galactic Council]] and the [[Black Block Consortia]]. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}}

Shortly before his fall from grace, Starscream sent [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] into space to rally all the scattered Decepticon cells into one massive fleet. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

The techno-geneticist [[Scorponok (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Scorponok]] had his own plans to revive the Decepticons (now hovering somewhere around 10,000 individuals) and finally achieve victory. Via a creature called the [[Firstborn]], Scorponok intended for the Decepticons to briefly become organic creatures and sexually reproduce so as to refresh their numbers. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

Upon [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Onyx Prime]]'s return to Cybertron, he unveiled the truth about [[Horri-Bull]]'s death, turning the Decepticons against Soundwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|The Ground}} As the leaderless faction clashed with the [[Prime (rank)|Prime]] worshippers, they noticed Starscream sneaking around and asked him to become leader again. Though hesitant at first, {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}} Starscream ultimately agreed and led his army away to draw up new plans of conquest. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}} Shortly afterwards, Starscream visited the imprisoned Shockwave who revealed his master plan was to have [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] soften up the galaxy before killing him via the corrupted [[Vector Sigma]] and restoring the [[Decepticon Empire]]. {{storylink|Last Stand (Unicron)|Last Stand}}

Under Bludgeon's guidance, the scattered cells came together to form the "[[Decepticon Vengeance Division]]", being dispatched by Starscream to contain and destroy Unicron at [[G Nebula 89]]. Though the fleet's firepower was immense, Bludgeon himself was loyal to Unicron, the Decepticons subsequently being warped into Unicron's heralds. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}} When Unicron arrived at Cybertron, the Decepticon citizenry swarmed into [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], {{storylink|Our Finest}} before the entirety of the population was teleported to Earth by the [[magic]] of the [[Spectral Knight]]s. {{storylink|Road's End}}

Along with all other factions, the Earth-bound Decepticons joined in the attack on the DVD, {{storylink|Assembly (Unicron)|Assembly}} settling into a new life on Earth once Unicron had been defeated. {{storylink|Ceremony}} {{storylink|Post}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
After being reactivated in [[1984]], the Decepticons carried out operations on Earth, seemingly under the command of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] {{storylink|Cultural Appropriation}}, before the war spread beyond Earth and turned increasingly violent, resulting in the [[Earth Defense Command]] banning all Transformers from their space. The Decepticons were the ones to finally sour all human/Transformer relations when they used a stolen Autobot shuttle to destroy the human colony of [[Xin Shanghai]]. {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}}

At an unidentified point in the 21st century, [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] reformatted, or revived, [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] into the powerful [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] who continued, or retook, Decepticon leadership. {{storylink|A Brush With Infamy–Prologue}} Both Autobots and Decepticons briefly joined forces to combat the Chaos Bringer, eventually destroying him. {{storylink|The Inexorable March}}

The Decepticons then invaded the planet [[Nebulos]] via [[infiltration protocol]] before the intervention of the [[Human Confederacy]] turned the war hot and ended in the [[Scouring of Nebulos]]. The enormous loss of life was the final straw for the [[human]]s, who restricted all Cybertronians to the [[Allowed Zone]], where the war could do no further harm to the galaxy. {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}} {{storylink|A Brush With Infamy–Prologue}} Galvatron did not take this threat lying down and quickly conquered the Allowed Zone to rebuild his army and destroy humanity in the [[Great Push]]. The battle ended in a humiliating defeat for the Decepticons, and resulted in the Allowed Zone being cut in half. Galvatron himself would eventually be executed via a [[Quintesson]] judgement. {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}}

In the aftermath, [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] took command of the Decepticons, {{storylink|A Brush With Infamy–Prologue}} before [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] overthrew him. {{storylink|Cultural Appropriation}} Thunderwing led his troops to seize the [[Underbase]] on [[Moonbase Two|Artemis]] and bonded with the ancient artifact's power. Rendered insane, he cut a swath of destruction across Cybertron, forcing the Autobots and Decepticons to once again unite to combat their mutual foe. Thunderwing's defeat marked the technical end of both Autobots and Decepticons as both parties reorganized themselves into the [[Builder of Cybertron|Builders of Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Not All Megatrons}}

Having created the [[Energon Matrix]] to substitute for the lost [[Vector Sigma]], [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] created the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] as the descendants of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Head Games}}
{{-}}

===''Star Trek vs. Transformers''===
Four million years ago, the Decepticons pursued the Autobots into the Sol [[asteroid belt]], their boarding of the ''Ark'' causing it to crash on prehistoric Earth and knocking all aboard into stasis lock. The Decepticons were reawakened in the 1980s and began a secret war over Earth's supply of [[energon]] before [[World War III]] forced them off the planet. Trailing the Autobots aboard [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], the Decepticons boarded [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] in orbit of [[Cygnus Seven]], the act again causing all aboard to fall into stasis lock when the Autobot ship crashed. In the 23rd century, a [[Federation]] survey team unknowingly reactivated Maximus. Awakened first by the Titan's repair protocols, Megatron healed his troops and led an attack on the surface. {{storylink|Prime's Directive, Part Two}}

While Decepticon firepower made quick work of the mining colony, they were unprepared for the intervention of the [[USS Enterprise|USS ''Enterprise'']], its [[photon torpedo]]s proving able to damage the Decepticons. Falling back to a nearby moon, the Decepticons found Trypticon being occupied by the [[Klingon]]s, Megatron soon smooth talking the aliens into an alliance. {{storylink|Prime's Directive, Part One}}

Though the Decepticon/Klingon alliance had initial successes, {{storylink|Prime's Directive, Part Three}} it soon collapsed when it was revealed that Starscream had manipulated the Klingon sense of honor to have [[Kuri]] give him a personal cloaking device. Enraged, Megatron ordered a retreat from Cygnus Seven to pursue Starscream. {{storylink|Prime's Directive, Part Four}}

The Decepticons caught up with Starscream on [[Kronos]], within the chambers of the [[Klingon High Council]], and began conquering the planet. When the Autobots and [[Starfleet]] arrived to defend Kronos, Soundwave unleashed his audio disruptor waves on their foes, only to learn that the Klingons were deaf to the frequency he utilized. Caught off-guard, the Decepticons were subject to a surprise attack by a fleet of [[Warbird (Star Trek)|warbirds]]. By the terms of [[James Kirk]]'s peace with [[Gorkon]], the Decepticons were left behind in Klingon custody. {{storylink|Prime's Directive, Part Five}}

===2019 IDW continuity===
[[File:Ascenticon rally.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|Look, we're not saying that that banner is just one accidental flag-hanging away from a Decepticon symbol. We're just implying it.]]

{{quote|Your life is yours to shape. In doing so, you owe nothing to those who came before you. But you owe everything to those as yet unforged. Let no shaping of yours, limit what they, in their turn, might yet be and achieve.|One of Termagax's writings|The World In Your Eyes Part One}}

The 'Ascenticon' faction began with [[Termagax]], noted Cybertronian engineer and philosopher, in the aftermath of the [[War of the Threefold Spark]]. Dissatisfied with the way Cybertron had developed in response to the [[Nominus Edict]], Termagax created the Ascenticon to become part of the Cybertronian senate and institute reforms, starting with scrapping the Edict. Termagax's student, a young firebrand named [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], became the first Senator of the Ascenticon faction. {{storylink|Orion Pax: Free Fall}} {{storylink|The Change In Your Nature Part Three}}

Over time, Termagax's dissatisfaction with Cybertronian society grew more extreme, until she eventually recused herself from society entirely, leaving the Ascenticons in Megatron's hands... just as the senator wished. Megatron shared his mentor's desire to get rid of what he saw as the restrictions on Cybertron's growth, but not her grassroots approach. Megatron began a scheme to make sure the Ascenticons rose to power, even if by mass deception. {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Two}} {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four}}

Megatron's scheme began with the creation of a sub-faction, called [[The Rise]], composed of those radically opposed to the Edict, and the Autobot hegemony. The intent was to have the Rise creation friction, which would turn the Autobots increasingly fascistic, and therefore drum up support for the Ascenticon way. Unknown to all, Megatron had Shockwave returned from exile to whip the Rise into suitable shape. {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four}}

In the senate, the Ascenticons proved contentious, siding against the Autobots and [[Reversionist]] factions. {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part Four}}

In public, Megatron began giving rallies, gaining popular support while condemning the violence of the Rise. As the cycles passed, their rallies grew harder and harder to control as support for their cause grew and grew, with the most recent rally having injured a dozen people. Senator [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]] attempted to parley with [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], seeking a delay of the latest Ascenticon rally in [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], but Megatron rebuffed these efforts, simply stating that he sought change on Cybertron, and as long as he was allowed to speak he would continue to do so. {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part One}} At the rally in Tarn, Megatron's speech was supposedly interrupted by an assassination attempt. Megatron publicly vowed to catch whoever was responsible, {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part Two}} while denouncing the Autobots and their attempts to keep the peace, declaring the formation of a new "Ascenticon Guard", {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part Three}}

While the Guard was nominally under the command of Elita-1, it was Senator Soundwave who was in charge of recruitment, and the senator was extremely untrusting of any recruit with Autobot sympathies. {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part Five}} Meanwhile, the Guard took in such luminaires as Refraktor, Skytread, and unhinged war veteran Quake. {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part Three}}

The situation soon escalated after the Rise murdered Brainstorm, when the scientist stumbled onto their illegally siphoning energon, {{storylink|The World In Your Eyes Part One}}{{storylink|The Change In Your Nature Part One}} an act witnessed by a Voin. Acting quickly, Soundwave contacted the Rise to deal with the situation. They sent Quake, {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five}} who did silence the witness, but also murdered the young Cybertronian Rubble when he stumbled onto the scene. {{storylink
|The World In Your Eyes Part Five}}

In the ensuing investigation, the security services found evidence of the Rise's activities and armaments, and officer Barricade's connection to these events. Elsewhere, recruitment for the Guard began to surge, including Barricade. {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part One}}

Megatron, on learning of Soundwave's actions, was outraged at the decision. He quickly updated his plans, to accelerate events. Broadcasting a speech to Cybertron as a whole, Megatron declared the Ascenticons would no longer wait peacefully for change to come, but force it, before unveiling a revised version of the Ascenticon insignia. {{storylink|The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five}}

Soon after, Ascenticons began branding themselves with the new insignia. Elsewhere, Soundwave approached Sentinel Prime, stating the Ascenticon viewpoint that the planet's situation dictated an immediate, accelerated election, which Sentinel angrily refused. Meanwhile, Soundwave covered the Ascenticons' tracks, erasing the knowledge of when 'bots such as Quake and Barricade had joined up. On hearing of a fight between Risers and the security service, Soundwave ordered Elita and Bumblebee to intervene and show Cybertron the new face of the Ascenticons. {{storylink|The Change In Your Nature Part One}}

===''Transformers/Ghostbusters''===
While the Autobots fled Cybertron at the end of the Great War, [[Decepticon High Command]] was visited by [[Gozer]] who proceeded to take Starscream's form and attack Cybertron. Though the Decepticons fought back, they found their power outmatched by the invader. Unable to flee, Megatron was approached by [[Kremzeek|Kremzeek the Scavenger]] who had come seeking the [[AllSpark]], shuttled off Cybertron by the recently departed Autobots. Bargaining with the Decepticon leader, Kremzeek turned Megatron and his inner retinue into [[ghost]]s, leaving the Decepticon army to be destroyed by Gozer along with their planet. {{storylink|Ghosts of Cybertron Part 1}} {{storylink|Ghosts of Cybertron Part 2}} {{storylink|Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4}}

When Kremzeek was defeated on Earth, his Decepticon prisoners were freed. {{storylink|Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4}} Though Optimus offered to use the AllSpark to revive them, Megatron attacked his arch-foe in a vengeful fury, even dreaming of possessing Optimus and using the Autobots to rebuild the [[Decepticon Empire]], before he was detained in a [[ghost trap]]. Soundwave and Shockwave were likewise imprisoned by the [[Ghostbusters]] while Starscream fled the planet. In the aftermath, Optimus took the Decepticon ghosts with him, hoping to one day rehabilitate and resurrect them, while [[Ectotron]] opted to patrol the galaxy for any more Decepticon spectres that might be out there. {{storylink|Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5}}

===''Transformers vs. The Terminator''===
In the year 1984, the Autobots and Decepticons aboard the ''Ark'' awoke, resuming their war on Earth. By [[2029]], the Decepticons had emerged as the victors, destroying the Autobots and levelling Earth. The last remnant of human society, the artificial intelligence calling itself [[Skynet]], sent a lone [[T-800]] unit back in time to destroy the Decepticons shortly after they'd awoken. {{storylink|Enemy of My Enemy Part One}}

==2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon==
{{note|Car Robots'', the Japanese version of [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|the 2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon]], is regarded as part of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]] and the [[Primax]] [[Universal stream|universal cluster]]. However, ''Robots in Disguise'' itself constitutes a different continuity family and is designated as the [[Viron]] universal cluster.}}

{{See also|Predacon (RID)}}

[[File:WedgesShortFuse Commandos firing in vehicle mode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|If you look closely, you can see Decepticons behind those laser beams.]]
In the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon]], the Decepticons were a brand new faction that came into being during the events of the story. Because there were so few Decepticons (only six or seven), and because they were a subset of the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacon]] antagonists, they can almost be viewed as a [[subgroup]] rather than a proper faction. The Decepticons were created on Earth when [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]]'s forces captured a set of [[stasis pod]]s from an ancient Transformer spaceship that had been found on [[Earth]], leading to the birth of the [[Commando (RID)|Commandos]] and [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]]. The toy version of [[Megatron (RID)|Galvatron]] was also labeled as a Decepticon, although this "change" in the character's faction was only mentioned once in the cartoon series.

{{note|In the Japanese version of ''Robots in Disguise'', ''Car Robots'', the Decepticons were known as Combatrons. This is the same name by which the [[Combaticon (G1)|Generation 1 Combaticons]] were called in Japan. For the [[Hasbro]] toyline, several other non-show Decepticons were added to the ranks to help fill out the line. It is currently unknown how many, if any, of the Decepticons unique to the toyline, share a similar origin to the show's Decepticons. In their scant portrayals, these Decepticons are simply portrayed as being around, though one of them, [[Axer (G1)|Axer]], is actually a dimension-hopper who arrived from [[Generation 1 continuity family|a Generation 1 universe]]. Meanwhile, the components of [[Devastator (Universe Ultra)|Devastator]] and [[Dominus Trannis]] are portrayed as Autobots brainwashed by the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] and implanted with Predacon [[personality component]]s.}}

==Unicron Trilogy continuity family==
===Cartoon continuity===
====''Armada'' cartoon====
The ''exact'' origins of the Decepticon faction are a bit muddled. It is widely assumed, though never directly confirmed, that the movement was founded by [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. Also, the enslavement of the power-enhancing [[Mini-Con]]s is considered to be the impetus to the Decepticons' rise to a massive multi-planet-spanning army, though at what point in the war this occurred is unclear; it's possible the Mini-Cons' arrival was what gave Megatron the opportunity to rise to power, or that they arrived after the war had already begun.

Either way, the Mini-Cons fueled the war machine for centuries, and the war with the [[Autobot]]s soon spread from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to other worlds. The self-imposed exile of the Mini-Cons to an unknown destination was seen as a major setback for the Decepticons (and something of a pyrrhic victory for the Autobots), but despite this, the war continued, as both sides had amassed a large enough power base to continue on without the little buggers.

The Autobots and Decepticons seemed to fight to a stalemate, neither able to gain a distinct advantage over the other. When a signal reached Cybertron centuries later that the Mini-Cons had landed on [[Earth]], it seemed neither side was capable of sending a full force to retrieve them, despite the power they contained. Though the Decepticon force sent to Earth was small in numbers, it was far from insignificant; Megatron himself led the squad, backed by some of his most trusted warriors.

[[File:Armada decepticons alliance.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]

When Megatron returned to Cybertron, the overwhelming majority of the Mini-Cons were in the protective custody of the Autobots, but Megatron was unfazed; he had assembled the Mini-Cons required to make the three legendary weapons: the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]], [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom Shield]] and [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. Bolstered by this new power and the apparent death of [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], Megatron attempted to take Cybertron once and for all.

But Megatron's (now calling himself Galvatron) return to Cybertron was the beginning of the end of the Decepticon army. When [[Unicron]] revealed himself as a threat to both armies, fueled by the negative psychic energies from centuries of death and destruction, the two sides eventually joined together to beat back the planet-eater. Despite the truce, Galvatron and Prime engaged in a brutal duel on the surface of the weakened Unicron after the three legendary weapons had been removed from his core. Realizing their battle was keeping Unicron active, Galvatron sacrificed himself, and both Unicron and Galvatron disappeared into nothingness.

====''Energon'' cartoon====
[[File:Energon Decepticon insignia.jpg|left|127px|thumb|Now available with added purple!]]
Galvatron's final orders to his troops still stood: work ''with'' the Autobots. The Decepticons maintained a degree of autonomy, still wearing the faction sigil and often taking military/defensive positions in the growing number of [[energon]]-mining colonies, but they were ultimately answerable to Optimus Prime and the Autobots. There were, of course, dissenters, most of whom were captured and imprisoned. For a decade, Autobot and Decepticon worked side-by-side in a somewhat stable truce.

[[File:Decepticons Megatron Resurrected.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Both sides found themselves the target of attacks from Unicron again; hordes of [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon drones]], sent by [[Alpha Quintesson]] to steal energon ore with which to revive the now-shattered husk of Unicron. What the alien did not count on was that Galvatron's [[spark]] had survived within the remains, and was siphoning energon from Unicron's body. Soon the Decepticon leader revived himself in a new form,(calling himself Megatron again) drove off Alpha Quintesson, and along with an elite cadre of soldiers and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of mindless Terrorcon drones, began his ''new'' plans for conquest.

When news of Megatron's return reached Cybertron, hundreds of Decepticons rose up and rebelled, eager to get back to conquering. But having been joined to Unicron for so long apparently had given Megatron a taste of godhood; he had no more interest in amassing a galaxy-spanning army of troops. Countless Decepticons died in the resulting battles, with Megatron more than willing to sacrifice them without a thought to attain ultimate power for himself. As "the Powerlinx Battles" -as they came to be called- came to their climax, Megatron (calling himself Galvatron ''again'') found that his actions and thoughts were being influenced and controlled by the dark spark of Unicron. Unwilling to let Unicron stand in his way, Galvatron ultimately sacrificed himself (again) and seemingly destroyed Unicron's spark by plunging himself into a newly formed energon sun created by [[Primus]].

{{--}}

====''Cybertron'' cartoon====
What little remained of the once-mighty Decepticon army after [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron's]] loss was at best a loose association of criminals, thugs, and lunatics, with no real political or military power to speak of. For a decade, [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] was once again at peace, with the population overwhelmingly [[Autobot]] or neutral. The Transformers had withdrawn from [[Earth]] and its other colonies to focus on revitalizing their homeworld after the devastation of the Powerlinx Battles. However, two great catastrophes shattered this peace; the energon sun collapsed in on itself, forming the powerful black hole known as the [[Unicron Singularity]], which threatened to devour Cybertron and, if left unchecked, the entire universe... and the return yet once again of Megatron, who had absorbed much of what remained of Unicron's power.

Megatron's goal of attaining godhood was now at hand. By obtaining the legendary [[Omega Lock]] and the four [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, Megatron intended to accelerate the growth of the black hole, consuming the universe in a vast sea of nothingness that only he would survive, then use his powers to re-create the universe in his image.

To this end, he had no need of an army. He gathered a small group of allies and lackeys to seek the items he needed, but they were nothing more than pawns to him, to be used and discarded at a whim.

The Decepticons briefly regained their status as a mass army of individuals when [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]], who had long suffered at Megatron's hands since the beginning of the Decepticons, made his own bid for ultimate power with the help of the [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]] agent [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Having sealed Megatron and his troops in a trap, Starscream freed hundreds of criminal Transformers who had been locked up on [[Earth]] for millennia, and formed his own globe-spanning army. The Decepticon "Monsters" were tasked with finding the Omega Lock and Earth's Cyber Planet Key, which they eventually brought to their leader. However, numerous Decepticons were killed in the battles with the Autobots, and it soon became apparent that Starscream, like Megatron before him, didn't care. Most of these criminals soon abandoned Starscream and went into hiding.

As for Megatron, he too had deserters among his own considerably-small ranks. Most notably, the powerful [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]], leader of the [[Animatron|Jungle Planet]] and the colossal [[Menasor (Cybertron)|Menasor]] from [[Gigantion]], both of whom eventually joined forces with their former enemies the Autobots.

This was not seen as a concern for Megatron, however, as by this time Starscream and his allies were seemingly destroyed on Gigantion, and Megatron (now calling himself "Galvatron" again) had the Omega Lock and all four Keys. What few Decepticons remained loyal to him were too stupid to see what Galvatron had planned, and made perfect distractions as he set his final plan in motion. If they weren't strong enough to survive the coming cataclysm, then so be it.

[[File:NewDecepticonArmy.jpg|thumb|The yutz, the ditz, the klutz, and the putz.]]
Ultimately, Galvatron's plan failed, and the Unicron Singularity was sealed. His remaining Decepticons quickly left him, realizing what was likely to have happened to them, and eventually joined the Autobots. After Galvatron's seemingly-final defeat and death in a one-on-one duel with [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron's]] moon, the Decepticons, not knowing when to quit, rose again, albeit in a rather pathetic fashion. Having cobbled together a rather rickety rocket, [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]], [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] and [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]] shanghaied the reluctant [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]], who was ''really'' keen on being on the winning side for once, and flew off to parts unknown as the "[[New Decepticon Army]]".

They made it to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] before the rocket crash-landed.

Meanwhile, the Autobot [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]] reported form a deep-space recon mission that he thought he had picked up traces of Starscream, seemingly backed up by Sideways and [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Soundwave]]. [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]] and the former Decepticon [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|Mudflap]] raced off to join Wing Saber and investigate...

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' continuity===
====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
Founded by Megatron, the exact number of the original Decepticons is unknown. Using the Mini-Cons as weapons, they were able to conquer Cybertron and force the Autobots underground. Eventually they were beaten due to the arrival of Unicron: his heralds slaughtered the entire Decepticon base on Cybertron, and the Chaos-Bringer's arrival forced them to join forces with the Autobots. With Megatron shot dead during the Unicron battle, the peace held for a period of years.

==Live-action film series==
{{note|In a departure from previous Transformers incarnations, Japan used the name "Decepticons" for this franchise, rather than "Destrons".<ref>[http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/products/movie/decepticons.html Movie Decepticons toy listing on Takaratomy.com]</ref>}}

[[File:Defiance3 wearenowDECEPTICONS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|LATER: Megatron realizes he blew his entire budget on the giant rotating wall symbol.]]
The origins of these Decepticons began when the Fallen turned on his [[Dynasty of Primes|brother Primes]] in an attempt to seize power at the cost of humanity's existence. One account has it that the Fallen gathered a small army of [[Constructicon (ROTF)|construction drones]] to assist him and named them Decepticons. {{storylink|Tales of the Fallen issue 3}} Either way, he would become known as the ''first'' Decepticon and would go on to become the [[Emperor Palpatine|Sidious]] to Megatron's [[Darth Vader|Vader]] {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}, tempting the latent aggressive edge in the Protector. Filled with dreams of power and paranoia of losing that power, Megatron reformed the Cybertron defense force into a massive engine of war, ready to wipe out entire alien species who would dare challenge them.

When science leader [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s opposition became known, Megatron branded them traitors and declared his followers to be the Decepticons. Soon after, The Fallen commanded Megatron to build the ''[[Nemesis (ROTF)|Nemesis]]'', a ship that would carry his sarcophagus and Decepticon soldiers in their search for the [[Matrix of Leadership]] left on Earth. Megatron was commanded to remain on Cybertron, so [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]] commanded the expedition. Most of the Decepticons left Cybertron, leaving Megatron with a reduced, but still potent, army. {{Storylink|Transformers: Defiance|Defiance}}

[[File:BBfilm-Decepticons-surround-the-Autobots.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|right|Company photo day.]]
The Decepticons began the war, destroying any who defied them. When the Allspark was thrown into space, Megatron followed after it, eventually landing on Earth, where he became frozen. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}} Despite the absence of their supreme leader, the Decepticons were able to conquer Cybertron and drive the Autobots off-world while operating under the joint leadership of [[Shockwave (Movie)|Shockwave]] and Soundwave. In [[1987]], [[Shatter]] and [[Dropkick (Movie)|Dropkick]] learnt that Optimus Prime was planning to regroup the Autobots on Earth while torturing [[Bumblebee (Movie)|B-127 "Bumblebee"]], and attempted to summon the [[Decepticon fleet]] and bait a trap for the rebels, only to be slain before they could make the transmission. {{storylink|Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee}}

[[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] began a search for Megatron and the AllSpark. After a while, Starscream began to focus more on the AllSpark, hoping Megatron would remain lost, something the other Decepticons began to suspect. {{storylink|Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday|Ghosts of Yesterday}} In 2003, Starscream's retrieval team made their way to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], destroyed the [[Beagle 2 Rover]] and made their way to Earth. {{storylink|Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel}}

In 2007, the Decepticons began to make their presence known, with [[Blackout (Movie)|Blackout]] destroying [[SOCCENT Forward Operations Base]] in [[Qatar]], searching for information on Megatron and the AllSpark. A few days later, [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]] hacked [[Air Force One]]'s computers. Although he was unable to find out the truth about [[Sector Seven]], he avoided detection and managed to get a clue in [[Sam Witwicky]], whose ancestor [[Archibald Witwicky]] had discovered Megatron a century earlier. His glasses had been marked with coordinates to the AllSpark's location, so [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] and Frenzy attempted to confront the boy. Although they were defeated by Bumblebee and [[Mikaela Banes]], Frenzy hid in Mikaela's purse, and accompanied them to [[Hoover Dam]], where Megatron and the AllSpark were hidden. As Starscream ordered the Decepticons to mobilize, Frenzy shut down the temperature controls while Starscream destroyed the external generators. Megatron was freed, but Bumblebee took the Cube with a group of survivors from Blackout's attack to Mission City, meeting with Optimus Prime's Autobots along the way. In the Battle of Mission City, Megatron and most of the Decepticons were killed and the AllSpark believed destroyed. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}

After the battle of Mission City, Starscream, who had survived, stole Frenzy's remains to access whatever information the humans had on the AllSpark to build [[Replica AllSpark|his own AllSpark]]. Returning to Cybertron, Starscream proclaimed himself [[Decepticon leader]] and began building the replica. One month later, the replica was ready, but it didn't work properly and [[Dreadwing (Movie)|Dreadwing]] made a coup attempt. Starscream barely survived and made his way back to Mars, questioning his purpose. {{storylink|Transformers: The Reign of Starscream|The Reign of Starscream}}

When he received word that the Autobots would be helping the humans destroy Megatron's remains, and hoping to destroy Prime, Megatron, and the traitor [[Wreckage (Movie)|Wreckage]] all at once, Starscream returned to Earth. Although he managed to destroy Wreckage, Prime had already left with Megatron's body. Just as he defeated Bumblebee, Starscream received word from Soundwave, who had brought the ''Nemesis'' to Earth's solar system. After meeting up with Soundwave, Starscream explained the situation, and returned to the ''Nemesis'' to awaken the remaining Decepticons and oversee the spawning of more [[hatchling]]s while Soundwave lead a scout team to Earth. {{storylink|Transformers: Alliance}} Over the next two years, the Decepticons under Soundwave's command searched for the [[Tomb of the Primes]], which housed the Matrix needed to activate the solar harvester only to be opposed by the Autobot/human task force [[NEST]].

[[File:ROTF Fallen message.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|The Fallen performs what may be the greatest [[Rick Astley|Rick roll]] in history.]]
In 2009, Soundwave discovered Megatron's resting place in the [[Laurentian Abyss]] and the presence of an AllSpark shard on [[Diego Garcia]]. Dispatching [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] and the [[Constructicon (ROTF)|Constructicon]]s, the Decepticons managed to restore Megatron's [[Spark]] and bring him back to life. Returning to the Decepticon flagship, the ''Nemesis'', Megatron learned from the Fallen that the AllSpark's knowledge was now within Sam Witwicky's mind, who had destroyed the Cube when he killed Megatron. Further commanded to kill Optimus Prime, Megatron captured the boy. Although the boy escaped, Megatron, Starscream and Grindor battled Optimus, and Megatron eventually managed to kill the last Prime. Megatron then decided that a show of force was needed to compel the humans to turn Sam over to them. The Fallen lead Decepticon protoforms to Earth and then broadcast a message demanding the humans turn over Sam. Sam was eventually found in [[Egypt]], where the harvester was hidden under a pyramid. In Egypt, a battle took place around the pyramids. Although the Fallen managed to reclaim the Matrix, it had already been used to resurrect Optimus, who was then made super-powerful by being fused with Jetfire, a Decepticon-turned Autobot. Optimus Prime then destroyed the harvester and confronted the Fallen, slaying the ancient Decepticon after a short, but vicious fight with him. Seeing his master's demise, Megatron, who had been severely injured during the battle, retreated with Starscream, vowing revenge. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}

[[File:DOTM-Moonspacebridge.jpg|upright=1.67|right|thumb|Fly me to the Earth.]]
After three years of relative quiet, the Decepticons returned to NEST's radar when they enacted a scheme decades in the making, luring Optimus to the crashed ''[[Ark (DOTM)|Ark]]'' on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. Optimus revived [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]], who soon revealed that he had joined up with Megatron to restore Cybertron. Sentinel activated his space bridge, bringing forth an army of Decepticons who had hidden on the Moon. Sentinel issued an ultimatum to humanity: deport the Autobots from Earth or be destroyed. Humanity complied and the Autobots left in their spacecraft, but Starscream destroyed the ship once their human operative [[Dylan Gould]] learned they would leave without a fight. The Decepticons then stormed Chicago, slaughtering thousands of humans and made the city into a fortress impenetrable to the human military. Decepticons scattered across the globe to get Sentinel Prime's [[pillar]]s in place, so that they could create a space bridge large enough to bring Cybertron to Earth, enslaving humanity to reconstruct their home.

However, the Autobots had survived the destruction of their ship, foreseeing the Decepticons' treachery, and with the help of Sam Witwicky and a small crew of human allies, began a great battle to destroy Sentinel's space bridge. In the ensuing battle, the majority of the Decepticons' chain of command was killed off before the Autobots took the fight to Sentinel once the control pillar was temporarily disabled. After a brief duel with Optimus, Sentinel ordered the Decepticons' entire [[Orbital Assault Carrier]] fleet to attack his former pupil. With Sentinel battling the majority of the Autobots, the OAC's attacking Optimus, and the [[Wrecker]]s engaging the incoming terrestrial Decepticons, Gould was left to reactivate the control pillar. Though he succeeded, he was killed by Sam, and the pillar was destroyed, taking Cybertron, the Decepticons' remaining air force, and the space bridge with it. Sentinel attempted to escape, but was intercepted by Optimus and they fought once again. Although Sentinel managed to defeat Optimus, he was attacked and grievously wounded by Megatron, who sought to regain the power he had lost in the past few years. Megatron then asked for peace, but Optimus refused and seemingly killed the tyrant once and for all. Sentinel Prime was then executed by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}

[[File:AOE-Climb.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|left|HE STOLE MY LINE!!!]]
Unfortunately, this Autobot victory was quickly negated when [[Harold Attinger]] created [[Cemetery Wind]], a secret [[CIA]] cabal who began hunting down all Autobots and Decepticons left around the globe, with the help of [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]], a Cybertronian bounty hunter. Five years later, less than a dozen Transformers from either faction had survived the hunt. Though both factions were being slaughtered, Attinger claimed he was only hunting Decepticons, and their remains were sent to [[Kinetic Solutions Incorporated]] to be melted down to be made into new Transformers remote-controlled by humans. Megatron's head was recovered from Chicago, but no one except [[Brains]] discovered that the Decepticon leader had survived, and was biding his time by secretly worming his way into KSI's military prototype, Galvatron. Megatron also gave his new body operational control of the other fifty drones KSI had built. This was all in order to obtain the [[Seed]] that Lockdown would eventually pay Attinger and KSI with in exchange for help in apprehending Optimus Prime, so that Megatron could cyberform a large city to announce his return and build a massive army.

Optimus only became aware of Galvatron's true nature after doing battle with the drone, and passed the knowledge on to his human ally [[Cade Yeager]]. Yeager tried to warn [[Joshua Joyce]] of Galvatron's plot regarding the Seed, but it was too late, and Galvatron rebelled, christening the drones he took control of Decepticons. The Autobots came to rescue Joyce and the Seed in Hong Kong, but Galvatron set his army upon them, sparking a large battle. [[Hound (Movie)|Hound]] and Bumblebee were nearly overwhelmed by the Decepticons until Optimus arrived with the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], decimating the majority of them. The last few Decepticons were killed when Optimus detonated one of Lockdown's grenades. Galvatron, having escaped the battle when the Dinobots arrived, headed off for parts unknown, his plans temporarily stymied. {{Storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

[[File:TLKDecepticonsRollOut.jpg|right|upright=1.6|thumb|I am the leader of the Decepticons... which is only like, one or two or three of them.]]
Over the next few years, new Decepticons continued to arrive on Earth, but soon fell into disarray without a leader. Several Decepticons were killed in skirmishes with humans and Autobots, while others were captured by the TRF. After years of anarchy, Galvatron returned to Earth with a new body and reverted to his Megatron persona, now serving Quintessa in her plan to restore Cybertron at the cost of destroying Earth. Megatron initially kept his existence a secret to all except Barricade, who he used as a scout.

Eventually, Megatron came out of hiding and reformed the Decepticon army, negotiating the release of his henchmen [[Mohawk]], [[Dreadbot]], [[Nitro Zeus]], and [[Onslaught (ROTF)|Onslaught]] (only settling for the latter when his request for the volatile-even by Decepticon standards-[[Berserker]] was denied). The Decepticons and [[Transformers Reaction Force]] attacked an Autobot [[Junkyard (TLK)|refugee camp]], but were forced into a retreat thanks to the efforts of Yeager's team of Autobots and Dinobots, with Mohawk, Onslaught, and Dreadbot perishing during the battle. Decepticons began making their way to Cybertron after Megatron retrieved the [[Staff of Merlin]]. However, practically all Decepticons-including Nitro and [[Infernocus]]-fell before the combined might of the Autobots, the [[Transformers Reaction Force]], Quintessa's former [[Guardian Knight]]s, and their other allies as well as the [[British Armed Forces]]. Seeing as how Megatron and Barricade's current statuses are unclear, the return of the Decepticons is uncertain. {{storylink|Transformers: The Last Knight (film)|The Last Knight}}

{{groupstub}}

===Titan movie comics===
[[File:Titan23 decepticonsmassing.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Company photo day.]]
War devastated Cybertron. While the Decepticons were heavily reliant on drone units to bolster their forces and were forced to automate many of their outposts, {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 5|Lost In Space 3: Ironhide}} the risk was still too high that they might claim the AllSpark, forcing Optimus Prime to make the desperate decision to launch the AllSpark into deep space. Megatron obsessively followed after it, and disappeared. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 1|Prelude: Optimus Prime}}
{{groupstub}}

====Alternate timeline====
{{groupstub}}

{{-}}

==''Animated'' continuity family==
Around 1 billion years ago, the [[Destron (Animated)|Destrons]] emerged as a new faction on the Protectobot governed Cybertron. Led by [[Devron (Animated)|Devron]], the [[Third Cybertronian War]] was fought between the Destrons and the Protectobots (who were led by the new leader [[Nova Magnus]]). ''The Destrons emerged victorious, though many Cybertronian records were forever lost due to the [[Great Purge]]. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

The Decepticons came to prominence as a sub-faction of the Destrons around 70 million years ago. They advocated the use of the AllSpark to bring Cybertron itself to life, that it might serve as a cosmic juggernaut that would allow the Transformers to return to the era of expansion and colonization of other worlds they had enjoyed nearly 700 million years beforehand. When the Decepticon leader [[Megazarak (Animated)|Megazarak]] was ousted by charismatic rhetorician named [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], tensions finally exploded, and the Autobots and Decepticons went to [[Great War (Animated)|war]] for possession of the AllSpark.

After something in the vicinity of six million years of civil war, things reached a crisis point when the Decepticons began a strategic bombing campaign on Cybertron, demanding the AllSpark be turned over in exchange for a cessation of hostilities. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}} Rather than give in to Megatron's demands, the Autobots instead sought to put the AllSpark beyond any Cybertronian's reach, launching it randomly through a [[space bridge]] to some distant corner of the galaxy, where it was hoped it would never be found. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}
The Autobots pulled a victory only due to their exclusive access to [[space bridge]]s, [[Project Omega]], and their decision to send the [[AllSpark]] into deep space. Defeated, the Decepticons dispersed, and, according to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], the only sight of them would be an occasional scout ship. In fact, they had been missing for so long, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] believed a Decepticon presence was a thing of the past. This was quickly reassessed upon encountering [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron's]] crew. The ensuing confrontation over the newly rediscovered AllSpark took Megatron - injured from an assassination attempt by his lieutenant [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] - and the Autobots to Earth, where Megatron would be sent crashing to Earth. The Autobots' ship crash-landed in [[Lake Erie]], and during the next fifty years, [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] reverse-engineered technology from Megatron's severed head to build a robotic empire. Starscream would follow the AllSpark's trail to Earth, and the Autobots subsequently became heroes, though they were unaware of Sumdac's use of Megatron's technology. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

[[File:PayThePiper.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|left]]
Megatron revived in Sumdac's lab and covertly manipulated the scientist into helping him build a new body, poising as an incapacitated Autobot. {{storylink|Home Is Where the Spark Is}} His loyal Decepticons [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] arrived on Earth to find him, {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}} and when the time was right, helped restore him to a functioning body. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}} Megatron killed Starscream for his betrayal, but in the ensuing battle with the Autobots, the AllSpark was dispersed across the [[Detroit]] area. Though disheartened by the loss of the AllSpark, Megatron kidnapped Sumdac {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}} and downloaded a schematic of an Autobot space bridge, plotting to build one to invade Cybertron from within. The three Decepticons made camp in an abandoned mine that shielded their signals from the Autobots, {{storylink|The Elite Guard}}, but were surprised when Starscream was reanimated by an AllSpark fragment. Megatron reestablished contact with his double-agent on Cybertron, [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]], and ordered his troops around the galaxy to begin attacking the Autobots' space bridges. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}.

Megatron would have his troops go after AllSpark fragments {{storylink|Garbage In, Garbage Out}} or supplies for his space bridge {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}}. Megatron also ordered a large bounty on the rogue Starscream. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}} When the space bridge was completed, the Decepticons engaged in a fierce three-way battle with the Earthbound Autobots and Starscream's army of [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]]. Megatron would emerge victorious with the Autobots captured and the Starscream clones defected to his side, though the space bridge ended up malfunctioning and sucked in him and Starscream. A long night of bickering ensued. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

[[Team Chaar]] and other Decepticons around the galaxy began succeeding in taking the Autobots' space bridges, but were dismayed when Megatron failed to arrive on Cybertron to begin the invasion. Megatron and Starscream were found by the comatose [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], and Megatron cut his losses and cancelled the invasion, seeking to use Omega to conquer Cybertron himself. He was able to bring the Autobot to Earth to attack Optimus Prime's crew, but [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s intervention trapped Megatron and Starscream inside Omega and sent them transwarping around the galaxy randomly. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

His cover about to be blown, Shockwave mortally injured Ultra Magnus before escaping with the [[Magnus Hammer]], putting Cybertron in disarray. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}} [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] had [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] capture Lugnut, Blitzwing, [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]], [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]], and the stasis-locked [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] for him. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} However, Swindle would be revived en route to Cybertron, and freed his fellow prisoners, though only he and Lugnut would escape the ship and not be recaptured. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}} Lugnut found his way to Megatron, and Shockwave brought the group [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]]. {{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}} The Decepticons returned to Earth and constructed a group of [[Lugnut Supreme|dark clones]] of Omega Supremes with the codes in Arcee's processor, and attacked Earth. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} Autobots and Decepticons did battle; Ratchet led a team to rescue Arcee and Omega Supreme, while Bulkhead and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] defeated and captured Lugnut and Shockwave. Starscream took control of the Lugnut Supremes, rigging them to blow and destroy Detroit. [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] reconstructed the AllSpark, killing Starscream once and for all, and managed to use the power of the AllSpark to save Detroit. Megatron was captured by Optimus, and the Autobots returned to Cybertron with the Decepticon leader, Lugnut, and Shockwave as prisoners. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

Megatron and his men would be incarcerated in [[Trypticon Prison]], and [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] took command of the Decepticons for the time being. She ordered [[Team Stunticon]] to break out Megatron, but when they failed, Strika led an invasion of Cybertron's Energon farms. {{storylink|The Stunti-Con Job}}

{{note|As with the movie Decepticons, the Animated Decepticons are not called Destrons in Japan.}}

==''Shattered Glass''==
[[File:Decepticon Shattered Glass.png|thumb|Decepticons wage their battles to destroy...]]
{{quote|Your tyranny ends here, Prime! Cybertronians will once again know the freedom which is their right!|Megatron|"[[Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass]]"}}
In this universe, the Decepticons are the good guys and a resistance group, intended to overthrow Autobot tyranny and their dastardly leader, [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]]. Led by the heroic [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]], the 'Cons want to liberate Cybertron and preserve freedom and life across the galaxy, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|no matter the cost]]. But if they fail to stop the Autobots, not only will the Autobots conquer [[Earth]], they will also enslave the universe and all will be lost. {{storylink|Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass}}

{{-}}

==Aligned continuity family==
{{bigquote|Sometimes deception is necessary, when those who should listen to the truth will not, and will only understand once they have been lied to and forced to see their own lies.|[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]].}}

[[File:Megatroncamehome.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"Breakdown! Assume the footrest position! Soundwave! Log into my Netflix! Knock Out, you... erm. Go make some popcorn or something."]]

[[The Fallen|Megatronus]], a member of the Thirteen, considered himself the first Decepticon. {{storylink|Lockout}} He killed [[Solus Prime]] {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 2}} and was imprisoned for it in an alternate dimension. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}}

The Decepticons originated from those in the [[caste system|lower castes]] of Cybertronian society in the [[Badlands (Cybertron)|Badlands]]. Megatron, a gladiator who seized control of all the gladiatorial pits and assumed the name of The Fallen, began preaching to the dispossessed on the Grid. He allowed them to bomb Cybertron and throw their society into chaos, for he rightly believed if he denied any connection to their extremist behavior, it would elevate him in the eyes of the [[Autobot High Council|High Council]]. Even the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] kidnapped [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Sentinel Prime]] for him. When the Council questioned Megatron about the movement's name, he denied he had heard of it, though he also accepted it for reasons outlined above.

When Halogen appointed Orion the new Prime, Megatron declared his Decepticons would continue to fight for freedom. During the war they conquered eighty-five percent of the planet, as well as occupying [[Moonbase One|Moon Base One]] and [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]] Station, before poisoning the [[core]] itself with [[Dark Energon]]. When the Autobots left aboard the ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'', Trypticon transformed into the ''Nemesis'' and followed them with Megatron, Starscream, [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]], and [[Lugnut (WFC)|Lugnut]] into unknown space, while [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] took control of the Cybertronian Decepticons. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus}}

===''Prime'' cartoon===
Eons later, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]], and [[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]] were based on [[Earth]], with a mass-produced [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] army. During a three-year lull, Starscream was ordered to build a [[space bridge]] and to mine more Energon. {{storylink|Transformers: Prime (graphic novel)|Transformers: Prime}} Megatron returned, but not with the army Starscream had hoped for. Instead he tried to raise an army of [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] [[zombie]]s to eradicate humanity, but failed and perished in a space bridge implosion, leaving Starscream in command once more. {{storylink|Darkness Rising}} It emerged he survived, and he was retrieved and placed in sickbay. {{storylink|Masters & Students}} Meanwhile, Starscream and Soundwave waited for opportunities to pounce on [[Team Prime]] with their Vehicons. {{storylink|Con Job}} {{storylink|Convoy (episode)|Convoy}}
[[File:DeusExMachina-fourcons.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Starscream: "We're gonna go out there and catch those museum thieves red-handed!" Breakdown: "What color are their hands now?"]]

Megatron eventually returned to life, nearly killing Starscream for his part in his near-death in the space bridge explosion. {{storylink|Sick Mind}} {{storylink|Out of His Head}} {{storylink|Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone}} Despite his brush with death, Starscream continued to secretly operate against Megatron {{storylink|Operation: Breakdown}}, which came to a grinding halt when Megatron forced him to beg for his life in an abandoned Energon mine. {{storylink|Rock Bottom}} Finding neither respect from Megatron following this incident nor mercy from the [[Arcee (WFC)|Autobots]], as well as seemingly being replaced by former rogue [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]], Starscream abandoned the Decepticons, becoming neutral, and leaving Airachnid to take his place. {{storylink|Partners (Prime)|Partners}}

Seeking to attain more Dark Energon to coincide with a prophecy that he interpreted as his own destiny in the [[Covenant of Primus]], Megatron raced to complete a second space bridge. Optimus Prime sought to stop this plot by finally ending the Decepticon leader's life{{storylink|One Shall Fall}}, but a larger problem became apparent. Following an explosion of Dark Energon from a volcano, it was surmised that [[Unicron/Aligned|Unicron]] was awakening at the [[Earth's core]]. Rejected from Unicron's service,{{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}} Megatron formed a shaky alliance with Optimus {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}} to defeat the Chaos Bringer. During this time, acting Decepticon leader Airachnid attempted to abandon Megatron to Unicron's wrath, but following a humiliating defeat at the hands of Soundwave, relinquished command to the communications officer. With the power of the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus was able to defeat Unicron. However, Optimus' surrender of the Matrix's power also lost him his memories of being a Prime, and he took upon his old 'Orion Pax' persona. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}} Megatron took advantage of Orion's amnesia, setting him to work on [[Project Iacon]], to find various relics from Cybertron hidden on Earth. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}} Eventually, however, the Autobots were successful in restoring Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, halting work on the project. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

Former Seeker captain [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] arrived on Earth, {{storylink|Loose Cannons}} and was promoted to second in command following Airachnid's departure and murder of Breakdown (whose remains were recovered by human terrorist organization MECH). {{storylink|Crossfire (Prime)|Crossfire}} Airachnid later sent her armada of [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]] to kill Megatron, but following her defeat at the hands of Arcee, the Insecticons were freed from her control and then integrated into Megatron's forces. However, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead's]] actions caused the ''Nemesis'' to crash on Earth, {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}} prompting Megatron to use Dark Energon to repair the ship. Unexpectedly, the Dark Energon enhanced ''Nemesis'' gained sentience, and disabled the Decepticons and worked to complete Project Iacon and collect the relics around the world. Through the efforts of [[Jack Darby|the]] [[William Fowler|Autobots]]' [[Miko Nakadai|human]] [[Raf Esquivel|allies]], the ship's sentience was defeated, but had already located four Iacon relics. {{storylink|Flying Mind}} The Decepticon forces were sent to the four locations around the world: Knock Out and an Insecticon to New York City, {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}} Dreadwing to Antarctica, {{storylink|Triangulation}} Soundwave to a forest, {{storylink|Triage (episode)|Triage}} and [[Hardshell]] to a volcano around the equator. {{storylink|Toxicity}} Knock Out, Dreadwing, and Hardshell's endeavours all end in failure, Soundwave being the only victorious one. {{storylink|Triage (episode)|Triage}} After mistakenly reporting Bulkhead's destruction to Megatron, Hardshell was himself destroyed by a vengeful Wheeljack and Miko. {{storylink|Hurt}}

[[File:FlyingMind-DecepticonsOnDeck.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|And the Decepticons always remembered this as the day Megatron said, [[Frank Welker|"Well it was either this or college!"]]]]
Breakdown's remains were used to save the mortally wounded {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}} MECH leader Silas - to Megatron and Knock Out's disgust - who attempted to join the Decepticon ranks, but when his offering of Project Damocles was destroyed by the Autobots, he was hauled away for dissection by Knock Out. The effort did bear fruit in that the location of Raf Esquivel's home was discovered,{{storylink|The Human Factor}} narrowing down the location of the Autobot base. {{storylink|Hard Knocks}}. The Decepticons lost the upper hand briefly when Optimus acquired the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]] {{storylink|Legacy (episode)|Legacy}}, but the blade was destroyed by Megatron's knock-off [[Dark Star Saber]]. Additionally, the Decepticons found the existence of the [[Omega Key]]s on Earth, though they were unaware of their true function. {{storylink|Alpha/Omega}}. Knock Out successfully retrieved a Key, while Dreadwing lost one, but it turned out new Autobot recruit [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] is the final Key, and was promptly kidnapped by Soundwave. {{storylink|Hard Knocks}} Megatron learned of the Omega Keys' ability to revive Cybertron, but Smokescreen made off with the two Keys the Decepticons possessed. However, the rogue Starscream was able to steal all three Autobot Keys, and proposed to use them as a bargaining chip to return to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Inside Job}}

Naturally, Megatron was less than convinced of Starscream's loyalty, and watched his memories via cortical psychic patch to find his true motives. While evidence of Starscream's treachery was rampant, Megatron allowed him to return since the Decepticons must be united to revive Cybertron. However, Dreadwing was enraged and disillusioned by Megatron's pardon, since his leader was apathetic to Skyquake becoming one of the undead, {{storylink|Patch (episode)|Patch}} but his attempt to murder Starscream was halted when Megatron killed him with his own blaster. Starscream returned to his position of second-in-command, and worked out the location of the Omega Lock on Cybertron. Megatron battled the Autobots on their home planet, lost the Keys, but Starscream, Knock Out and Soundwave kidnapped the Autobots' human allies and held them hostage. {{storylink|Regeneration (Prime)|Regeneration}} The Autobots handed over the Keys in exchange for the children, and Megatron turned the power of the Omega Lock on Earth to cyberform it. Optimus used the Star Saber to destroy the Omega Lock and all hope of restoring Cybertron, but Megatron launched a full-scale invasion of the Earth from his new fortress of [[Darkmount (Earth)|Darkmount]], with his first act of aggression being destroying the [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|Autobot base]]. {{storylink|Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour}}

In the wake of the Autobots' defeat, and having found no corpses in the base's remains, the Decepticons increased global surveillance to find them - also dealing a similarly devastating blow against the United States military with its fusion cannons. Megatron feigned a desire for peace to the US government, a cover for his eventual violent conquest of Earth. A search on Cybertron for the missing relics turned up [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]], {{storylink|Darkmount, NV}} who is quickly reinstated into the Decepticon command structure as first lieutenant of all scientific endeavors, to Starscream's chagrin. Efforts to find the Autobots resulted only in failure, leading Shockwave to unleash the massive [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] he cloned, [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] to hunt down the Autobots, {{storylink|Scattered}} only for it to come home empty-handed. {{storylink|Prey (episode)|Prey}} The Autobots were able to spread the Decepticon ranks thin and away from Darkmount, and the newly arrived [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] lead the regrouped team to assault the fortress. The attack was eventually halted and the Autobots were taken prisoner, only for an upgraded Optimus Prime to arrive and single-handedly turn the tide. Earth's military was able to bring Darkmount crumbling to the ground, forcing the Decepticons to go on the defense and return to using the ''Nemesis'' as their base of operations. {{storylink|Rebellion (Prime)|Rebellion}}

The Decepticons turned their efforts to cloning, and enjoyed a string of successful ventures to retrieve Predacon fossils to engineer an army of the extinct beasts thanks to the efforts of Shockwave and Soundwave, {{storylink|Project Predacon}} the Predacon, {{storylink|Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command}} and Knock Out. {{storylink|Plus One (Prime)|Plus One}} Jealous of Megatron's favoring Shockwave, Starscream coerced Knock Out to create an army of super soldiers with a mix of Dark and [[Synthetic Energon]], starting with the imprisoned Cylas. However, this only created a new form of Terrorcon that craved and drained Energon from a victim, starting a plague that threatened the entire ship. The Decepticons struggled to repel the infected, until Cylas freed Airachnid from her stasis pod. The former prisoner killed Cylas and called the Insecticons to rejoin her, but Airachnid's latest attempt to overthrow Megatron was put down by Soundwave, who bridged her and her army to a dead moon of Cybertron. The crisis weakened the Decepticons with the loss of the Insecticons and the infected Vehicons, having depleted more than half of their military strength. Shockwave subsequently speeded up progress on Project Predacon, {{storylink|Thirst}} but Predaking revealed his sentience and ability to transform on the verge of the project's completion. The former beast asked to lead the coming Predacons on Megatron's behalf, but the Decepticon leader and his command staff knew better than to give him control of a more powerful army than the depleted Decepticons. Following a plot engineered by Starscream, the Decepticons allowed the Autobots to destroy the Predacons before they escape their pods, to Predaking's horror and rage. The destruction of the lab, coupled with the presence of Synthetic Energon, resulted in the lab being filled with pure [[Living metal|Cybermatter]]. {{storylink|Evolution}}

[[File:Deadlock-Megatron-Decepticons-extinguished.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron shouldn't have gone to Unicron for life insurance.]]
Shockwave realized the Cybermatter could cyberform entire worlds. Megatron resolved to restore the Omega Lock and rule a cyberformed Earth and a revived Cybertron, but found the synthetic Energon formula was incomplete, and had Ratchet delivered to him by the captured Soundwave, while his lieutenants gathered human technology to repair the Omega Lock. {{storylink|Minus One}} As the device was being restored, Megatron appealed to Ratchet to finish the synthetic Energon formula, playing on the medic's love for his home to outweigh his reservations about aiding the leader of the Decepticons. Ratchet eventually consented when he was shown the nearly completed Omega Lock {{storylink|Persuasion}} and soon completed the formula. In return, Megatron turned him over to the vengeful Predaking, but Ratchet - having learned the truth thanks to a slip up from Knock Out - revealed Megatron's plot to wipe out Project Predacon. Predaking turned on the Decepticons and slaughtered countless Vehicons, but was bested by Megatron in combat. Ratchet gave his comrades a way onto the warship, and Megatron mobilized his remaining army for their last stand. {{storylink|Synthesis}} While Megatron battled Optimus with the Dark Star Saber, Jack and Miko banished Soundwave to the [[shadowzone (dimension)|shadowzone]] on the bridge, while the other Autobots fought to capture the ship. Smokescreen and Bumblebee tried to get the Star Saber to Optimus, but Megatron killed Bumblebee as he tried to do so. However, the scout's corpse, having fallen info the Omega Lock, was revived by the Cybermatter, and ran Megatron through with the Star Saber, finally killing the leader of the Decepticons once and for all. Their leader dead, Shockwave, Starscream, and what few Vehicons remained abandoned ship, while Knock Out attempted to join the winning team. The ''Nemesis'' was used to fire the Omega Lock into the [[Well of All Sparks]], and Cybertron was restored. {{storylink|Deadlock}}

Most of the Vehicons had theoretically surrendered to the Autobots, and were part of an inept crew of construction workers under Bulkhead's watch. Though, not all hope was lost for the Decepticons. Shockwave & Starscream had been moving to the former's labs, cloning more Predacons to overthrow the Autobots in their newly restored home world. However, when Unicron took over Megatron's semi-lifeless body, the [[Skylynx (Prime)|two]] [[Darksteel (Prime)|Predacons]] they had cloned joined [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] in helping the Autobots save Cybertron from an army of Terrorcon-Predacons headed to corrupt the core once more, after Shockwave had been beaten up by the zombie dragons and encouraged the Predacons' decision. To make matters worse for them, Knock Out, who had been imprisoned by the Autobots, officially joined their side. When the Autobots put a stop to Unicron's plans and trapped Unicron in the [[AllSpark]]'s container, Megatron officially disbanded the Decepticons after being victim of Unicron's eternal torture and realized the true meaning of oppression. With Starscream all alone, he returned to his roots and decided to take command of the no longer functioning faction, but the Predacons had something in store for their former abuser... {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising}}

===''Rescue Bots'' cartoon===
At some point during the Decepticons' campaign on Earth, [[Rescue Force Sigma-17]] arrive on the planet in response to message sent into space by [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]]. Prime judges them as not ready to face the Decepticons, and instead stations them in the technologically advanced town of [[Griffin Rock]], [[Maine]] located on an island off the east coast of [[United States of America|America]]. There they must work undercover, posing as ordinary robots used as rescue vehicles by the island's "family of heroes", the Burns family.{{storylink|Family of Heroes}} For their protection, Optimus apparently kept their existence a secret from the Decepticons and seemingly the other Autobots, with the exception of Bumblebee and Ratchet. {{storylink|Bumblebee to the Rescue (RB)|Bumblebee to the Rescue}} While the Decepticon empire has never touched the island, Optimus and Bumblebee occasionally lend a hand whenever things get out of control by [[Doctor Morocco|other dangerous]] [[Quint Quarry|threats]]. {{storylink|It's a Bot Time}}

In an alternate timeline where [[Doctor Morocco]] ruled [[Griffin Rock]], Bumblebee mistook the [[MorBot]]s as Decepticons, only to have Heatwave correct him. {{storylink|Bot to the Future}}

===2015 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{Main|Alchemor (RID)#Prisoner manifest}}
[[File:RID-steeljawsgang.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.66|We're not getting a whole lot of toys, are we? Bumblebee and his damn army of toys, the fiend!]]
At some undetermined point, the Autobot prison ship ''[[Alchemor (RID)|Alchemor]]'' took off from Cybertron, its cargo of [[stasis pod]]s carrying several hundred of the most-wanted Decepticons, who [[To sell toys|for some unexplained reason]] all possessed robot or [[beast mode]]s based on Earth animals. At least some of them were simply members of naturally-occurring, animal-shaped Cybertronian sub-races, reminiscent of the Insecticons of the ''Prime'' cartoon. After Megatron disbanded the Decepticons, any remaining Decepticons seemed to have been forced into hiding or had defected after the planet repopulated with Autobots. Megatron apparently kept his promise about not inflicting any more oppression as he had remained unseen by the time Bumblebee traveled to Earth.

In the aftermath of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s restoration, the population was overwhelmingly Autobot. [[Cyclonus (WFC)|Cyclonus]] and his troops quickly worked to overthrow the High Council and take over Cybertron. With the planet under their control, they began making preparations for the rebirth of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Freedom Fighters}}

Years later, [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] caused the ''[[Alchemor (RID)|Alchemor]]'' to crash on [[Earth]] near [[Crown City]], its cargo being scattered around the countryside in the crash. {{storylink|Lockout}} The [[Mini-Con]] [[Fixit (RID)|Fixit]] sent a mayday, however on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], working as a street cop for the repopulated planet, was instead alerted by a vision of [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]]. Optimus gave Bumblebee a new mission on Earth, sending the young Autobot to the nearest [[space bridge]]. Bumblebee unwillingly found himself accompanied to Earth by his cop partner [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] and the delinquent [[Sideswipe (RID)|Sideswipe]]. Joined by the ex-Decepticon prisoner [[Grimlock (RID 2015)|Grimlock]] and two [[human]]s — [[Denny Clay]], owner of a vintage salvage depot for the discriminating nostalgist (a scrapyard) and his son [[Russell Clay|Russell]] — Bumblebee and his team were tasked with tracking down the escaped prisoners and prevent harm coming to Earth or its native population. {{storylink|Pilot (Part 1)}}

Chief among the threats poised by the Decepticons was the charismatic [[Steeljaw (RID)|Steeljaw]], who sought to organize the escaped prisoners into an effective cabal to conquer the planet. {{storylink|Trust Exercises}} Steeljaw first teamed up with [[Minitron]], who took control of Grimlock and was able to snatch Underbite. Though Minitron was captured, Steeljaw made off with Underbite {{storylink|True Colors}} and made an alliance with the Decepticon criminal, [[Thunderhoof (RID)|Thunderhoof]]. {{storylink|As the Kospego Commands!}} Setting up a base in an abandoned factory, Steeljaw was eventually able to assemble a new team of Decepticons - consisting of [[Underbite]], [[Thunderhoof (RID)|Thunderhoof]], [[Clampdown (RID)|Clampdown]], the bounty hunter [[Fracture (RID)|Fracture]] (who had initially arrived on Earth to collect a bounty placed on Bumblebee by the High Council). {{storylink|Hunting Season}} and his Mini-Cons, [[Airazor (RID)|Airazor]] and [[Divebomb (RID)|Divebomb]]. After a short battle with Bumblebee's team, Steeljaw's gang were apprehended by the Autobots, however, Steeljaw was able to free everyone and the team escaped. {{storylink|Sideways (episode)|Sideways}}

Steeljaw and his "pack" went on to have a series of failed attempts at trying to free the captured Decepticons inside the [[Vintage Salvage Depot for the Discriminating Nostalgist|Autobot's base]]. Seeking access to the scrapyard, Steeljaw engineered a diversion by using [[Kickback (RID)|Kickback]] as bait. While Bumblebee's team was distracted, Steeljaw broke into the scrapyard, and his gang quickly took Fixit, Russell, and Denny hostage. Steeljaw also rigged up a sub-sonic pulse that would disable the Autobots and prevent them from gaining access. Steeljaw tried to get Fixit to free the other Decepticon convicts, Fixit managed to stall long enough for the Autobots to break in and deactivate the sonic weaponry; in the ensuing fight, Steeljaw was defeated yet again by Bumblebee. Back at the Decepticon hideout, Steeljaw exploded at his comrades and ordered them to leave. The arrival of a [[The Fallen|mysterious entity]] snapped him out of his funk, and Steeljaw reluctantly agreed to build him a gateway and serve as his minion for the time being. {{storylink|Lockout}}

Steeljaw and his "pack" searched for materials and constructed a doorway for Megatronus to enter the material world, however the Autobots arrived to stop him and Steeljaw's portal was destroyed by a resurrected Optimus Prime. Despite this, Megatronus successfully made it through {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}} and proceeded with his true plan: to merge the AllSpark and Anti-Spark together to destroy both Earth and Cybertron. With the revelation that the planet he intended to conquer would be destroyed, Steeljaw turned on Megatronus and attempted to fight him, only to be backhanded out of sight. The remaining members of his gang placed in stasis after the death of Megatronus, with Steeljaw and Kickback the only specific Decepticons known to be at large. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 2}}

After a Groundbridge accident at the scrapyard, [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (who was still trapped in the shadowzone after the end of the war) managed to escape, quickly dispatching the Bee Team. However, with a coordinated attack, he was sent back just as fast as he escaped. {{storylink|Portals}}

[[File:TRID S2 E12 DIP1 SC 4.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|A normal day at [[Activision]] headquarters]]
Steeljaw eventually managed to assume control of all Decepticons on Earth, intending to rebuild the [[Decepticon Empire]] on the planet, {{storylink|Decepticon Island (Part 1)}} before he was defeated and all the Decepticons were shipped back to Cybertron. {{storylink|Decepticon Island (Part 2)}} The High Council freed Steeljaw and a select few others to act as decoys for the [[Bee Team (RID)|Bee Team]] while they worked to continue their plans. {{storylink|Exiles}} {{storylink|Freedom Fighters}}

The High Council eventually sent a quartet of genetically-engineered Activator [[Mini-Con]]s to aid Soundwave in escaping from the Shadowzone so he could summon [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] back home. {{storylink|King of the Hill (Part 2)}} {{storylink|The Great Divide}} {{storylink|Railroad Rage}} {{storylink|Freedom Fighters}} Soundwave was defeated however and placed in [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]]'s custody. {{storylink|Collateral Damage}} {{storylink|Freedom Fighters}}

When the Bee Team arrived on Cybertron, they discovered the High Council's true identities and, as a result of [[Cyberwarp]]'s hesitations, managed to defeat their combined form of [[Galvatronus (RID)|Galvatronus]], freeing Cybertron from Decepticon control. [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] took Cyberwarp's desire for peace as a hopeful sign that Autobots and Decepticons might one day peacefully co-exist on Cybertron. {{storylink|Freedom Fighters}}

{{note|It is currently unknown how many, if any, of the Decepticons or Dinobots unique to the Japanese ''Adventure'' series were prisoners on-board the ''Alchemor'', or just made their way to Earth on their own.}}

==''Cyberverse'' cartoon==
[[File:Cyberverse Decepticon Plankowners (Cyberverse - Megatron Is My Hero).jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm sure you're wondering why we're here...]]

[[Megatron (Cyberverse)|Megatron]] established the Decepticons as a political movement, opposing the [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]] status quo. Standing alongside the former gladiator as he declared his vision of a Cybertron where [['Til all are one|all would be one]] were [[Starscream (Cyberverse)|Starscream]], [[Optimus Prime (Cyberverse)|Optimus]], [[Soundwave (Cyberverse)|Soundwave]], [[Arcee (Cyberverse)|Arcee]], [[Ratchet (Cyberverse)|Ratchet]], and [[Shadow Striker (Cyberverse)|Shadowstriker]]. Optimus, at least, would soon become disillusioned with Megatron's actions, finding his friend's chosen course too violent and power-hungry; after a final confrontation with his old friend where he failed to sway him from his course, he fully broke away to chart a [[Autobot|different path]]. {{storylink|Megatron Is My Hero}}

Circa 66 million years ago, the Decepticons launched a plan to use [[Vector Sigma]] to reprogram the [[AllSpark|Allspark]], {{storylink|Megatron Is My Hero}} only for the Autobots to send it off Cybertron. {{storylink|Allspark (Cyberverse)|Allspark}} While the Autobots manually searched for the lost Allspark in space, {{storylink|The Journey}} the Decepticons remained on Cybertron and tracked the artifact remotely. Once it had been tracked to Earth, [[Starscream (Cyberverse)|Starscream]] sent [[Slipstream (Cyberverse)|Slipstream]] to scout the planet, {{storylink| Fractured}} while he rallied the [[Decepticon fleet]], {{storylink|Siloed}} launching an invasion of the planet when the [[Ark (Cyberverse)|''Ark'']] crew had awoken. {{storylink|Eruption}}

When the Autobots acquired the Allspark and made for Cybertron, the Decepticons returned home via the space bridge, {{storylink|Escape From Earth}} using [[Chromia (Cyberverse)|Chromia]] to bait a trap for their foes. {{storylink|The Crossroads}}

==Merchandise==
===Transformers (2007)===
====Transformers Movie Screen Cleaners====
[[File:Movie Decepticon Screencleaner.jpg|105px|thumb|Transforms your dirty screen to a clean one and — well, actually just the first thing.]]
*'''Decepticon''' (2008)
:Released by Tomy Yujin on January, this dangler is a [[Insignia|faction logo]]-shaped screen cleaner for your cell phone, with a stock image of Decepticon insignia printed on the other side.
{{--}}

==Notes==
*The suffix "con" is typically attached to Decepticon subgroups, such as the [[Constructicon (disambiguation)|Constructicon]]s and [[Predacon (disambiguation)|Predacon]]s. Notable exceptions would be the [[Mini-Con]]s and [[Omnicon]]s.
*In the western world, the Decepticons have always been serious opponents ([[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|mostly]]). In Japan, the Decepticons are a [[Dinoforce|bunch]] [[Cyclonus (Armada)|of]] [[Thrust (Armada)|loony]] [[Thundercracker (Armada)|toons]] ([[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|mostly]]).
===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Destron''' (デストロン ''Desutoron''), '''Combatron''' (''Car Robots'', コンバットロン ''Konbatoron''), '''Decepticon''' (ディセプティコン ''Diseputikon'')
*''Armenian:'' '''Deseptikonner''' (Դեսեպտիկոններ, "Decepticons")
*''Cantonese:'' '''Kwòng Pāǐ''' (Hong Kong, 狂派, "Con Faction", literally "Mad Faction" or "Crazy Clan")
*''Danish'': '''Bedragerne''' (Marvel comic, "Betrayers"), '''Bedraonerne''' (''The Transformers'' cartoon)
*''French:'' '''Deceptican''' (France, ''The Transformers'' cartoon, ''Armada'' cartoon, IDW ''Movie universe'' comics), '''Decepticon''' (France, in other media and Canada)
*''Hebrew:'' '''Shekernikim''' (שקרניקים, "Lie-niks")
*''Hungarian:'' '''Álcák''' (Marvel comic, "Disguises"), '''Decepticonok''' (toy commercial, second ''The Movie'' dub), '''Varangyok''' (first ''The Movie'' dub, "Toads"), '''Robotikák''' (''Energon'', ''Cybertron'', "Roboticas")
*''Italian:'' '''Distructors'''
*''Korean:'' '''Destron''' (데스트론 ''Deseuteuron''), '''Decepticon''' (디셉티콘 ''Diseptikon'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Decepticon''' (Taiwan, 迪賽剛 ''Dísàigāng''), '''Bàtiānhǔ''' (China, 霸天虎, "Heavenly Tyrant Tiger")
*''Polish:'' '''Deceptikon''', '''Decepcjokon''' (first ''The Movie'' dub, "Deceptiocon"), '''Dezorientac''' (''Beast Wars'', Disorientator)
*''Portuguese:'' '''Decépticos''' (Portugal comic), '''Malignus''' (Brazil comic)
*''Russian:'' '''Decepticon''' (Десептикон)
*''Serbian:'' '''Deseptikon'''
*''Swedish:'' '''Bedragar''' (Marvel comic, "Betrayer")
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Obmanoyid''' (Обманоїд, "Deceitoid"), '''Decepticon''' (Десептикон)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Alternators]]
[[Category:Alternity]]
[[Category:Animated factions]]
[[Category:Armada]]
[[Category:Beast Machines]]
[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising factions]]
[[Category:Beastformers franchise]]
[[Category:Cybertron franchise]]
[[Category:Dark of the Moon]]
[[Category:Decepticons]]
[[Category:Energon franchise]]
[[Category:Factions]]
[[Category:Generation 1 factions]]
[[Category:Generation 2]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) factions]]
[[Category:IDW (2019) factions]]
[[Category:Machine Wars]]
[[Category:Micromaster]]
[[Category:Movie]]
[[Category:Operation Combination]]
[[Category:Predacon subgroups]]
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[[Category:Return of Convoy]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen]]
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[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001)]]
[[Category:Super-God Masterforce]]
[[Category:The Headmasters]]
[[Category:Universe (2003)]]
[[Category:Victory]]
[[Category:Zone]]

Rack 'n' Ruin 'n' Ratchet

2020-03-01T22:41:08Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Transformers: Cyberverse]]'' ep 59
|image=
|caption=
|prev=Journey To The Valley Of Repugnus
|next=Dweller In The Depths (Cyberverse)
|title="Rack N' Ruin N' Ratchet"
|airdate=[[February 25]], [[2020]] (UK)
|production company=[[Allspark Animation]]
|writer=
|animation studio=[[Boulder Media Studio]]
|director=
}}

'''A rescue mission to save Jetfire reveals a secret Decepticon operation.'''

==Synopsis==
As Prime and Hot Rod contemplate on Megatron's mysterious motives, status reports draw blanks from Arcee and Whirl. Jetfire originally had the same results, but gave something different when he gets hit by an energy blast that robs him of his wings, sending him plummeting.

As Rack'N'Ruin load a shuttle, they compliment each other before the craft suddenly takes off. As it turns out, Ratchet is taking the ship on a mission to rescue Jetfire. The medic is very surprised to find Rack'N'Ruin on board, but has no choice but to take them along for the mission, much to their joy and his annoyance.

As Jetfire wakes up, he notices his wings are back... Only to find his legs have now disappeared. His screaming leads Ratchet, Rack'N'Ruin straight to him, but they find him walking around aimlessly with his head missing. Ratchet instructs them to search for his head... only for it to appear out of nowhere. As he explains his dilemma, his arms disappear. As it turns out, Jetfire's body parts are existing at different quantum frequencies, caused by the strange Decepticon weapon. He sends the 2 to fetch a purple stabilizer, but the emerge with a color debate. Unfortunately for them, Astrotrain and Dead End beat them to Ratchet and Jetfire, kidnapping them.

Making their way to a secret Decepticon facility, they sneak their way to the door unnoticed... or so they think. In actuality, they crawl to the door in plain sight, and are easily captured by Soundwave and Shadow Striker. AS it turns out, the 2 high ranking Decepticons are also clueless about the facility, and after a failed interrogation, let the duo loose as a way to sneak inside.

Inside, Dead End and Astrotrain have strapped their prisoners to large slabs for weapon testing... And they have the ray aimed straight at Ratchet. Rack'N'Ruin attempt to blast Astrotrain, but the giant con merely grows annoyed and throws the conjoined twins into the control panel, causing the ray to blast objects into unspace with random succession. The 2 manage to annoy Astrotrain enough that his large size sends the ray to go berserk in their favor, sending Ratchet's platform into unspace. Rack'N'Ruin manage to throw the stabilizer to Ratchet, while the ray hits the door before a tug of war could breakout between Ratchet and Dead End, revealing Shadow Striker and Soundwave trying to break in.

While the cons are distracted, Ratchet heals Jetfire, and they make a break for it while the cons deal with the haywire multiverse ray. It hits Astrotrain and sends him into unspace. Gleeful that the weapon worked, Astrotrain opens a portal back to his new universe just in time to see the Autobots escape. All three are congratulated by Optimus, celebrating with a three-way high-five.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Cyberverse)|Optimus Prime]]
*[[Hot Rod (Cyberverse)|Hot Rod]]
*[[Ratchet (Cyberverse)|Ratchet]]
*[[Rack'n'Ruin (Cyberverse)|Rack'n'Ruin]]
*[[Jetfire (Cyberverse)|Jetfire]]
*[[Whirl (Cyberverse)|Whirl]]
*[[Arcee (Cyberverse)|Arcee]]

|c2=
*[[Shadow Striker (Cyberverse)|Shadow Striker]]
*[[Soundwave (Cyberverse)|Soundwave]]
*[[Dead End (Cyberverse)|Dead End]]
*[[Astrotrain (Cyberverse)|Astrotrain]]

}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*This episode brings back the Rack'N'Ruin stacking gag from season 2.

===Transformers references===
*TBA

===Real-world references===
*TBA

===Other trivia===
*We get to see more of Rack'N'Ruin here, and they turn out to by ''Dino mode Grimlock'' dumb.

===Animation and technical errors===
*TBA

===Foreign localization===
*TBA

==Home video releases==
*TBA

[[Category:Cyberverse episodes]]

Alien Hunt! With Meteorfire And Cosmos

2020-03-01T22:34:27Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Transformers: Cyberverse]]'' ep 57
|image=
|caption=
|prev=Wild Wild Wheel
|next=Journey To The Valley Of Repugnus
|title="Alien Hunt! With Meteorfire And Cosmos"
|airdate=[[February 24]], [[2020]] (UK)
|production company=[[Allspark Animation]]
|writer=
|animation studio=[[Boulder Media Studio]]
|director=
}}

'''Bumblebee must travel to Cybertron's forbidden moon to help Windblade.'''

==Synopsis==
''A bot shows a new planet and begins to scope it out with his partner, Cosmos, who ends up attacked by their leader as the intro begins for... Alien Hunt! With Meteorfire! And Cosmos!''

In the sickbay, Bee finds another shard on Luna 3... The forbidden moon. Luckily, Chromia knows a bot who can break him in, and Bee follows her directions to a shuttle. Inside, the bot sit sulkily watching reruns of Alien Hunt! while chugging down mugs of energon. The bot mourns the loss of his partner as he watches a rerun of her abduction on-screen. He turns off the screen as Bee enters, the scout becoming starstruck as he realizes he is speaking with Meteorfire, the star of Alien Hunt!. Explaining his circumstances, Meteorfire signs a mug and gives it to Bee, who loses the starstruck vibe enough to recruit him to infiltrate Luna 3. The former tv star agrees, and uses the oppurtunity to film a new episode for his show.

Disabling the quarantine generator, Meteorfire makes his way inside with Bumblebee in hot pursuit. Bee tracks Wndblade's shard to the moon's dark side, though to his exasperation, Meteorfire instead opts to scout out the old communications hub. He finds the flyer examining the computer terminals, but after displaying towards Meteorfire's focus on his show runs in fear at the sight of Shockwave's ghost trying to grab him. Making his way out, he is greeted by the ghost of Blurr, and later comes under siege from phantom seekers. He soon retaliates fire, hitting a few before they disappear and his blasts hit one of Meteorfire's drones.

Making their way closer to Wiindblade, Meteorfire alerts to Bumblebee he is possessed. The scout soon comes under attack by his friend, and with Meteorfire's advice, dodges him long enough to land a direct hit with his stinger. Annoyed by Meteorfire's focus on his show, Bee reaffirms his mission, which Meteorfire gives his full support to. They find Windblade's shard in an alien responsible for the moon's desertion, and although Meteorfire puts on a brave face, his fear overtakes him when the entity surprises him and begins consuming him. Charging up with multiverse energy, Bee kills the alien with a single punch, absorbing the free shard of Windblade.

Another surprise comes when Cosmos emerges alive from the wreckage, reuniting her with an overjoyed Meteorfire. As it turns out, the entity took Cosmos prisoner so she could take it to Cybertron, allowing it to feed off the whole planet. The moon's desertion was the result of her attempting to halt it's plans. As the show returns to screen with Cosmos' return, Hot Rod points out to Grimlock and Arcee that Bee's on the show, while they simply express gratitude that the show is back on the air.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (Cyberverse)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Chromia (Cyberverse)|Chromia]]
*[[Windblade (Cyberverse)|Windblade]]
*[[Meteorfire]]
*[[Cosmos (Cyberverse)|Cosmos]]
*[[Arcee (Cyberverse)|Arcee]]
*[[Hot Rod (Cyberverse)|Hot Rod]]
*[[Grimlock (Cyberverse)|Grimlock]]
*[[Perceptor (Cyberverse)|Perceptor]]
|h4=Ghosts|c4=
*[[Shockwave (Cyberverse)|Shockwave]]
*[[Blurr (Cyberverse)|Blurr]]
*Various [[Seeker (Cyberverse)|Seekers]]

}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Among Meteorfire's alien junk is [[Starscream (Cyberverse)|Starscream]]'s [[Quintesson]] judge head, confirming his death in "[[The End Of The Universe IV]]".
*The entity haunts Bumblebee with the ghosts of Shockwave, who died trying to corrupt the [[AllSpark]] in "[[The Battle For Cybertron IV]]"); Blurr, who died from the [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|Rust Plague]] breakout on [[Velocitron]] in "[[Terminal Velocity]]"); and several Seekers, who were killed by Starscream in "[[I Am The Allspark]]").

===Transformers references===
*TBA

===Real-world references===
*The (largely) possessed Meteorfire's head turns 180 degrees, an overused referenced to {{w|The Exorcist (film)|''The Exorcist''}}.
===Other trivia===
*TBA

===Animation and technical errors===
*TBA

===Foreign localization===
*TBA

==Home video releases==
*TBA

[[Category:Cyberverse episodes]]

The Trial

2020-02-24T16:38:25Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Transformers: Cyberverse]]'' ep 45
|image=
|caption=
|prev=The Citizen
|next=The Prisoner
|title="The Trial"
|airdate=[[February 19]], [[2020]] (UK)
|production company=[[Allspark Animation]]
|writer=
|animation studio=[[Boulder Media Studio]]
|director=
}}

'''Hot Rod takes a strike team to free Windblade but gets captured by the Quintessons.'''

==Synopsis==

In the bowels of the slumbering [[Iaconus]], the resistance flee the Titan's security measures, until they finally reach a large room containing the Titan's face. Whirl's attempt at waking him goes nowhere, and Dead End repeats his statement that their efforts are pointless, an assessment [[Perceptor (Cyberverse)|Perceptor]] agrees with. They can't wake the citybot without a Cityspeaker. They need [[Windblade (Cyberverse)|Windblade]].

In the Quintesson tower, Dead End, Whirl and Perceptor sneak past the guarding Prosecutors, disguising themselves with inactive versions of the Quintesson spark-draining machines, while Hot Rod and Clobber use the [[Cortical psychic patch]] to plug into the Loop. Perceptor reaches Windblade, and affixes a signal interruptor device over the Spark draining helmet, giving them the go-ahead. Inside the Loop, they find Windblade chatting with Chromia, enjoying the Parade of Metals. Hot Rod has Clobber occupy Chromia's attention while he has Perceptor show Windblade what's actually happening. Unfortunately, the others have been found by the Quintessons, interrupting their efforts, and Windblade goes back to cheering for the parade.

The resistance tries fighting off the Quintessons, but despite their efforts, Hot Rod is captured, and Whirl shot down. As Whirl crash-lands, he dislodges some of the machinery from the dormant [[Soundwave (Cyberverse)|Soundwave]]. Watching Hot Rod's abduction, Dead End says it's too late, and he and Clobber leave. As they exit the tower, Clobber worries for Perceptor and Whirl, but Dead End is more concerned about them, though he doesn't finish the thought as Soundwave appears behind them. However, something is clearly off with him, as he jitters and collapses at their feet.

In the tower, Hot Rod is unthreatened by the Prosecutors. Spotting a pair of Sharkticons, who dismiss his guards, he tries making a connection, but the Sharkticons aren't interested in talking. He tries transforming and escaping, but his captors catch him before he can get anywhere, and drag him to their superior - a gargantuan, five-faced mechanoid, the acting judge of the universe. And court is now in session.

Back at Maccadam's, Perceptor analyses Soundwave, while Dead End and Clobber complain about their luck in waking Soundwave of all bots. Back in the tower, the Judge declares Quintessons the masters of all the multiverse. One face wishes simply to burn Hot Rod, but another declares punishment will come after the trial, wanting to know how Hot Rod has evaded the Prosecutors. Hot Rod tries to inquire what exactly the Quintessons are judges of. The reasonable face explains: There are an infinite number of universes, and the Quintessons travel to each, to judge if that universe is worthy. If it is not, they destroy it. Hot Rod asks who they are to judge his universe, but the Judge clarifies - they are not the judge of this universe, but he'll ''wish'' they were.

Outside, Whirl reports in to Perceptor that he's had no luck finding Hot Rod. Perceptor tells him to keep looking. [[Maccadam]] reassures him everything will be fine. Hot Rod hasn't even met "the scientist" yet.

Meanwhile, the Judge becomes impatient with Hot Rod's deflections, and find him in contempt. Their verdict is reached: Hot Rod is guilty, and sentenced to the Loop. Having had enough of the parade, Hot Rod busts free from his Sharkticon guards and drives off.

At Maccadam's, Clobber and Dead End investigate the still-inactive Soundwave, the cycloptic Decepticon asking what they should do if he doesn't wake up. Dead End asks if she means they should deactivate him, saying he thinks it is a good idea. Soundwave disagrees.

In the tower, Hot Rod tries evading the Prosecutors, eventually coming to a door. Unfortunately for him, it leads right out to a very, very long drop to the ground. With the Quintessons fast approaching, Hot Rod decides to make the jump anyway. Before he hits the ground, Whirl manages to swoop in to rescue him. Still pursued by the Prosecutors, the two dive into Maccadam's. Hot Rod thanks Whirl for the rescue, and is in turned "thanked" by Soundwave.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=

|c2=

}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Soundwave's poor health from his impromptu awakening is an implicit reason, which the next episode will confirm, as to why the resistance don't just yank those face-masks off everyone's faces, rather than going through the whole mess with the Cortical psychic patch we've been seeing for the last several episodes.
*Hot Rod attempts to befriend a Sharkticon by referencing his membership of [[The Snouts]] in "[[Wiped Out]]".
*The Quintesson seen since "[[The Loop]]" are identified as Prosecutors.

===Transformers references===
*Hot Rod swears by [[Amalgamous Prime]] when he sees the Judge.
*The Judge is designed after the traditional Quintesson appearance - five rotating faces on one body, though with a few differences, such as each face having a different personality, and the body being less ovoid. Their stated role as judges of the multiverse is a new version of their fondness for subjecting people to trials.
*Hot Rod's story references the tendency for toys of Cliffjumper to be red versions of Bumblebee.

===Real-world references===
*TBA

===Other trivia===
*After the last few episodes showed the Quintessons being pretty poor with their security, leaving their victims entirely unguarded, they've now taken to Prosecutors prowling around. Though evidently they haven't learned ''that'' much, if an inactive face-mask which isn't even plugged in is enough to fool them.

===Animation and technical errors===
*TBA

===Foreign localization===
*TBA

==Home video releases==
*TBA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trial, The}}
[[Category:Cyberverse episodes]]

Constructicons Rising, Part 2

2019-10-30T21:31:42Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Galaxies]]'' #2
|prev=Constructicons Rising, Part 1
|next=Constructicons Rising, Part 3
|caption=
|image=TFGalaxies 2 cvrA.jpg
|title="Constructicons Rising, Part 2"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[October 30]], 2019
|coverdate=October 2019
|written by=[[Tyler Bleszinski]]
|art by=[[Livio Ramondelli]]
|colors by=
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]] and [[Tom Waltz]]
|continuity=[[Transformers (2019 comic)|2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''As the Constructicons prepare for an uncertain future, the team discover that they're not the only group of Cybertronian castoffs on Mayalx... but what do the Insecticons''' '''''really''''' '''want from them?'''

==Synopsis==
In an improvised gladiatorial arena, [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] and [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] square off for the fight of their lives—the latest in a series of illegal, unsanctioned sparring matches against a disturbingly eager [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]], who relishes the opportunity to pummel his opponents into the dirt. Unmoved by this brutality, [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] wonders just ''why'' their team leader [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] has put them up to such a task, and the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]] leader responds that, with their return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] still up in the air, he's just preparing his team for the future, a future that his instincts are telling him may not include a stable Cybertron.

Down below, neither of Bonecrusher's teammates are able to handle his unchecked violence, and the bulldozer-bot is able to swiftly overpower the both of them at once, forcing them down into the dirt. Before Bonecrusher can get carried away, however, Scapper interrupts the proceedings, and explains that Bonecrusher was able to beat them because they let their fear rule their decision-making. Long Haul grumbles that they're not gladiators, but Scapper reminds him that ''he'' was given the opportunity to work with [[Security Operations]] after his forging, and now he's trying to pass on what he learned there to his teammates and toughen them up. Hook, however, isn't taken by this explanation, and wonders aloud if these grotesque "training exercises" are for anything more than Bonecrusher's own amusement.
Not far away, [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] is fueling up with the help of Hook's newest invention, a recycling device that converts waste products into usable energon. Scavenger warns him not to overindulge, however; a fully-fuelled 'bot is a difficult thing to hide. As he yanks the cable out of his arm, Mixmaster grumbles that the process is vile anyway, but Scavenger points out that he wasn't complaining about the prospect of becoming fully-fuelled a minute ago...

Elsewhere on [[Mayalx]], three figures bear down on the corpse of the dead worker who Hook had accidentally killed and set about devouring his remains. [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] and [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] are content to simply chow down on the dead Transformer, but [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], who led them to this feast, has bigger goals... and warns them that this unexpected windfall has delayed his plans, and won't make certain others happy. At once, however, the three are encircled by energy as their "hyper-metabolization" abilities kick in... but no sooner has it begun then Bombshell finds himself interrupted by a pressing communications call. The beetle-bot creeps away to a secluded crevice to take it, and finds himself speaking to [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], who's displeased with the lack of progress he's made in recruiting the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s to their side. Waving away Shockwave's condemnation of their gluttonous ways, Bombshell tries to explain that life on impoverished Mayalx is different from Cybertron, but Shockwave isn't hearing it, and warns his underling that if he ever wants to return to Cybertron then he'll execute their plan ''now''.

Back in their impromptu base, the Constructicons are taking turns using Hook's recycling device, and a freshly-fuelled Scrapper invites Scavenger and Long Haul to see how it's done. The Constructicon leader invites his teammate to give him everything he's got, and Bonecrusher obligingly charges at Scrapper wielding some improvised weapons... only to be easily dodged and thrown onto the ground by Scrapper, who explains that sometimes it's necessary to out think your opponent and use their overconfidence against them. Before he can finish his lecture however, a multi-legged figure leaps from overhead and lands in the center of the arena, burrowing underground!

Thinking quickly, the Constructicons transform and create a perimeter, while Scavenger uses his shovel arm to detect any kind of subterranean movement; just as Scavenger announces that their foe is going for the fallen Bonecrusher, the figure bursts from the ground to assess him, announcing that he's still alive. The interloper—revealed as Bombshell—congratulates Scrapper on his combat skills, while the Constructicons wonder just how this figure knows their names; Bombshell explains that he's been watching them for some time now, and is a big fan of theirs. Though the Constructicons are suspicious of the newcomer, and worried that they might get busted for illegal gladiatorial combat, Bombshell waves off their concerns: he just wants to tell them a story, a story that they might find familiar...

''Bombshell, Skrapnel, and Kickback were forged together many years ago, and emerged with an aberrant, insatiable hunger for raw materials—a hunger that compelled them to begin eating whatever they could get their hands on. In this new role, the Insecticons became a mobile processing team, eating everything in sight and "metabolizing" whatever they ate into a highly distilled and powerful variety of [[energon]]. Although Cybertronian scientists tried to find out just how the trio were able to do this, they were unable to, and the group was eventually set free to do what they were forged to do and tackle Cybertron's waste products—transforming garbage and other messes into clean, powerful fuel for the entire planet. Though they were promised that the people of Cybertron would celebrate them for their efforts, the trio found themeselves confronted by a more pressing problem: the cataclysmic [[War of the Threefold Spark]]. Unhindered by anything except their own hunger, the group found a new role for themselves on the battlefield, cleaning up the dead and dying. Although they were only doing what they had been forged to do, the new postwar regime became fearful of them; branding them with the lowly name of the "[[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s", Cybertronian leadership began to worry that they would one day develop a taste for the living. Thus, the three 'bots found themselves banished from Cybertron, sent to Mayalx to once again clean up Cybertron's waste.''

A team of gifted workers, hated and feared by Cybertron and banished by those who don't understand them... does this, asks Bombshell, sound familiar to the team? Scrapper insists that they're ''not'' alike: his team are peaceful builders, and the Insecticons are ravenous forces of nature. Bombshell agrees—the city of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] is still a masterpiece of engineering, the greatest city on Cybertron... but on Mayalx, the team is kept underfuelled, underfunded, and underwhelmed by their undemanding job. They will ''never'' be brought home, and they will ''never'' be recognized for their accomplishments again... because, just like the Insecticons, they will forever be tainted by Cybertron's fear of their combined form.

As Bombshell slinks back into the shadows, he offers the team a choice: they can stay as they are now, slaves to a regime who fears their potential. Or, he continues, they can break their chains and become everything they were meant to be, to once more shake the very foundations of Cybertronian civilization... what will they choose?

==Featured characters==

Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{featuredcharacters
|h2=[[Decepticon|Ascenticon]]s|c2=
'''[[The Rise]]'''
* [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] (7)
* [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (8)
* [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] (9)
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (10)

|h4=Cybertronians|c4=
* [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (1)
* [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (2)
* [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (3)
* [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
* [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (5)
* [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (6)
* ''[[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]'' (11)
}}

==Quotes==
"I was so ravenous that I ate too fast and now '''all''' my receptors are buzzing. This one even had actual droplets of '''spark''' in it. So delicioussssss."
:—'''Kickback'''

"It's amazing what I can improvise, but this machine makes my insides feel like they're melting."
:—'''Hook''' on his new invention.

"Outthink and outsmart and eventually you will '''outlast''' your opponent."
:—'''Scrapper'''

"You will '''never''' be brought home. You will '''never''' be celebrated. You will live out the rest of your existence in squalor and half-function because of '''fear'''. Fear of the most '''powerful''' form of the Constructicons."
:—'''Bombshell'''

==Notes==
*'''First appearances:''' [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]], [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]]

===Continuity notes===
* The body that the Insecticons are shown eating is presumably the corpse of the worker who Hook threw a girder at in [[Constructicons Rising, Part 1|the previous issue]] though it wasn't clear at the time that he'd actually been ''killed'' by the impact.
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] makes his appearance here as Bombshell's boss; presumably, then, Bombshell and the other Insecticons are members of [[The Rise]], as (as per [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four|issue #10]] of the [[Transformers (2019 comic)|''Transformers'' ongoing]]) nobody outside of the [[Decepticon|Ascenticon]] inner circle is aware that Shockwave has returned to Cybertron to help mastermind the organization alongside [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]].
* Bombshell's flashback shows the three newly-forged Transformers emerging from what appears to be the [[Pyramid (Cybertron)|Pyramid]] in Iacon. This building was first introduced in [[The World In Your Eyes Part Four|issue #4]] of the ongoing, and was established as the building by which all new Transformers—including both [[Rubble]] and [[Gauge]]—are introduced to Cybertron. As of writing, however, it's not entirely clear if it's the ''only'' building of its kind on Cybertron, or if similar facilities exist elsewhere.
* Bombshell's flashback also shows [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] as a member of the team tasked with investigating the Insecticons, which is presumably a nod to the now-deceased scientist's reputation in [[The World In Your Eyes Part One|''Transformers'' issue #1]] as a talented energon engineer.

===Transformers references===
* Hook describes Cybertron's bureaucracy as being full of "[[beryllium baloney]]," a line that was most famously spoken by [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''... though it ''was'' also used by [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]" with a connotation that's closer to its usage here.
* This isn't the first time the Insecticons have worked with Shockwave: they most famously teamed up in the ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' video game as affiliates of the mad scientist. Just like in that game, set in the [[Aligned continuity family]], Shrapnel is now going by his trademark-friendly name of "Skrapnel."
* In a similar vein, this comic sees the return of Skrapnel's odd vocal quirk based on his performance in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon; a speech tic that he had in the [[Dreamwave Generation 1 continuity|Dreamwave comics]] but not in the original [[2005 IDW continuity|IDW continuity]], continuity.

===Trivia===
* Originally solicited for October 16, this issue arrives late, landing at the very end of the month.

===Covers (5)===
* '''Cover A''': The Insecticons, by [[Livio Ramondelli]]
* '''Cover B''': The Constructicons, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': The Constructicons again, by [[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]]

<gallery>
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrA.jpg
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrB.jpg
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* TBD

==External links==
* [http://popculthq.com/2019/10/29/preview-idw-publishings-10-30-release-transformers-galaxies-2/ Preview]

[[Category:Galaxies issues]]

Constructicons Rising, Part 2

2019-10-30T21:26:43Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Galaxies]]'' #2
|prev=Constructicons Rising, Part 1
|next=Constructicons Rising, Part 3
|caption=
|image=TFGalaxies 2 cvrA.jpg
|title="Constructicons Rising, Part 2"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[October 30]], 2019
|coverdate=October 2019
|written by=[[Tyler Bleszinski]]
|art by=[[Livio Ramondelli]]
|colors by=
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]] and [[Tom Waltz]]
|continuity=[[Transformers (2019 comic)|2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''As the Constructicons prepare for an uncertain future, the team discover that they're not the only group of Cybertronian castoffs on Mayalx... but what do the Insecticons''' '''''really''''' '''want from them?'''

==Synopsis==
In an improvised gladiatorial arena, [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] and [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] square off for the fight of their lives—the latest in a series of illegal, unsanctioned sparring matches against a disturbingly eager [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]], who relishes the opportunity to pummel his opponents into the dirt. Unmoved by this brutality, [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] wonders just ''why'' their team leader [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] has put them up to such a task, and the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]] leader responds that, with their return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] still up in the air, he's just preparing his team for the future, a future that his instincts are telling him may not include a stable Cybertron.

Down below, neither of Bonecrusher's teammates are able to handle his unchecked violence, and the bulldozer-bot is able to swiftly overpower the both of them at once, forcing them down into the dirt. Before Bonecrusher can get carried away, however, Scapper interrupts the proceedings, and explains that Bonecrusher was able to beat them because they let their fear rule their decision-making. Long Haul grumbles that they're not gladiators, but Scavenger reminds him that ''he'' was given the opportunity to work with [[Security Operations]] after his forging, and now he's trying to pass on what he learned there to his teammates and toughen them up. Hook, however, isn't taken by this explanation, and wonders aloud if these grotesque "training exercises" are for anything more than Scavenger's own amusement.
Not far away, [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] is fueling up with the help of Hook's newest invention, a recycling device that converts waste products into usable energon. Scavenger warns him not to overindulge, however; a fully-fuelled 'bot is a difficult thing to hide. As he yanks the cable out of his arm, Mixmaster grumbles that the process is vile anyway, but Scavenger points out that he wasn't complaining about the prospect of becoming fully-fuelled a minute ago...

Elsewhere on [[Mayalx]], three figures bear down on the corpse of the dead worker who Hook had accidentally killed and set about devouring his remains. [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] and [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] are content to simply chow down on the dead Transformer, but [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], who led them to this feast, has bigger goals... and warns them that this unexpected windfall has delayed his plans, and won't make certain others happy. At once, however, the three are encircled by energy as their "hyper-metabolization" abilities kick in... but no sooner has it begun then Bombshell finds himself interrupted by a pressing communications call. The beetle-bot creeps away to a secluded crevice to take it, and finds himself speaking to [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], who's displeased with the lack of progress he's made in recruiting the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s to their side. Waving away Shockwave's condemnation of their gluttonous ways, Bombshell tries to explain that life on impoverished Mayalx is different from Cybertron, but Shockwave isn't hearing it, and warns his underling that if he ever wants to return to Cybertron then he'll execute their plan ''now''.

Back in their impromptu base, the Constructicons are taking turns using Hook's recycling device, and a freshly-fuelled Scrapper invites Scavenger and Long Haul to see how it's done. The Constructicon leader invites his teammate to give him everything he's got, and Bonecrusher obligingly charges at Scrapper wielding some improvised weapons... only to be easily dodged and thrown onto the ground by Scrapper, who explains that sometimes it's necessary to out think your opponent and use their overconfidence against them. Before he can finish his lecture however, a multi-legged figure leaps from overhead and lands in the center of the arena, burrowing underground!

Thinking quickly, the Constructicons transform and create a perimeter, while Scavenger uses his shovel arm to detect any kind of subterranean movement; just as Scavenger announces that their foe is going for the fallen Bonecrusher, the figure bursts from the ground to assess him, announcing that he's still alive. The interloper—revealed as Bombshell—congratulates Scrapper on his combat skills, while the Constructicons wonder just how this figure knows their names; Bombshell explains that he's been watching them for some time now, and is a big fan of theirs. Though the Constructicons are suspicious of the newcomer, and worried that they might get busted for illegal gladiatorial combat, Bombshell waves off their concerns: he just wants to tell them a story, a story that they might find familiar...

''Bombshell, Skrapnel, and Kickback were forged together many years ago, and emerged with an aberrant, insatiable hunger for raw materials—a hunger that compelled them to begin eating whatever they could get their hands on. In this new role, the Insecticons became a mobile processing team, eating everything in sight and "metabolizing" whatever they ate into a highly distilled and powerful variety of [[energon]]. Although Cybertronian scientists tried to find out just how the trio were able to do this, they were unable to, and the group was eventually set free to do what they were forged to do and tackle Cybertron's waste products—transforming garbage and other messes into clean, powerful fuel for the entire planet. Though they were promised that the people of Cybertron would celebrate them for their efforts, the trio found themeselves confronted by a more pressing problem: the cataclysmic [[War of the Threefold Spark]]. Unhindered by anything except their own hunger, the group found a new role for themselves on the battlefield, cleaning up the dead and dying. Although they were only doing what they had been forged to do, the new postwar regime became fearful of them; branding them with the lowly name of the "[[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s", Cybertronian leadership began to worry that they would one day develop a taste for the living. Thus, the three 'bots found themselves banished from Cybertron, sent to Mayalx to once again clean up Cybertron's waste.''

A team of gifted workers, hated and feared by Cybertron and banished by those who don't understand them... does this, asks Bombshell, sound familiar to the team? Scrapper insists that they're ''not'' alike: his team are peaceful builders, and the Insecticons are ravenous forces of nature. Bombshell agrees—the city of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] is still a masterpiece of engineering, the greatest city on Cybertron... but on Mayalx, the team is kept underfuelled, underfunded, and underwhelmed by their undemanding job. They will ''never'' be brought home, and they will ''never'' be recognized for their accomplishments again... because, just like the Insecticons, they will forever be tainted by Cybertron's fear of their combined form.

As Bombshell slinks back into the shadows, he offers the team a choice: they can stay as they are now, slaves to a regime who fears their potential. Or, he continues, they can break their chains and become everything they were meant to be, to once more shake the very foundations of Cybertronian civilization... what will they choose?

==Featured characters==

Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{featuredcharacters
|h2=[[Decepticon|Ascenticon]]s|c2=
'''[[The Rise]]'''
* [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] (7)
* [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (8)
* [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]] (9)
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (10)

|h4=Cybertronians|c4=
* [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (1)
* [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (2)
* [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (3)
* [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
* [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (5)
* [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (6)
* ''[[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]'' (11)
}}

==Quotes==
"I was so ravenous that I ate too fast and now '''all''' my receptors are buzzing. This one even had actual droplets of '''spark''' in it. So delicioussssss."
:—'''Kickback'''

"It's amazing what I can improvise, but this machine makes my insides feel like they're melting."
:—'''Hook''' on his new invention.

"Outthink and outsmart and eventually you will '''outlast''' your opponent."
:—'''Scrapper'''

"You will '''never''' be brought home. You will '''never''' be celebrated. You will live out the rest of your existence in squalor and half-function because of '''fear'''. Fear of the most '''powerful''' form of the Constructicons."
:—'''Bombshell'''

==Notes==
*'''First appearances:''' [[Shrapnel (G1)|Skrapnel]], [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]]

===Continuity notes===
* The body that the Insecticons are shown eating is presumably the corpse of the worker who Hook threw a girder at in [[Constructicons Rising, Part 1|the previous issue]] though it wasn't clear at the time that he'd actually been ''killed'' by the impact.
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] makes his appearance here as Bombshell's boss; presumably, then, Bombshell and the other Insecticons are members of [[The Rise]], as (as per [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four|issue #10]] of the [[Transformers (2019 comic)|''Transformers'' ongoing]]) nobody outside of the [[Decepticon|Ascenticon]] inner circle is aware that Shockwave has returned to Cybertron to help mastermind the organization alongside [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]].
* Bombshell's flashback shows the three newly-forged Transformers emerging from what appears to be the [[Pyramid (Cybertron)|Pyramid]] in Iacon. This building was first introduced in [[The World In Your Eyes Part Four|issue #4]] of the ongoing, and was established as the building by which all new Transformers—including both [[Rubble]] and [[Gauge]]—are introduced to Cybertron. As of writing, however, it's not entirely clear if it's the ''only'' building of its kind on Cybertron, or if similar facilities exist elsewhere.
* Bombshell's flashback also shows [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] as a member of the team tasked with investigating the Insecticons, which is presumably a nod to the now-deceased scientist's reputation in [[The World In Your Eyes Part One|''Transformers'' issue #1]] as a talented energon engineer.

===Transformers references===
* Hook describes Cybertron's bureaucracy as being full of "[[beryllium baloney]]," a line that was most famously spoken by [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''... though it ''was'' also used by [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]" with a connotation that's closer to its usage here.
* This isn't the first time the Insecticons have worked with Shockwave: they most famously teamed up in the ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' video game as affiliates of the mad scientist. Just like in that game, set in the [[Aligned continuity family]], Shrapnel is now going by his trademark-friendly name of "Skrapnel."
* In a similar vein, this comic sees the return of Skrapnel's odd vocal quirk based on his performance in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon; a speech tic that he had in the [[Dreamwave Generation 1 continuity|Dreamwave comics]] but not in the original [[2005 IDW continuity|IDW continuity]], continuity.

===Trivia===
* Originally solicited for October 16, this issue arrives late, landing at the very end of the month.

===Covers (5)===
* '''Cover A''': The Insecticons, by [[Livio Ramondelli]]
* '''Cover B''': The Constructicons, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': The Constructicons again, by [[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]]

<gallery>
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrA.jpg
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrB.jpg
File:TFGalaxies 2 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* TBD

==External links==
* [http://popculthq.com/2019/10/29/preview-idw-publishings-10-30-release-transformers-galaxies-2/ Preview]

[[Category:Galaxies issues]]

Unicron/Generation 1

2019-01-20T22:13:23Z

Prowl245: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{factions|unicron|decepticon}}
{{suite}}
[[File:IDW Unicron Alex Milne.jpg|upright=2|thumb|I usually don't look nearly as cool as this.]]
A '''Unicron''' or lots of Unicrons did lots of stuff in the [[Primax]] universal cluster. It's not all very clear.

{{quote|Something evil's watching over you Comin' from the sky above And there's nothing you can do|[[The Transformers (Theme)|The Transformers]]|''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

==Generation 1 cartoon continuity==
===''The Transformers'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Orson Welles]] (English, ''The Movie''), [[Roger C. Carmel]] (English), [[Toshio Ishii]] (Japanese), [[Mizuho Suzuki]] (Japanese, ''The Movie'')|[[Chen Chun]] (Chinese, ''The Movie''), [[Zhan Che]] (Chinese), [[Jean-Claude Michel]] (French, ''The Movie''), [[Manfred Schmidt]] (German, "Ghost in the Machine"), [[Thomas Rau]] (German, "Grimlocks New Brain"), [[Werner Abrolat]] (German, ''The Movie'' TV Dub), [[Thomas Albus]] (German, ''Generation 2'' "Ghost in the Machine"), [[Guillermo Romano]] (Latin-American Spanish), [[Garcia Neto]] (Brazilian Portuguese), [[János Bácskai]] (Hungarian, Second Movie Dub)}}
[[File:Unicroncall.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|So anyway, in this one continuity I'm built by a monkey. Sorry.]]
Unicron was constructed by the ancient genius known as [[Primacron]] at the dawn of the universe. Primacron had hoped that Unicron would scour the galaxy clean of life, leaving a blank slate for him to experiment upon, but naturally, Unicron had no desire to be the servant of another, and turned on Primacron, badly wounding him and his [[Oracle (G1)|assistant]], and setting out into the depths of space. {{storylink|Call of the Primitives}}

[[File:TFTM Unicron Lithone.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|I see you down there!]]
In the year [[2005]], Unicron made his most famous attack upon Cybertron. While heading towards the planet, he consumed the small world of [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]], making it perfectly clear how great of a threat he was to the entire universe. As he continued on his way, Unicron's powers allowed him to become aware of the death of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], who handed the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] just before dying, which angered him tremendously. He then came upon the bodies of several wounded and dying Decepticons, who had been dumped into space following a [[Battle of Autobot City|recent battle]] on Earth. He extended a proposition to the Decepticons' leader, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], offering to rebuild his body and those of his troops in exchange for their destruction of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Tortured into accepting, Megatron was transformed into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]], and his followers became [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]].

[[File:TFTM Unicron smashes cybertron.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.25|Unicron smash!]]
While Galvatron set about reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons, Unicron arrived at Cybertron, and proceeded to consume the planet's two moons. Outraged that Unicron would do this to a planet that he viewed as his, Galvatron found himself the victim of mental torture by his creator, and ordered to Earth to complete the task given him. The ensuing chase finally climaxed in a showdown on the [[Junkion (planet)|planet of Junk]], where Galvatron seized the Matrix and returned to Unicron, only to reveal that he intended to use the talisman to make Unicron his slave. Amused by his pawn's arrogance, Unicron transformed into his [[Scale|gigantic]] [[robot mode]] and ate Galvatron. Unicron then tore into Cybertron, as [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] and the rest of the Decepticons on the planet fought back, to little effect. Unicron swallowed many spaceships, and one, which contained the young Autobot [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and his comrades, crashed through Unicron's eye. Hot Rod and Galvatron battled deep inside Unicron, and ultimately, Hot Rod was able to retake the Matrix from the Decepticon. Transformed by its power into Rodimus Prime, he defeated Galvatron and opened the Matrix inside Unicron, destroying his body from within.

Unicron's head was blown clear during his death throes, and became caught in Cybertron's gravity, turning it into a new moon for the planet — a grisly testament to the satellites he had destroyed. {{Storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
{{note|Unicron’s involvement in these events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the comic mini-series “[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]],” the storybook “[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|Transformers the Movie]]” and the "Special Edition The Transformers: The Movie extra page" of "[[Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe]]."}}

[[File:Unicron head orbit.jpg|right|thumb|Incoming message from the [[Grand Mal|Big, Giant Head]]!]]
In the year [[2006]], Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps visited Unicron's head, seeking to locate Galvatron, who had been hurled into space at the conclusion of his battle with Rodimus Prime. After accessing the remaining databanks and replaying footage of the final battle, Cyclonus extrapolated Galvatron's trajectory and current location. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1}}

On the planet home to the monster known as [[Chaos (alien)|Chaos]], [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] proclaimed that Galvatron would be "more famous in history than Unicron" once Galvatron destroyed Cybertron with his newly-built death crystal cannon. {{storylink|Chaos (episode)|Chaos}}

[[File:GhostMachine Unicron starscream jumpers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Unicron's glad he got that Triple-A membership.]]
Later, the ghost of the deceased Decepticon [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] reactivated Unicron's head in order to make a bargain with him; in exchange for Unicron restoring his body, Starscream would recreate Unicron's. Stealing new optic circuits and a transformation cog for Unicron from [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], Starscream was then directed to connect Unicron's head to Cybertron, so that the planet could become his new body. Starscream initially attempted to do this by using Trypticon's body, but Trypticon was deactivated by the Decepticons. Unicron restored Starscream's body so that he could finish the task, but Starscream (somewhat predictably, being Starscream) double-crossed Unicron and refused to complete the necessary connections. Just then, explosives set by the Autobots were detonated, hurling Unicron's head off the planet, beyond its gravity, and out into space. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (G1)|Ghost in the Machine}}

Seeking a supply of the dangerous particles known as [[anti-electron]]s, Galvatron and the Decepticons traveled to Unicron's head, only to come under attack from the defenses of the barely-aware giant. Also present was the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]], [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]], who used components from Unicron's head to create the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobots]] to fight Galvatron's forces. The Technobot [[Strafe (G1)|Strafe]] disconnected enough of Unicron's internal mechanisms to deactivate his systems, apparently killing the evil giant. {{storylink|Grimlock's New Brain}}

While a much older Primacron mused about how his new creation, [[Tornedron]], would succeed where "the other" had failed, the giant, damaged head of Unicron was visible floating along in the depths of space, where it had apparently faded to a dull grey. {{storylink|Call of the Primitives}}

===Japanese cartoon continuity===
====''Legends'' comic====
Unicron knew the Matrix built into the [[Oracle (G1)|Oracle]] by Primacron was the one thing that could defeat him, so upon rebelling against his creator, his first act was to destroy the Oracle in an attempt to eliminate it. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. EX (Grand Maximus)|Bonus Edition Vol. EX}}

====Wars manga====
Unicron took notice when [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and [[Dark Hot Rod]] were merged into one being. {{storylink|Rodimus Wars}}

====''Story of Binaltech''====
Due to the temporal machinations of a [[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] with knowledge of the future, in one timeline Unicron met with Autobot troops when he attacked Cybertron, instead of Decepticons. He nonetheless destroyed many Cybertronians and devoured one of Cybertron's moons before Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus left to confront the evil planet with the power of the Matrix. {{storylink|Darkest Hour (prose)|Darkest Hour}} Optimus was badly damaged during the journey to Unicron, leaving Ultra Magnus to infiltrate the titan's body alone. Though Ultra Magnus had not been chosen by the Matrix, he pleaded his case to the ancient artifact, and was allowed to unleash its power to destroy Unicron's body. {{storylink|Binal Time}}

====''Kiss Players''/''Teletraan Go! Go!''====
[[File:TGGUni1.jpg|thumb|Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha]]
Following his destruction in 2005, Unicron's [[Angolmois|lifeforce]] was scattered across time and space, fragmented and parasitized into Autobot and [[Maximal]] leaders throughout history. In 2007, three of his servants, the [[Sparkbot]]s, sought to recreate their master, and tricked the human singing group, the [[Kiss Players (singing group)|Kiss Players]]—[[Marissa Faireborn]], [[Atari Hitotonari]], and [[Shaoshao Li]]—into helping them in their task by telling them that they were gathering the fragments of the so-called "Allspark".

[[File:TGGUni2.jpg|thumb|left|Oh god ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha]]
[[Primus]] was forced to take action to stop their mission, appearing as a giant golden hand to steal away the energy fragments before the Sparkbots could collect them, but eventually, the evil trio collected enough to accomplish their dire task. Fleeing back in time to [[Earth]]'s prehistoric past, they unleashed the energy and Unicron began to form around them. Following the Sparkbots back to the past, Primus unleashed the full firepower of his mobile battle platform's cannon, sealing Unicron's energy and the Sparkbots deep within the planet. He then created the mighty [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]] to serve as a guardian and ensure that the evil being was never again reborn. {{storylink|Transformers: Kiss Players (radio drama)|Kiss Players radio drama #51}}

Unfortunately for everyone except Unicron, Brave Maximus would go on to leave the Earth in 2007, leaving the chaos-bringer's life-force unguarded. {{storylink|Sparkbots Volume 5}} {{storylink|Transformers: Kiss Players (radio drama)|Kiss Players radio drama #39}}
{{-}}

====''Masterpiece'' toy bios====
[[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]] wore the Decepticon badge but in reality was loyal only to Unicron, seeking to bring about his creator's return. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (G1)#Masterpiece|''Masterpiece'' Black Convoy toy bio}}

====''Unite Warriors''====
[[File:UnicronsRemains-GrandGalvatronChapter.jpg|thumb|upright=2.3]]
In [[2021]], [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]]'s ghost possessed [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], ordering him to take him to Unicron. The pair approached Unicron's remains, sealed away in the [[Triple Z Point]], so that they could build a new body from the god's carcass. However Unicron was still conscious and far from powerless. He struck a deal with the two [[Decepticon]]s; Unicron would reach out throughout the multiverse and pluck from their realities several 'bots who shared Galvatron's lust for revenge. Together, they would form a new "[[Grand Galvatron]]" body for the Decepticon leader, and leave Unicron's own body untouched. Galvatron agreed to Unicron's terms, and [[Roller (G1)|Roller]], [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]], and [[Breakdown (WFC)|War Breakdown]] were brought to their universe. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]]'s ghost also turned up, and Unicron granted him a partial corporeal body to form the last component of Galvatron's new form. Unicron then ordered those before him to go out and conquer Cybertron in his name, but Galvatron was already scheming to betray his benefactor as he took off into space. {{storylink|Grand Galvatron Chapter}}

[[File:BaldigusChapter2 UnicronPlanetBody.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
Through Thrust, [[Trickdiamond]] contacted Unicron to strike a deal, agreeing to help him conquer Cybertron. {{storylink|Megatronia Chapter}} Before making his move, Unicron reached through time itself and recruited the [[Commando (RID)|Combatrons]] from the distant future to serve him. He reformatted his new troops into new bodies, then had his head travel back to Cybertron where Thrust and Trickdiamond provided him with the [[joint energon]] he needed to combine with the planet itself. As he began to transform Cybertron into his new body, Unicron took out Galvatron, announcing that he'd expected his betrayal and also that he would go on to destroy all Transformers, undoing the Combatrons' future. The angered Combatrons turned on him in the form of [[Ruination (RID)|Baldigus]], but Unicron pacified them by summoning his Matrix Hunter minion, [[Grand Scourge]], who tricked Baldigus with his resemblance to [[Scourge (RID)|Black Convoy]]. {{storylink|Ruination Chapter, Part One}}

As Unicron came closer to completely taking over Cybertron, cracks in space-time began to appear because of the many dimension-hoppers and time-travelers he'd brought over, forcing the Autobots and Decepticons to team up to defeat him and undo the cracks. While he was distracted by an attack from several combiners, Unicron's head was ripped out of Cybertron by Baldigus and thrown into space, where a barrage from the combiners and a mighty punch from Optimus Prime and Roller sent him flying back to the Triple Z Point. {{storylink|Ruination Chapter, Part Two}}
{{-}}

====''The Battlestars''====
[[File:DarkNovaCron1.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Dark Nova Diet Soda.]]
Somewhere beyond the year [[2025]], the Ultimate Emperor [[Dark Nova]] seized command of the Decepticons. The spectral entity was described as appearing "very much like Unicron", though further details on his origin had never been divulged. {{storylink|Generation 1 cartoon timeline (Japan)/src#After 2025|Japanese Generation 1 timeline}}

====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''See [[#Beast Wars cartoon 2|#Beast Wars cartoon]]''

====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7]]
[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] was an agent of Unicron, and worked on his behalf to form a plot that would result in the destruction of the [[Transformers Expo]] in [[2014]]. [[Doctor Arkeville]] was also likely influenced by Unicron into producing [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]], who would serve as the vessel for the [[Dark Energon]] that would destroy the Expo. However, the plan ultimately failed thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice. In the end, though, Doctor Arkeville still stood as a subject of Unicron. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}
{{-}}

====''Beast Wars II'' cartoon====
At some point in the far future, human beings discovered Unicron's lifeforce within the Earth, and attempted to harness it for their own means. This resulted in the devastation of the planet Earth, reducing it to a ruin, {{storylink|Emissary of the Fourth Planet}} but the fame of this "mysterious energy" that had been called "[[Angolmois|Angolmois energy]]" was far-reaching, and eventually, tens of thousands of years after the end of the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons, the Predacon leader [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] attempted to harvest it for himself. {{storylink|The New Forces Arrive!}} Using his artificial planet, [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]], he sucked a large amount of the Angolmois energy out of the planet and into the vessel. However, after the interference of [[Lio Convoy]] and [[Lio Junior]], all of the stolen Angolmois energy was sealed into capsules and ejected from Nemesis as it self-destructed. {{storylink|Farewell! Lio Convoy}}

====''Beast Wars Neo'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Tetsuo Komura]] (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsNeoUnicron.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6]]
Teams of Maximals and Predacons, led by [[Big Convoy]] and [[Magmatron]] respectively, then raced to collect the Angolmois capsules, as their energy effects were wreaking havoc on planets all over the galaxy. {{storylink|Big Convoy, Move Out}}

They eventually collected all the capsules only to find themselves attacked by the mysterious and freakish [[Blentron]]s. The Blentrons, in truth servants of Unicron seeking to engineer his rebirth, proved nearly invincible, and stole the capsules from each team. {{storylink|Mysterious Beast Warriors!?}} They released the Angolmois energy and allowed it to possess Galvatron's dead body, restoring Unicron to life in a new form. {{storylink|Unicron Revived!?}} Unicron absorbed the last remaining ounce of stray Angolmois energy—the Blentrons themselves—and left to settle his score with Cybertron. [[Great Convoy]] attempted to hold Unicron off with the entire Maximal armada, but Unicron's fiery serpent mode proved too much and he effortlessly destroyed the armada and Great Convoy along with it. Unicron then possessed [[Vector Sigma]], the mother computer of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], effectively possessing the planet, and morphed Cybertron into his new body. {{storylink|End of the Maximals!?}}

[[File:BWNeo Unicron.JPG|thumb|300px|If you wanted to be pink, Unicron, you could've just possessed Arcee.]]
Unicron then briefly exited Vector Sigma to deal with the last remaining Cybertronian resistance. Big Convoy, his Maximal new recruits, Lio Convoy, and Magmatron all fought side-by-side against Unicron, but all they managed to do was stall him. Big Convoy then powered up his Big Cannon with his own [[Energon Matrix|Matrix]], transforming it into the Matrix Buster. Big Convoy shot Unicron with the weapon, the powerful blast seemingly destroying the Chaos Bringer. {{storylink|The Final Battle (BWN)|The Final Battle}} With Unicron's spirit evicted from Vector Sigma, Cybertron returned to normal. The Maximals and Predacons then put aside their differences to help rebuild the planet. {{storylink|Graduation Ceremony!!}}

====''Cloud''====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Fury (Cloud)|Fury}} {{storylink|Transcendence}} {{storylink|Transformers Cloud (issue)|Transformers Cloud}} {{storylink|TFC-A04}}}}

===Rodimus vs. Cyclonus===
Upon being created by Unicron and charged with stealing the Matrix from Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus and Scourge vowed to prove themselves to Galvatron in battle, pledging their allegiance to him rather than the Chaos Bringer. While his creations were already plotting to overthrow him, Unicron was busy devouring one of Cybertron's moons. {{storylink|Rodimus vs. Cyclonus}}

===''Wings Universe''===
{{wingsnote}}
[[File:HtF-RookUnicronandUnicorn.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
[[Apelinq (BM)|Apelinq]] considered the return of Unicron to be a less daunting challenge than a mandatory meditation session and lecture for the [[Cybertronian Knight]]s by [[Cheetor (BW)|Alpha Trizer]]. {{storylink|Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur|Apelinq's personal log, 2015/01/07}}

Time-traveling to the future when Cybertron would theoretically be at peace and therefore unprepared for threats, the [[Star Seeker]]s tried to use Unicron's head to drain all the energon out of Cybertron. A battle ensued aboard Unicron's head when the Cybertronian Knights arrived to stop them. However, the battle was prematurely ended when Alpha Trizer revealed to Star Seeker Captain [[Cannonball (G1)|Cannonball]] that Cybertron in 2984 was techno-organic and thus no longer operated on energon. Most of the pirates were then arrested, but during the battle [[Shokaract|Hunter]] was lured away by Unicron's voice to a transwarp portal that led into the past. There, at Unicron's urging, Hunter touched the [[Matrix of Conquest]] and became Shokaract! {{storylink|Hoist the Flag}} Upon his transformation into Unicron's herald, Shokaract contemplated new evils and set his sights on the metal sphere still being orbited by Unicron's deactivated head. {{storylink|Legacy (issue)|Legacy}}

===Fun Publications===
[[Vector Prime]] noted the Unicron of [[Primax 984.17 Alpha]] was not part of the multiversal Unicron singularity. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/22}} However, such distinctions would later cease to exist as [[multiversal singularity|multiversal singularities]] no longer did. {{storylink|Out of the One, Many}}
{{-}}

===Ask Vector Prime===

During Unicron's approach to Cybertron, [[Gong]] and [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]] began playing with universal streams, causing elements of a [[Gargent]] stream to interact with the [[Primax]] stream Unicron currently inhabited. As a result, many of the warriors Unicron reformatted for [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] were [[Renegade]]s, including Deadlift (the tracker) and his Sweeps, Fracture (the warrior) and her armada.

Despite this, events unfolded much as they were meant to, culminating in the final battle between [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] and Galvatron inside Unicron. Once Hot Rod claimed the Matrix and became Rodimus Prime, he unleashed its power and destroyed Unicron from the inside out. {{storylink|Echoes and Fragments}}

===''Deviations''===
In a timeline where Optimus managed to kill Megatron during their final battle, Unicron nonetheless made his way toward Cybertron, pausing briefly to devour the dead and dying Deceptions thrown out of Astrotrain. He proceeded to Cybertron, where he interrupted Starscream’s coronation. At the behest of Soundwave, Starscream flew out to bargain with the planet-eater. They reached a bargain: Starscream was upgraded into “Megascream”, and his inner retinue of warriors were granted the ability to combine with their new leader, in exchange for Starscream’s servitude.

Unicron eventually grew tired of his new herald’s whining, and skipped chowing down on the Moonbases in favour of going straight for Cybertron, shrugging off Megascream’s pleas. Optimus Prime vowed to stop Unicron, but Megascream ultimately defeated the Autobot leader on Unicron’s surface. At the last moment, Hot Rod opened the Matrix—destroying Unicron, Megascream, and himself. {{storylink|Transformers: Deviations|Deviations}}

==Marvel Comics continuity==
===Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics===
[[File:PrimalScream-Unicron.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Unicron is furious that he's been miscolored again.]]
{{quote|It is '''Unicron''' -- the Dark God, the Chaos-Bringer. But these are just '''names''', tags created by small, frightened beings. It is '''force of nature''', tearing, destroying and eating -- '''everything in its path!'''|The narrator|[[On the Edge of Extinction!]]}}
Millions of years after Primus and Unicron entombed themselves inside planetoids and went their separate ways, circa the Earth year [[1990]] a group of Transformers discovered the sleeping form of Primus at Cybertron's core. When a battle erupted, a stray laser blast struck Primus, briefly jolting the god awake and causing him to emit a multiverse-shaking "Primal Scream" that alerted Unicron to Primus's location. Primus himself immediately slipped back into his sleep, but it was too late. {{storylink|The Primal Scream}} {{storylink|Bird of Prey!}} Knowing the severity of the situation, Optimus approached an altar within the Ark, hoping to be granted a mystical vision which would guide him on his mission to stop Unicron. He witnessed the Creation Matrix being corrupted by evil in his vision, as well as Unicron's imminent encroachment! {{storylink|Kings of the Wild Frontier.}}

[[File:EyeoftheStorm-possiblefutureUnicron.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|For over a decade, this was considered to be yet another one of Unicron's lies. But now it isn't. Gotta love retcons!]]
While devouring the planet [[Ghennix]], Unicron took note of three criminals who were attempting to escape their fate. Unicron destroyed their vessel and recreated the three as [[Hook, Line, and Sinker]]. As the distance to Cybertron was vast and he was too large to teleport, he ordered them to retrieve a [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] from a [[Rhythms of Darkness!|possible future]] to serve as his herald. {{storylink|All Fall Down}} Though this Galvatron was angry at being plucked from his victorious timeline, Unicron tortured him until he agreed to be his herald. Still, this Galvatron secretly plotted his eventual treachery. Unicron sent all four of them to attack Cybertron and pave the way for his coming. {{storylink|Eye of the Storm}}

The looming threat of Unicron was so great that Optimus willingly surrendered his forces to Scorponok in a bid to unite both factions, and meet against the Chaos Bringer as a single force. {{storylink|Surrender!}}

So close to Cybertron he could ''taste it'', Unicron decided to forgo consumption of the planet [[Jhi]] and hasten on his way to the ultimate confrontation. His herald Galvatron, however, captured Autobot leader [[Emirate]] [[Xaaron]], forcing him to fully awaken Primus. Suspecting treachery on Galvatron's part, Unicron sent Hook, Line and Sinker to retrieve him from the subterranean tunnels of Cybertron, but Galvatron destroyed them, and Primus was woken from his slumber. Unicron's arch-foe possessed Xaaron's body and summoned Transformers from all across the universe back to Cybertron. {{storylink|Out of Time!}}

Unicron shut down his higher mental functions and drifted for the remainder of the journey to hide himself from detection by Primus. At this point, a mental command that Unicron had placed in some of Primus's creations was activated, resulting in the formation of a cult of Unicron-worshipers, who gathered to destroy the leader of the united Autobots and Decepticons. These [[Acolyte of Unicron|Unicron cultists]] were drawn out when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] was named commander of Primus's army. The cultists tried to assassinate the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]]; they failed, but distracted the Cybertronians long enough for Unicron to sneak up on the planet. {{storylink|The Void! (US)|The Void!}}

[[File:Edgeofextinction-someonefight.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|''He's got the whooooole world, in his feet...'']]
After Unicron dug his fist into the planet and ate the flesh of his mortal enemy, he noted that this was the finest meal he had ever tasted. However, he was somewhat disappointed to find that the gathered Transformers were simply so terrified of him that there was no resistance to his attack. As he devoured [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] from the tip of his finger, he admitted that despite their lack of showmanship, they were at least delicious.

Unicron's unchecked rampage was soon ensnared by Primus himself, speaking through Emirate Xaaron's body. For a short moment, Unicron was restrained, but when he deduced that this ruse was a big show put on by an insignificant portion of Primus's power, he broke free and destroyed the avatar of Primus, killing both Xaaron and his creator.

Galvatron, who was worried his treachery was going to waste, attacked Unicron, hoping his bravery would stir the Transformers into action. Galvatron was smacked down, but his gambit paid off as the Transformers snapped out of their collective stupor and began a counter-attack against the Chaos-Bringer. Countless Transformers died in this assault, including the Decepticon leader [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]]. But Transformers weren't the only ones attacking him. Briefly fazed by the illusion-casting powers of the [[human]] [[Neo-Knights|Neo-Knight]] [[Rapture]], Unicron's systems were attacked by the electrical powers of [[Circuit Breaker (G1)|Circuit Breaker]].

[[File:OntheEdgeofExtinction-toomuch.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|For soon you will have life. ''Sweet'' life.]]
After being clocked by the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], Unicron received another surprise: the thought-lost Creation Matrix had returned, along with its vessel, [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]. Unicron was at first confused, as he'd sensed the Matrix's destruction, but quickly realized that the Matrix had not been destroyed, but had merely been masked by its seduction by evil. And in the realm of evil, Unicron had no equal! Thunderwing was destroyed, but the Matrix fell to the planet's surface.

Fighting the evil within the Matrix, Optimus Prime grabbed the artifact and launched into Unicron's maw, where the Creation Matrix was opened. While being pummeled by the flood of life unleashed by the Matrix, Unicron's body could not maintain structural integrity and exploded. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}} {{storylink|Still Life!}}

[[File:JudgmentDay-mist.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|So, seriously, what was up with this stuff?]]
In an alternate 2005, Unicron's consumption of the planet [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] was heralded first by strange pink mists<ref>The original script called this an "electronic mist". It sets you on fire and melts you.</ref> that leaked from his planet mode's maw. On route to Cybertron, he encountered an injured [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] and the bodies of his troops. He offered them new bodies in exchange for hunting down the Matrix. Though Megatron refused the offer at first, Unicron was able to persuade him by emitting more of his corrosive mist. Megatron was remade as Galvatron, and his troops were reborn as Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. {{storylink|The Planet-Eater!}} As Galvatron was sent forward, Unicron devoured [[Moonbase One]] and [[Moonbase Two]]. [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]] detonated the latter satellite in an attempt to destroy Unicron, but the plan failed utterly, leaving Unicron completely unscathed. {{storylink|Judgment Day!}} Galvatron returned to Unicron with the Matrix, but he intended to use it to make Unicron his slave. In retaliation, Unicron attacked Cybertron in earnest, as the planet was helpless against his assault. Ultimately, during a battle that took place inside Unicron, Rodimus Prime claimed the Matrix of Leadership from Galvatron and the Planet-Eater was destroyed from within. Only his head survived, and it remained in orbit over Cybertron. {{storylink|The Final Battle!}} {{storylink|The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006}}

{{note|In the UK version of the story, the events of "The Big Broadcast of 2006" were a fabrication invented by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]]. Also, the UK printing of the animated film adaptation altered the date from 2005 to 2006 to match "[[Target: 2006]]".}}

====Rhythms of Darkness!====
In another alternate 2005, a dying Megatron was found by Unicron. Unicron refashioned Galvatron into his herald, {{storylink|A Savage Circle}} and through their combined efforts, Unicron succeeded in devouring Cybertron. In the aftermath, he allowed Galvatron and his Decepticons to rule Earth. {{storylink|Rhythms of Darkness!}}

=====Ask Vector Prime=====
Later in [[Primax 490.0 Gamma]], Unicron stumbled upon the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]]'s [[Hub (G2)|Hub]] and savagely attacked. The Cybertronians fought back, rallying the remaining Autobots from Earth and Decepticons from [[Styx]]. Together, Autobot, Decepticon, and Cybertronian stood as one and destroyed Unicron's physical body. The Chaos-Bringer attempted to retreat to the psychic plane, but the [[Liege Maximo]], at the height of his power, confronted him and sacrificed his spark to permanently expel Unicron from their reality. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/24}}

====Earthforce====
{{earthforcefiction}}
After [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] accused Optimus Prime of being too focused on Unicron's imminent arrival, to the detriment of [[Earth]]'s troubles, the Dinobot Commander was allowed to create an [[Earthforce]].'' {{storylink|Break-Away!}}

''However, Prime had his work cut out for him. With an attempted Decepticon alliance ruined beyond all recovery and the Matrix still lost, Optimus had to turn to the original site of the [[Underbase]]—as the Underbase was linked to the centre of Cybertron, the Autobots could tap into that centre (and thus Primus himself) as a substitute Matrix.'' {{storylink|The Magnificent Six!}}

====Marvel UK future timelines====
[[File:FallenAngel-Unicron.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|And then Rodimus drove up through his entire body to escape through Unicron's other eye.]]
In a parallel timeline, Unicron did not arrive at Cybertron until the year [[2006]], consuming the small planet [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] on his way. As he drew closer to Cybertron, Unicron came upon the damaged bodies of Decepticon leader [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity#Marvel UK future timelines|Megatron]] and several of his Decepticon followers, who had been jettisoned into space following a major battle at [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] on Earth. Unicron extended Megatron a bargain, offering to rebuild him and his troops into new beings to serve him, and tortured the recalcitrant Decepticon leader into accepting. {{storylink|The Planet-Eater!}} {{storylink|Altered Image!}} Now reborn as [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], Megatron immediately began scheming to destroy his "master", using a [[time-jump mechanism]] to travel back in time to [[1986]], where he constructed a solar cannon that was powerful enough to destroy Unicron's physical form. Fully aware of his pawn's actions, Unicron took control of the minds of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]], [[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]], and [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] and had them follow Galvatron back in time to foil his plan. {{storylink|Target: 2006}}

After Galvatron returned to 2006, Unicron devoured Cybertron's moons, much to his servant's dismay. {{storylink|Judgment Day!}} Unicron then attacked Cybertron while Galvatron fought Rodimus Prime within his master's body. Galvatron was defeated and thrown out into space. {{storylink|The Final Battle!}} He still had the remote to the [[time-jump mechanism]] and used it to travel back to 1986 again, where he planned to take over the Decepticons so he'd be ready for Unicron when he arrived 20 years later. {{storylink|Fallen Angel}} {{storylink|Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!}} {{storylink|Hunters}} Unicron himself was destroyed by Rodimus Prime and the Matrix of Leadership in a vast explosion, leaving only his head intact... and, unknown to anyone, that was all he needed to stay alive! {{storylink|The Final Battle!}}

[[File:LegacyofUnicron-Unicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Silly Junkions, you can buy loose Unicrons on eBay for just $20!]]
His head floated off through space to eventually crash-land on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]]. There, the still-conscious Unicron used mind control to force the native [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] to build him a new body out of the planet. At the beginning of [[2008]], he pulled [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] into his thrall and used them to re-ignite the stalemated Cybertronian war in order to keep the Autobots distracted from his activities. Amused by Death's Head's repeated attempts at defiance, he told him about his origin, only to find himself now under attack by Rodimus Prime and an Autobot strike-team.

This ''almost'' went wrong, as Rodimus (at Death's Head's suggestion) tried to use the power of the Matrix on the astral plane. Here, however, the Matrix ''strengthened'' Unicron and the monster intended to merge with it for greater power. Ultimately, however, he was defeated by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]], who had planted explosives under the head's building site while the Chaos-Bringer was distracted. His head was destroyed, and his mind was sealed within the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}} {{storylink|Space Pirates!}}

[[File:WhiteFire-mine.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Rodimus rejects Unicron's endorsement of the coal industry.]]
On New Year's Day [[2009]], Unicron attempted to turn the Matrix towards evil and merge with it again, the only way he could bear being trapped within it. {{storylink|White Fire}} He reached out from within it and took control of Rodimus Prime's body, using him to sabotage an Autobot shuttle as it was headed for Earth. Kup caught on that Rodimus wasn't being himself quickly however, and forced Unicron to reveal himself earlier than the dark god had planned. Nonetheless, Unicron managed to force the ship into a crash-landing on Earth. As the dust settled following the impact, Unicron advanced on the Autobots, vowing to tear them limb from limb for their interference. {{storylink|Edge of Impact}} Regalling in the destruction, Unicron boasted that it was only fitting that the Autobots' end came at the hands of their leader. He further taunted them when he realized the Autobots had their blasters set to "stun," mockingly declaring that Rodimus was lost to them forever. {{storylink|Shadow of Evil}} Unicron's rampage was stopped when Kup ripped the Matrix out of Prime's chest. Unfortunately, this meant the Autobots lost their chance to purify the Matrix and that Unicron would be ready for them next time. {{storylink|White Fire}} In 2010, he repeated the trick and transformed Rodimus's body into a copy of his own before being forced back. In the far future of [[2356]], Unicron's essence still resided within the Matrix, steadily withering the struggling body of Rodimus. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

===''Transformers Comic-Magazin''===
[[File:Tf commag 18.JPG|thumb|upright=1.0|"Urg! Brush your teeth for once, Unicron!"]]
In [[Primax 489.0 Zeta|this reality]], the Decepticons had always followed the commandments of Unicron. Luckily, [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Goldbug]] was able to defeat him on Junkion and the Decepticons suffered a great mental defeat. Unsure if Unicron was dead or not, the Decepticons decided to carry on as if he wasn't. {{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 18|The Curse of the Pyramids}}

===Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic===
Optimus remembered Unicron as one of the many threats the Autobots had overcome upon being met by [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]]. {{storylink|War Without End!}}

===''Classics''===
{{noteclassics}}
Upon meeting the mysterious Decepticon [[Landquake (Timelines)|Landquake]], who claimed to be from [[Aurex 405.0 Epsilon|another dimension]], Megatron's Decepticons were skeptical of his claim, and Megatron ordered Soundwave and Scrapper to scrutinize Landquake. Their research backed up Landquake's story, with Scrapper citing the fact that the presence of Unicron, who Landquake claimed to have [[Revelations Part 6|been battling]], was known to cause spacetime anomalies. {{storylink|Crossing Over, Part 2}}

[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]] recalled how the Matrix of Leadership was lost in the destruction of Unicron. {{storylink|Shattered Paths}}

===''Regeneration One''===
{{noterg1}}
Optimus Prime did not easily recover from his death inside Unicron, and even years later suffered visions of the Chaos-Bringer returning to kill him again. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 1}}

Galvatron II, too, recalled Unicron, and [[Primax 490.0 Gamma|his own future timeline]] when Unicron consumed Cybertron against his wishes, leaving him with only Earth to rule. {{storylink|Destiny, Part One}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
The [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]] that would come to threaten [[Aurex 105.08 Alpha]] was originally the body of Unicron from [[Primax 886.0 Gamma]]. After being blasted out of that reality by [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] and the [[Matrix of Leadership]], Unicron ended up as the undetected Tenth Planet of Earth's solar system in [[Tyran 609.08 Kappa]], a universe previously devoid of any singularity phenomenon. The universe's binary end-state nature interfered with the comatose Unicron's attempt to recover, and his systems ended up resurrecting many of the Transformers he had consumed. Dubbing their world Planet X, they traveled to [[Primax 290.0 Zeta]] and began a campaign of conquest, only to be thwarted by the Autobots of that universe. The local Autobots used [[Zodiac]] energy to expel Unicron's essence, splitting Planet X in two. Half remained in that universe as a paradise planet while the other half ended up in Aurex 105.08 Alpha, where it finally met its end in war with [[Gigantion|Gigalonia]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/08}}

==''Beast Wars'' cartoon continuity==
===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Blu Mankuma]] (English), [[Hidetoshi Nakamura]] (Japanese)}}

[[File:Possession-Unicron.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|This model must have taken them, what, three minutes?]]
When [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] appeared on prehistoric [[Earth]] and was questioned by the stranded [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] about how he came to be this way, Starscream "explained" that his body was destroyed by Unicron while serving his master, [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. This was, of course, a misrepresentation, and it was revealed later that it was actually Galvatron himself who killed Starscream. {{storylink|Possession}}

When the [[Vok]] spoke with [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] in Earth's pre-history, they took the form of Unicron's head, claiming that they scanned his mind and chose Unicron as an "authority figure". {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}}

[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] would later invoke the name of Unicron by referring to [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] as "Unicron's spawn" in a derogatory manner. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

===''Beast Machines'' cartoon===
During Megatron's rule of Cybertron, [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] once compared the Predacon's [[Grand Mal|big floating head]] as a "sparkless, floating tribute to Unicron", implying that the Chaos Bringer's head orbited Cybertron after his defeat. By the time of Megatron's rule, however, it had apparently left the planet's orbit, as it was never seen. {{storylink|Prometheus Unbound}}

===3H comics===
After Unicron's entrapment in a lifeless, metal asteroid the dawn of time, {{storylink|Covenant (story)|Covenant}} the dark god recruited the [[Quintesson]]s to seek out the location of his nemesis, [[Primus]]. But when the Quintessons discovered Primus, now having taken the form of the planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], they decided to delay reporting their findings so they could first exploit Primus to their own ends. After finding the "[[Vector Sigma|singular threat]]" to Unicron and discovering how to subvert it, they used it to create a [[Transformer|race of robotic beings]] which they could sell to other worlds for a price. {{storylink|Disclosure}}

[[File:Unicrons dark essence.jpg|thumb|Even Unicron's crap is evil.]]
After his destruction in 2005, while his head was left in orbit around Cybertron, {{storylink|Betrayal}} Unicron's essence was sent spiraling through time and space, to crash on prehistoric Earth, prior to the conflict known as the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] which would occur on the planet. It is unclear if this was a deliberate attempt by Unicron to preserve his power or not, but this "[[Dark Essence]]" seemed to lack any real sentience, suggesting that it was merely Unicron's "power", while his spark remained in his intact head in the future. {{storylink|Paradox}}

[[File:Terminus-Unicron.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Unicron makes his own light saber noises.]]
The Dark Essence was discovered by a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] known as the Hunter, who recognized the dark god's power, and fashioned from the Essence the [[Matrix of Conquest]], a twisted version of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership which he used to conquer and rule over an apocalyptic 32nd Century future, under the name "[[Shokaract]]". Resistance against Shokaract resulted in an attempt by his opponents to travel back in time and destroy the Dark Essence on prehistoric Earth, thereby erasing Shokaract from history, but the villain travelled back in time to stop this effort. [[Point Omega|A massive battle]] between him and Transformers from throughout the multiverse ensued, but eventually, thanks to the efforts of the [[Covenant (group)|Covenant]], history was altered so that Unicron's essence never arrived on prehistoric Earth, erasing this timeline—and Shokaract—from existence. {{storylink|Terminus (issue)|Terminus}}

[[File:PrimevalDawn2-Unicron.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Predicting that Unicron will eventually show up is a pretty safe bet, really.]]
Just after the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] ended on prehistoric Earth, the [[Vok]] assembled a team from the remains of that war to counter [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]], Unicron's spawn. [[Primal Prime]], the leader of the Vok's team, had visions of a future apocalypse, involving Unicron, that encompassed every timeline in the [[multiverse]]. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}} After Tarantulas ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's torso, he oversaw the construction of a [[transwarp]] portal that would allow him to bring his prize as an offering to Unicron. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|Though [[3H Productions|3H]] folded before this story could be completed, Tarantulas would of course not be successful, and the Matrix would be returned to its rightful place. (Because, you know, the [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' stories]] took place chronologically after it.)}}

One week after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] gangster [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] succeeded in acquiring the [[Divine Light]], one of the Quintessons' discarded attempts to subvert the will of Primus. As Cryotek used it steal Primus's power for himself, [[Sentinel Maximus]] warned him that flaunting Primus's power would catch the attention of Unicron and doom them all. Cryotek laughed at this, since Unicron had been dead since three centuries earlier, and the idea of his resurrection was a fairytale believed only by the naive. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:UnicronDeathstarII.jpg|thumb|left|Guys. GUYS. Get that ring in the right place, or he'll never be able to eat.]]
Cryotek was defeated, but one year later Unicron struck once more. His body ruined and trapped between universes, he sought to revitalize himself by abducting Transformers from across the multiverse and pitting them against each other within the [[Cauldron]], a dark dimension contained within his own body, absorbing their [[energon radiation]] and eventually consuming their sparks. He chose to kidnap several Autobots and Maximals from [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|one universe]]'s technorganic Cybertron, but that was also the staging ground from which Primus chose to launch a counterattack. Primus gathered an army from many different universes and put the resurrected [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] at its head. {{storylink|Abduction}} Optimus Primal conducted his opening salvo by infiltrating the Cauldron and engineering a mass jailbreak. {{storylink|OTFCC Live-Action Drama}} {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

[[File:Optimusprimaluniverseend.jpg|thumb|That time Unicron was permanently destroyed across all universes forever, except the ones where he wasn't.]]
These "[[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]]" raided Unicron to free his captives from their prison cities, battling Unicron's own legion of "[[Minion of Unicron (Universe)|Minions]]" all the while. [[Universe War|These conflicts]] escalated for months or perhaps longer, their intensity rivaling the [[Cybertronian Civil Wars|Great Wars]].<ref>Optimus Primal's bio in the [[Revelations Part 3|Transformers Collectors' Club comic #9]]</ref> This all came to an abrupt end during the final battle, when Unicron simply vanished due somehow to the [[Unicron Singularity]]. {{storylink|Revelations Part 2}}
{{-}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Before the end of the Great War, the Tripredacus Council had set up a secret base of operations within Unicron's head. Though some of their members worried that they might awaken their "host" with their activities, the amount of Angolmois that had already been siphoned out of the satellite meant this was unlikely to ever happen. Unicron's head was later destroyed when the Tripredacus Council detonated their [[transmatter bomb]]. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

[[File:Ascending4-Shokaractsfuture.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|FOOLISH, DOOMED CREATURE.]]
Sometime after a series of events similar to those of [[Lio Convoy]] and [[Big Convoy]]'s [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|experiences]] [[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|on]] [[Gaia]] in [[Primax 498.1 Alpha|another universe]], Unicron's heralds, the [[Blentron]]s, were instructed by the Chaos Bringer's essence to gather the [[Angolmois]] capsules scattered across the galaxy, which contained Unicron's energy. The taint of Angolmois would cause unrest and violence across Cybertron as the planet tore itself apart in renewed savage mindless conflict. At the same time, Unicron's chosen yet unwitting vessel, Shokaract, was fed Angolmois by the Blentrons, having been convinced that it would grant him the power to be reborn as a god. In one potential timeline, this did indeed happen as Unicron was reborn from Shokaract's corrupted form, and the Chaos Bringer proceeded to consume Cybertron itself. {{storylink|The Ascending issue 1|The Ascending #1}}

However, this was averted before it came to pass—thanks to the actions of the in-temporal-limbo [[Magmatron]], who alerted [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] and by extension Lio Convoy to Unicron's plan and enlightened Shokaract when the tyrant was temporarily shunted into Magmatron's personal purgatory. Realizing what his ascension actually entailed, Shokaract tore the [[Matrix of Conquest|Anti-Matrix]] from his chest, sacrificing himself and ending Unicron's plan at re-ascension. {{storylink|The Ascending issue 4|The Ascending #4}}
{{--}}

==''Bom Bom'' manga continuity==
===''Beast Wars II'' manga===
After his destruction in 2005, Unicron's displaced lifeforce became trapped within the planet Earth, where it was eventually discovered and manipulated by humankind (who were unaware of its origins). This resulted in the devastation of the planet, but the fame of this "mysterious energy" that had been called "[[Angolmois|Angolmois energy]]" was far-reaching, and eventually, twenty million years after Unicron's destruction, {{storylink|Double Cross}} the Predacon leader [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] travelled to the deserted Earth (now known as [[Gaia]]) and attempted to harvest it for himself.

A Maximal energon survey team was sent to the planet Unicron, but it lost contact with [[Maximal Army Central Headquarters]]. {{storylink|Demolish the Superdreadnought Tank!}}

Galvatron eventually succeeded in sucking-up all the Angolomois energy on Gaia into his artificial planet [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]]. {{storylink|All Hands, Make a Special Attack on the Evil Planet!}} The Maximals journeyed to Nemesis to stop him, only for Lio Convoy to become corrupted by the Angolmois energy, turning a Predacon. Lio Convoy was able to channel the true spiritual energy of Gaia through his [[Energon Matrix]] and dispel the taint, restoring himself. He then used that same power to destroy Nemesis, the Angolmois energy, Galvatron and the Predacons. {{storylink|Win the Battle of Light and Darkness!}}

The explosion of Angolmois energy wound up creating new problems, transforming a small group of dinosaurs into the Predacons led by [[Magmatron]]. As they left their homeworld in search of the lost Angolmois energy, a mysterious, supernatural figure (Unicron) looked on in interest. {{storylink|The Beast Wars "Neo" Begin!!!}}

===''Beast Wars Neo'' manga===
[[File:bwn-blackball-manga-01-bigconvoy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Reply hazy, try again"]]
On the planet Gaia, a group of Predacons somehow came into possession of a mysterious spheroid object known as the '''Black Ball'''. The strange artifact was of some importance to the Predacons; it may in fact have told Magmatron that he could rule the galaxy once he had the seven [[Angolmois|Angolmois capsules]].

[[File:bwn-unicron-manga-07-unionfleet.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|*Head not to scale]]
When Big Convoy came to rescue five Maximal rookies who were trapped in the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'' on Gaia, the Maximals found the Black Ball and retrieved it.

After the Maximal returned to the ''[[Gung Ho]]'', they attempted to analyze the Black Ball. However, the Black Ball activated the ship's warp engine. {{storylink|The 5 Rookies}} During the warp, the Black Ball began to speak, telling the Maximals about the Angolmois capsules, which originated from the final conflict between [[Lio Convoy]] and [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] on [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]]. It also told them that there were seven Angolmois capsules scattered across the galaxy in total. The Maximals were warned that they must retrieve all the capsules to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, or the galaxy would be in extreme danger. The ''Gung Ho'' subsequently arrived at the planet [[Luxor]], where one of the capsules was located. {{storylink|There Are 7 Capsules}}

The Black Ball guided Big Convoy's team to various other places where capsules were located.

When Magmatron, who was in a healing chamber in the ''[[Dinosaur (ship)|Dinosaur]]'' due to wounds caused by Big Convoy, learned that he lost his troops in the battle on [[Jörmungandr]], the Black Ball suddenly appeared. The Black Ball told Magmatron that it could see he was short-handed and offered Magmatron some "helpers"—the [[Blentron]]s, who emerged from within the Black Ball. {{storylink|A Battle Fought Alone}}

The Black Ball told both Big Convoy and Magmatron of the planet where the last capsule was located. Magmatron faced off with Big Convoy there, and ordered the Blentrons to attack the Maximals. One of the Blentrons, however, chose to attack Magmatron instead. The action of the Blentrons baffled both Big Convoy and Magmatron alike. The Black Ball then arrived on the planet's surface.

It was revealed that the Black Ball was actually Unicron himself, or more specifically, his essence, while the Angolmois energy was his life force. Unicron absorbed the six capsules and reformed his head out of the Black Ball. He then revealed that the last capsule was actually both Big Convoy and Magmatron, who were evolved by the power of the Angolmois capsule on their home planet in the [[7th Cosmos]].

[[File:bwn-bigconvoy&unicron-manga-07-1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Hey kid, wanna buy some wow?"]]
Big Convoy teamed up with Magmatron to fight against Unicron, but both failed. Big Convoy was saved by [[Heinrad (BWN)|Heinrad]], who told him about Unicron's existence and the plan of the [[Chronarchitect|Ruler of Time and Space]]—to erase the universe and create a new universe without Unicron, the "cancer". After Heinrad was forced to leave due to his interference, Magmatron was chewed up and spat out by Unicron.{{storylink|Double Cross}} Unicron then headed to the planet Cybertron. He latched onto the planet like a parasite and turned it into his new body.

Unicron desired to consume Big Convoy, the last half of the capsule, in order to make his right eye fully functional once more. His physical body was destroyed by Big Convoy after a harsh battle with Big Convoy's crew. However, Unicron's essence emerged from his physical remains and plastered itself onto Big Convoy's body, trying to possess him. Big Convoy removed the [[Energon Matrix|Matrix]] from his chest and unleashed its power, sacrificing himself and successfully destroying Unicron once and for all. {{storylink|Return to Zero}}
{{--}}

==Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity==
[[File:GenerationOne0-Unicron.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.66|"Say, do you remember that time Leonardo Leonardo tried to open that convenience store across the street?"]]
Unicron's servant, [[The Fallen]], tried to bring about his second coming by breaking the [[Seal of Primus]], but failed. {{storylink|Conflagration}} Unicron sent a wave of drones and heralds into the universe, with the Alpha Drone, [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], arriving on Cybertron 3000 years ago, amidst the [[Great Shutdown]], which he ended when he reactivated Shockwave for research purposes. {{storylink|Generation 1 issue 0|Generation 1 #0}} Shockwave happily shot him and experimented on him, and through these experiments became interesting in uncovering the secrets to Cybertron's history. This curiosity led him to steal the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and activate [[Vector Sigma]], which sent a beam across space that roused Unicron from his slumber. {{storylink|Countdown to Extinction (issue)|Countdown to Extinction}} {{storylink|Revelation (War and Peace)|Revelation}}

Now awake, but not at full power or consciousness, Unicron set out on a course towards [[Earth]]. The planets he consumed along his way, including the planet [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]], accelerated his rejuvenation quicker than [[Quintesson]] spectators had calculated. Using the raw materials Unicron harvested from Lithone, he created a new batch of drones based on a second body template. Subsequently, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] burst free from his birthing pod. {{storylink|Generation 1 issue 0|Generation 1 #0}}
{{--}}

==''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''==
[[File:BlackHorizon2-Unicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Unicron, [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]], what's the diff?]]
Unicron enslaved the population of the worlds he ate to maintain his inner works; one race included the [[Beastformer]]s. He was known about in Transformer legend, and was said to have been banished from his homeworld.

[[File:Unicron's DDP Brain.jpg|left|upright=1|thumb|Who needs all those TV monitors, anyway?]]
Thousands of years ago, when humanity was at a primitive stage, Unicron turned up to devour the Earth. The ancestors of [[Cobra-La]], however, had developed a [[metal-eating spore]] that could potentially kill Unicron. They came to an agreement—they would go into exile, while Unicron would merely eat human civilisation once it had developed to a useful point. Eventually they did, and Unicron began broadcasting announcements of "I Return" as he headed towards Earth. {{storylink|The Art of War issue 5|The Art of War #5}} {{storylink|Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2}}

Unicron reached Earth and transformed so as to consume civilization in robot form. [[Japan]] was devastated and humanity collectively wet itself. But the world was saved by [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] and [[Flint (G.I. Joe)|Flint]], who flew into the Chaos-Bringer and doused his organic looking brain with Cobra-La's metal-eating spores. Unicron was killed, the world was saved, and [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] went on to explore the dead monster's innards. {{storylink|Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2}}

===''The AllSpark Almanac II''===
This particular Unicron came from [[Gargent 984.08 Alpha|a universe]] populated by [[GoBot]]s. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The Allspark Almanac II}}
{{--}}

==''Universe'' CD-ROM==
[[File:Unicron tfu cdrom.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|I'm gonna steal every single Decepticon every single year. Nobody investigate, mmmkay?]]
In a universe where [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] led the [[Autobot]]s and [[Reptilion]] led the [[Decepticon]]s, a ship arrived once a year when the Transformers' civil war reached a fever pitch. The ship abducted every Decepticon it could find and promptly left.

These Decepticons were brought to Unicron, who was preparing them for an eventual, ultimate battle for the universe. But unknown to even Unicron, Primus, the sentient core of Cybertron, was amassing an army of Autobots that rivalled Unicron's army of Decepticons. Could Primus meet Unicron's challenge, or was the universe doomed? {{Storylink|Universe CD-ROM}}
{{--}}

==''United''==
During the United battle, the Decepticons revived Unicron from the astral plane. Unicron took an Autobot spaceship as his new body, which he altered into a tank. {{storylink|Unicron/toys#United|Ark Unicron bio}} [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] entered into battle against this new threat. During the fight, Primal's ship, the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', mysteriously gained a [[spark]] and became a Transformer. The ''Axalon'' was then the Autobot's greatest hope of defeating Unicron. {{storylink|Axalon (BW)#United 2|Axalon bio}}

==''Transformers GT: Mission GT-R'' story pages==
[[File:Unicron GTstorypage.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right]]
Reborn after a previous defeat, Unicron attacked the [[Transformers GT]] finals and absorbed the Goal Energon, a vast store of energon intended to be awarded to the winner of the race. He then turned his attention toward the [[GT Transformer]]s, intending to devour their energy as well, but was met with resistance from [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|GT-R Maximus]] and his [[Master Jack Sword]]. {{storylink|Transformers GT: Mission GT-R (story page)|Bringing Down the Sword}} The assembled GT Transformers used their "Matrix In" ability to combine with their [[GT Sister]]s and regain their true strength, allowing them to defeat Unicron. {{storylink|Transformers GT: Mission GT-R (story page)|The True TFGT}}
{{--}}

==''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''==
Unicron, Primus, and other worlds were spawned from the first living planet, [[Daiakuron]]. A statue depicting their creation was located in the depths of Cybertron, where a group of Autobots and [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joes]] found it while learning of the planet's history. {{storylink|Earth: R.I.P.}}

==''Beast Wars: Uprising''==
At some point in the 21st century, Unicron remade Megatron into Galvatron. {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}} As in most other realities, he attacked Cybertron during the height of the war, prompting the Autobots and Decepticons to team up and try to destroy him. Thousands upon thousands of Cybertronians died, until a select few with [[Point One Percenter|strange sparks]] managed to do him in. {{storylink|The Inexorable March}}

By the 24th century, traces of his essence remained in the form of [[Break]]'s [[Angolmois Blaster]] {{storylink|Broken Windshields}} and the [[Dark Energon]]-based [[G-Virus]]. {{storylink|Micro-Aggressions}} Despite such evidence to the contrary, [[information creep]] caused some Cybertronians to doubt that Unicron had been real. {{storylink|The Inexorable March}} Some maintained he was a conspiracy theory, made up to accomplish... something, or just outright denied his existence at all. These individuals were dubbed "Unicron Truthers". {{storylink|Derailment}}

==IDW Generation 1 continuity==
{{first|[[Pax Cybertronia (issue)|''The Transformers'' #31]] (mentioned); [[First Strike issue 6|''First Strike'' #6]] (depicted)}}

[[File:Unicron-1-PrimusUnicronLegend.jpg|thumb|right|300px|]]

From the earliest days of the species, Cybertronian legend spoke of Unicron—a name that translated to "uncreator"—{{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} and, according to myth, the diametric opposite of the mythological [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Some religious circles considered the two beings as natural balances to one another; the [[Clavis Aurea]] sect believed that Primus had formed as a "counterbalance" to the uncreator. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (1): Metastasis|Metastasis}} According to these myths and legends, Primus battled against this villainous being for eons in a war that predated the universe before eventually triumphing over his foe and casting him out. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}} Another account claimed that the original three Titans—[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and [[Chela]]—had taken part in the battle. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

Despite this, the myths held that the uncreator would one day return, and only the hero known as [[the Arisen]] could slay the devil once and for all and bring peace to the universe. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}} In Cybertronian society, the uncreator was generally referred to only as "Primus's opposite". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

[[File:GhostStories-antilla.jpg|thumb|left|250px|You can ''juuust'' spot the Collector base on the edge.]]

Unbeknownst to the majority of the Cybertronian species, this dreaded being would soon become more than a mere myth thanks to the machinations of a time-travelling [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] in his quest to ensure the perpetual dominance of the Cybertronian species. Disguised as "[[Onyx Prime]]", Shockwave had encouraged his fellow members of the [[Thirteen]] to begin an age of interstellar expansion and spread the [[Pax Cybertronia]] across the galaxy, and the first planet to be targeted for colonization by Cybertronian forces was a planet that lay close to the galactic core: the organic world of [[Antilla]]. Though the [[Antillan]]s fought back, they were unable to match the power of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and his [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinels]], driving them to the brink of extinction. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

As the war tipped in favor of the Cybertronians, a [[Unicron's creator|desperate Antillan]], bereaved by the loss of his family, constructed a [[Talisman (G1)|a doomsday weapon]] that would end ''all'' life on the planet, organic and mechanical alike. {{storylink|Ceremony}} When activated, the device's energies did just that and more, collapsing Antilla's sun into a [[black hole]], cascading across space and time to wreak havoc on far-flung worlds—and remaking Antilla itself into the ultimate weapon of retribution against the sins of the Cybertronian race. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}} Shockwave had forseen this result; by one day unleashing "Unicron", Shockwave reasoned that he could use the monster planet to wipe the slate clean; by destroying Cybertron itself, he could free his species from the religious wars and factional violence that plagued his homeworld, and begin the construction of a ''new'' Cybertronian empire by conquering another world elsewhere in the galaxy. As the Talisman's [[magic]]al energies were anathema to mechanical life, Shockwave reasoned that he could simply do away with his monster the moment it no longer served his needs by tricking it into swallowing the Talisman, which would kill him from the inside out. {{storylink|Road's End}}

His mind still tied to the "Talisman" that had birthed him, Unicron remained dormant for millennia; Onyx Prime would return to the wastes of Antilla shortly after the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]] and excavate the Talisman, {{storylink|Our Finest}} sending it to [[Earth]] aboard the starship ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'' for safekeeping until the day it would be needed. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

At some point in the past, the [[Mistress of Flame|Matriarch of Incendium]] and her [[Caminus|Camien]] retinue briefly visited Antilla, and an inexplicable and violent confrontation with "Onyx Prime" and his [[Maximal]]s led her to fear that the dead world had been the domain of Primus's opposite... a statement closer to the truth than she realized. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}}

Following the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] wondered if Cybertron's primordial landscape was a creation of Primus or his opposite. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

[[File:FirstStrike6 Welcome Death.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Spoiler alert: [[Matt Trakker]] is gonna be the one that kills him.]]

After twelve million years of dormancy, Unicron was unexpectedly activated, not by Shockwave, but by the [[Prysmosian]] wizard [[Merklynn]], who believed that the Talisman could recreate his [[Prysmos|lost homeworld]]. When he unleashed its energies deep beneath Cybertron during his creation of [[New Prysmos]], his magic somehow prompted Cybertron itself to burn through half of its remaining [[energon]] reserves and beam a simple message into the depths of space: a communication signal that translated to "Welcome. Death." The message reached its intended target, and Unicron awoke to carry out his ancient mission, his metallic form bursting free from Antilla's rocky exterior. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|First Strike #6}} The Talisman sent a second message to Unicron during the brief conflict between the Cybertronians and Prysmosians; when [[Galadria]]'s healing spell interacted with [[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]]'s anti-Talisman bomb and the Talisman itself, the artifact beamed another message into deep space, this one simply reading "Unicron." A week later, Merklynn used his magic to foresee Unicron's imminent arrival. {{storylink|The Curtain}} {{storylink|Our Darkest}} {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}}

Unicron's first act upon awakening was to devour the massive black hole that his planetary form had once orbited; by absorbing and harnessing the quantum-tunneling properties of the black hole, Unicron was able to draw energy from nearby stars to fuel his apocalyptic assaults and effectively snuff them out with each world he devoured. {{storylink|Unicron issue 5|Unicron #5}} Survivors of Unicron's later attacks would record this phenomenon as "the stars going out" each time Unicron successfully consumed a planet, unaware of the existential threat this posed to the stability of the galaxy. {{storylink|Our Darkest}}

[[File:Unicron1-unicronkillseverybody.jpg|thumb|left|250px|He's eating them. And then he's going to eat me. Oh my goooooooooooooooooood.]]

Seemingly driven by the ancient desire to destroy every world affiliated with the Cybertronian species—the [[Cybertronian colonies|thirteen colony worlds]], each seeded with one of Shockwave's [[Regenesis]] ores—Unicron's second target was the time-tossed world of [[LV-117]], consuming it to feed on the [[Ore-1]] responsible for its unusual temporal properties. As a result of these temporal distortions, history would record the planet as having been destroyed sometime in or around the year [[2012]]. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} {{storylink|Our Darkest}} Unicron then began his assault on the galaxy in earnest, moving onto other ore-seeded colony worlds—[[Prion (planet)|Prion]], then [[Gorlam Prime]], then [[Velocitron]], absorbing their mass into his, each extinction increasing his size and power and accelerating the pace of his attacks. {{storylink|Our Darkest}} {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} His insides assimilated and recombined every planet he consumed into a single surreal landscape, all still "alive" in some form. Their inhabitants, similarly assimilated and fused together, became an "[[Unicron's antibodies|immune system]]" to fight off invaders. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}}

A week after consuming LV-117, the presence of [[Ore-12]] drew Unicron to [[Elonia]]. He swiftly devoured the planet, annihilating the contingent of [[Space Knight]]s that flew out to confront him with a single blast from his maw, though [[Transformer]] intervention saved two-thirds of its fauna and population. Elonia was swiftly devoured, and as the stars faded Unicron teleported himself over [[Eukaris]] to begin his next attack, reducing the planet to rubble, {{storylink|Our Darkest}} and absorbing its supplies of mutagenic [[Ore-11]]. {{storylink|Ceremony}} After consuming Eukaris, Unicron devoured [[Arduria]], [[Tsiehshi]], and [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], Shockwave's army of Maximals joining him at the last one to chase away the ''[[Peaceful Revolution]]''. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] was able to use the movement of Maximals across the galaxy to predict where Unicron would strike next, however, and determined that his next target would be [[Caminus]]. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}}

[[File:Unicron1-Unicronsinsides.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Over there you'll find Gepetto's ship, over there you'll find Jonah, and over ''there'' you'll see Marlin and Dory...]]

Unicron arrived over Caminus shortly thereafter, with the Maximals swarming over Optimus Prime's hastily assembled armada while Unicron himself began consuming the planet. As the Maximal starship [[Nemesis (BWII)|''Nemesis'']] docked on its surface and integrated itself into Unicron's superstructure, [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] used his starship to ram a hole through the starship and into Unicron, allowing himself, Prime, and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] to enter Unicron in the hopes of finding a way to destroy him from within. The trio discovered the amalgamated nature of his interior and discovered a ruined [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinel]], a relic from the war that had precipitated his creation, before being beset by Unicron's antibodies. The three were rapidly overwhelmed and forced to teleport out, having learned nothing of use. Unicron devoured Caminus shortly afterward, swallowing up the Maximals who had terrorized the Camiens in the process, though the populace managed to evacuate in time. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}}

[[File:Unicron4 Unicron Kills Cybertron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|"Destiny. I... destroy... your... DESTINY!!!"]]

As he sailed past [[G Nebula 89]], Unicron was confronted by the [[Decepticon Vengeance Division]], a fleet of Decepticon warships each capable of destroying planets on their own. The fleet established a [[stasis web]] around the Chaos Bringer to prevent him teleporting away before they unleashed their full might against him. Unharmed by the D.V.D's assault, Unicron regurgitated the Maximals—now mutated by exposure to Ore-11—to meet with [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]], who sought to embrace chaos by serving Unicron and the Maximals. Unicron teleported away once more, leaving the stars to go out behind him. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

His constantly-mutating body re-energized by the infusion of a Cybertronian [[transformation cog]] supplied by the [[Titan (group)|Titan]] ''Nemesis,'' Unicron developed a new power: the ability to assume a towering [[robot mode]], and it was in this form he appeared in above Cybertron, ready to complete the final stretch of his mission. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}} {{storylink|Road's End}} Before the Cybertronian fleet could engage him, Unicron deployed the Decepticon Vengeance Division, now warped and mutated by Ore-11, to engage this obstacle. Shockwave believed that his plan had come to fruition: thanks to the efforts of the Visionaries, the Talisman was now on Cybertron, and when Unicron consumed Cybertron, the energies of the Talisman would destroy him along with the Transformer homeworld: "uncreating the uncreator". When the DVD finally cleared a path through the resistance, Unicron dug his talons into Cybertron, preparing to kill the planet and its occupants... all proceeding according Shockwave's plan. {{storylink|Our Finest}}

As Unicron began his latest assault, [[Council of Worlds]] representatives convinced the inhabitants of New Prysmos to use the Talisman's magic to teleport the populace of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] to safety, projecting a ribbon of energy that teleported all it touched to faraway Earth. Unicron attempted to prevent the Cybertronian fleet from reaching the magical ribbon only for [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] to ram the totalled [[Vigilem|Carcer]] into his face, distracting him long enough for everyone to escape his immediate grasp. In a rage, Unicron unleashed his full might on the planet, releasing a burst of energy from his chest as he ripped Cybertron in half, effectively destroying the Transformer homeworld. Unbeknownst to Shockwave, who had already teleported himself to Earth, his grand plan had failed: Prime's evacuation efforts had brought the Talisman itself to Earth, leaving Unicron free to follow the Transformers to the planet and complete the extinction of the Cybertronian race.

[[File:Unicron4 Unicron Arrives.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]

Indeed, after his destruction of Cybertron, Unicron teleported himself into the [[Solar System]] to destroy Earth and what remained of the Transformer species; ploughing through [[Jupiter]] and obliterating [[Sanctuary Station]], Unicron and the D.V.D., now wholly loyal to Unicron's mission of extinction, began their final approach over Earth, {{storylink|Road's End}} his mere arrival causing gravitational havoc on a planet-wide scale. {{storylink|Road's End}} {{storylink|Time Will Rust}} {{istorylink|Reunion}}

Shockwave was unaware that Unicron was more than a simple eating machine, however; Unicron was intelligent enough to realize that the Talisman was now on Earth, and the planet's destruction would also lead to ''his'' destruction. At the same time, Bludgeon and the Maximals revealed that they were now loyal to ''Unicron'' instead of Shockwave, leading a search for the Talisman so that Unicron could safely devour Earth. As events came to a head, the united armies of Cybertron, and her colonies led a battle against Bludgeon's forces, while Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream, engaged on a covert mission of their own: smuggling Prime, Arcee, and the Talisman towards Unicron, in the hopes that Skywarp's teleportation powers could instantly transport the device into the heart of Unicron. {{storylink|Unicron issue 5|Unicron #5}}

[[File:Unicron6 Unicron Collapses.jpg|thumb|left|250px|This is what happens when you eat sugarless gummy bears.]]

Unicron took part in the ensuing battle, blasting [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] in half with his eye laser, unaware of the drama playing out on his surface; with Skywarp wounded, Starscream sacrificed himself to activate the Talisman so that its energies would drill down to the core of Unicron. Prime and Arcee followed it down until they came upon the very heart of Unicron: the black hole that he had once orbited and swallowed up. Realizing the only way to kill Unicron, Prime hurled himself into the black hole, and wound up in [[infraspace]]; there, he encountered the specter of Unicron's creator, still desiring vengeance upon the Cybertronian race. Ultimately, however, Optimus was able to convince the ancient alien of his good intentions, and his desire to ''stop'' the cycle of violence that Shockwave had perpetuated all those millennia ago; embracing the scientist, the pair died together.

In doing so, Unicron's physical form collapsed into the black hole at his core. The black hole would remain in the [[Solar System]], visible from Earth as a monument to the battle. {{storylink|Ceremony}}

{{-}}

====Vision of the future====
In a vision of the future seen by Ironhide and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] during the reformatting of Cybertron, [[Wheelie (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheelie]] was said to be the first to see "the great destroyer". {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}}
{{-}}

==Ask Vector Prime==
Unicron attacked the Cybertron of [[Primax 504.0 Gamma]]. With the Autobots and Decepticons devastated by the rampage of the [[Beast (G1)|Beast]], Unicron managed to inflict a fatal wound to Primus before being driven off. Reality quakes tore the universe apart, and the remains of the universe were eventually consumed by the [[Hytherion]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/30}}

==''Prime Wars Trilogy'' cartoons==
{{voiceactor|[[Judd Nelson]] (English)}}
[[File:Machinima-POTP-disembodied-Unicron.jpg|thumb|right|250px|I can't blink, I can't cough, I can't sneeze, but my neck is enjoying a pleasant breeze...]]
Long ago, Unicron threatened Cybertron, and [[Solus Prime]] developed powerful tools to help defend against him, such as the Matrix of Leadership, the [[Enigma of Combination]] and the [[Requiem Blaster (Megatronus)|Requiem Blaster]]. {{storylink|The Fight Begins}} Ultimately, [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] used the Blaster to finally defeat Unicron, leaving his destroyed head helplessly floating through space. {{storylink|The Swamp}} Eons later, Unicron briefly transformed [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] into Galvatron, though this upgrade was later reversed. {{storylink|Countdown (POTP)|Countdown}} Several decades after this, Megatronus ordered [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] to search through the Chaos Bringer's remains, where he found the [[Matrix of Conquest|Matrix of Chaos]]. {{storylink|Volcanicus (episode)|Volcanicus}} When it was placed into [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]], turning him into Rodimus Cron, it created a link between Rodimus and Unicron, allowing him to both see through and possess Rodimus's body. This was demonstrated when Unicron took control to direct Overlord towards the [[Athenaeum Sanctorum]] before killing [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]. {{storylink|Athenaeum Sanctorum (episode)|Athenaeum Sanctorum}}

Rodimus continued to draw on Unicron's essence during his battles with Megatron's team, with Unicron's latent personality occasionally manifesting while he took Megatron and [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] to task. {{storylink|Countdown (POTP)|Countdown}} Upon learning that Megatronus planned to fuse the Matrix and the Requiem Blaster together, he forced control of Rodimus and declared the Matrix must be destroyed. Megatronus temporarily knocked him out and retreated with the Blaster, but Unicron gave chase, determined to get his revenge against the Matrix. {{storylink|Consequences}} Unicron had taken full control of Rodimus as he reached the [[Well of All Sparks|Well of Sparks]], transforming him into a more powerful form. {{storylink|Collision Course}} Determined to extinguish all of Primus's influence, including the Matrix and what remained of the [[Thirteen]], Unicron tussled with Megatronus in an attempt to reach the Matrix. When [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] got his hands on it instead and transformed into Optimal Optimus, he drew Unicron's attention and the two began fighting, seemingly evenly matched. {{storylink|Megatronus Unleashed}} After a bitter struggle, Windblade and [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] managed to restrain Unicron, allowing Optimal to remove the Matrix of Chaos from Rodimus's chest over Unicron's protests, turning him back to Hot Rod. Needing a new host for the Matrix, Unicron forced it into Megatron's hands and attempted to turn him back into Galvatron, but Megatron resisted and ordered Optimal to shoot them with the Requiem Blaster, much to Unicron's horror. Optimal obliged and fired, destroying the Matrix of Chaos and likely Unicron's spirit with it. {{storylink|Saga's End}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Battle Universe''===
Unicron's severed head orbited helplessly around a [[space bridge]] installation near Cybertron, where Transformers from multiple universes engaged in combat. {{storylink|Transformers Battle Universe}}

===''Transformers Legends''===
Before the formation of Cybertron, Unicron and Primus battled fiercely, their blows shaking the very foundation of the cosmos. A group of Transformers then appeared, time-displaced from the distant future. Galvatron and his Decepticons joined forces with Unicron while Rodimus's troops helped Primus. Unicron was defeated despite being able to will more beings into reality. {{storylink|Battle of the Brothers}}

Unicron threatened to devour [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|'Til All Are One (Legends)|'Til All Are One}} During the attack, a number of Autobots and Decepticons ended up inside him and fell foul of his internal defenses. {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (Legends)|Belly of the Beast}} He was halted when [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] opened the [[Matrix of Leadership]] while inside him, and the energies tore apart his body, reducing him to a head. {{storylink|'Til All Are One (Legends)|'Til All Are One}}

Later the incorporeal [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] sought out his help and was pressed into service doing Unicron's bidding and spreading chaos. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (Legends)|Ghost in the Machine}} Unicron enacted a plan that included sending Galvatron back in time. {{storylink|Savage Circle}} He struck a deal with Starscream in order to acquire Trypticon's body. However though Unicron supplied the incorporeal Air Commander with a new form, Starscream was ultimately foiled by [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] and [[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]]. {{storylink|Unicron Returns}}

===''Transformers: Devastation''===
As Unicron slept, the [[Mission of Cybertronian Expansion]] ship, the ''[[Proudstar]]'' touched down on his surface. He observed the crew members and eventually corrupted them to varying degrees, particularly their leader, [[Nova Prime]]. His influence caused them to [[Eco-structuring|cyberform]] inhabited worlds as well as uninhabited ones, wiping out millions of lives. Before the ''Proudstar'' left, Nova pointed Unicron in Cybertron's (and Primus's) direction. The more distance the crew put between themselves and Primus, the more Unicron managed to corrupt them. [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] separately realized what Unicron had done to them but could not stop it. Kranix eventually caused the ship to crash into [[Earth]] before he fled to Lithone. Unicron, meanwhile, followed the trail of cyberformed worlds, destroying all he came across in the process. Millions of years later, a touch of his darkness still permeated in the ''Proudstar''. [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] felt him through the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. [[Teletraan Alpha]] seemed to know that Unicron represented chaos but not ''who'' he was. The supercomputer predicted Unicron's eventual defeat to Optimus Prime and his Autobots. {{storylink|Transformers: Devastation| Devastation}}

===''Transformers: Frontiers''===
{{charstubgame|{{storylink|Transformers: Frontiers}}}}

==Notes==
[[File:Model-TheEntity.jpg|upright=1.85|thumb|Flamboyantcron]]
[[File:Model-IngestorUnicron.jpg|upright=1.85|thumb|"Ingestor" sure evinces [[Bob Budiansky]]'s lack of involvement with the film.]]
{{bigquote|Since Unicron is a villain and because I was fooling around at that time, I decided to make him look demonic with goatee, horns, bat-like wings and eagle talons for feet. I got the idea of Unicron from the planet Saturn and Satur. Actually, the original name was "Ingestor," but the writer changed it to Unicron when he saw the design, probably because of the "horns."|character designer [[Floro Dery]], [http://transformersph.blogspot.com/2007/06/floro-derys-transformers-exhibit-and.html Floro Dery's TransFormers Exhibit And Interview]}}
*Before the Transformers brand even existed, Takara designer [[Hiroyuki Hataike]] drew up a "Planet-Robot" toy for the ''[[Micro Change]]'' line, a design that would eventually inspire Unicron.
*In early preproduction for ''The Transformers: The Movie'', Unicron was referred to as the '''Entity'''. A model sheet from later in the movie's preproduction revealed that, at one point, the ''planet'' Unicron would turn into the ''robot'' '''Ingestor'''. An early rough draft of the film detailed some of the specifics of this; the disembodied voice of Ingestor would have presented itself to Megatron as merely the master and custodian of the planet Unicron, communicating from somewhere within the planet. He would remake the [[Spark|Life Spark]] of Megatron and other fallen Decepticons into Galvatron and his troops, and implore them to bring him energon to feed the planet, consumed with straw-slurping and lip-smacking sounds. Only at the draft's climax were Ingestor and Unicron revealed to be one and the same, as the energy the planet had been absorbing was revealed to be required to power the planet's transformation into robot mode. We used "robot" loosely, though; many pieces of organic terminology are used throughout the draft to describe planet and robot forms, such as the planet being covered in what appeared to be grass trees but which were actually the hairs of his humanoid form. At the end of the early rough draft, Unicron is destroyed completely by the Life Spark of Optimus Prime.<ref>[http://boltax.blogspot.com/2010/12/heritaage-auctions-transformers-movie.htmlHeritage Auctions Transformers: The Movie script] @ Disciples of Boltax</ref>
*Character designer [[Floro Dery]] claims his designs for Unicron were very large and complicated. For example, there were three drawings of Unicron's internal organs that were 2'x7' each. Dery also explains that Unicron's television monitor-covered [[Unicron's core|core]] is "like security monitors in a building," and that he must watch these screens manually to know what is going on, rather than the information being diverted directly into him from the screens' source. And finally, the orbiting moon that is seen in the discarded Generation 1 prototype by Takara (see [[Unicron/toys]]) was intended to be "a kind of mini-Unicron, like Mini-Me of Dr. Evil." Floro Dery's kind of eccentric.<ref>Zobovor's [http://web.archive.org/web/20060625115408/http://members.aol.com/tfencyc/interview_dery.html Interview with Floro Dery]</ref>
[[File:FloroDeryUnicronNotes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.85|That's no moon. No seriously, ignore that moon.]]
*Floro Dery's production notes as shown on his designs for Unicron (then "The Entity") reveal some very interesting things that don't quite come through in the original film or were dropped:
**The spheres on Unicron's rings are meant to be roughly equivalent in size to ''Earth''.
**The surface of Unicron was originally a dense jungle of metal and mechanical creatures.
**Dery's roundabout reasoning for giving Unicron rings is explained: "Saturn sounds like Satur [presumably meaning ''satyr'']. Satur is synonymous with the Devil. The Entity is a Devil-like planet. This is the reason why I designed the Entity like the planet Saturn."
**A moon is included (as in Takara's G1 toy prototype), but never explained aside from being flashy and conductive.
**All the circular portions on the planet's surface were to flash and reflect different colors to "dazzle the viewers" and eliminate the epileptics in the audience.
[[File:TFTM-Unicronalternatehead.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|He shaved!]]
*An earlier version of Unicron's head showed up during Unicron's transformation scene in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. Originally animated for [[The Transformers: The Movie promo]], this version has no [[facial hair]] and has extra greebles all over his face. It also colored the helmet entirely gray, save an orange mohawk. In [[Transformers: The Animated Movie|IDW's comic book adaptation of the animated film]], [[Don Figueroa]] drew a hybrid between the two designs, combining the facial hair and the orange mohawk.
*Unicron's profile in ''[[The Transformers Universe]]'' states that Unicron eating planets (and stars) increases his size and his hunger, a detail that first appeared in fiction in [[Our Darkest|''Unicron'' #0]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Alternators characters]]
[[Category:Beast Wars characters]]
[[Category:Beast Wars II characters]]
[[Category:Beast Wars II planets]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Neo characters]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Transformers]]
[[Category:Cloud characters]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 cartoon planets]]
[[Category:Generation 1 characters]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generation 1 gods]]
[[Category:Generation 1 planets]]
[[Category:GT characters]]
[[Category:Kiss Players characters]]
[[Category:Legends]]
[[Category:Marvel Generation 1 planets]]
[[Category:Unite Warriors characters]]
[[Category:Universe characters]]

Eye in the Sky

2018-12-05T20:56:53Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers Timelines (fiction)|Transformers Timelines]]'' text story
|prev=Do Over
|next=Blitzwing Bop
|seriesissue2=''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]''
|prev2=The Desert Heat!
|image=EyeintheSky cover.jpg
|caption=''I am the eye in the sky''
''Looking at you''
|title="Eye in the Sky"
|publisher=[[Fun Publications]]
|date=[[May 1]], [[2009]]
|written by=[[Trent Troop]] and [[Greg Sepelak]]
|illustrations by=[[Tom Whalen]]
|cover=[[Tom Whalen]]
|pagecount=29pp
|chronology=[[Shattered Glass timeline|Current era (2009)]]
|continuity=[[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|Shattered Glass]]
}}
'''The Decepticons fight to save Earth from Rodimus Prime's Autobots.'''

==Synopsis==
After the blackout over the Eastern seaboard, the United States government assures its citizens that the defense program will still go forward. One man, however, sees through the government's promises; out in the [[Arizona]] desert, cyborg [[Henri Arkeville|Professor Arkeville]] drives with his students [[Will Hayes|Will]], [[Rick Ottman|Rick]], and [[Sephie Beller|Sephie]] to investigate a supposed meteorite crash that happened shortly after the blackout. Arkeville doesn’t believe that it’s a meteorite at all, and wishes to investigate before the military does the same. Arriving at the site, the quartet find that the meteorite has crashed into a mountain, covering the object with rocks and emitting faint radiation. While the professor, Sephie, and Rick get to work, Will notices something in the distance; picking up the binoculars, he spies a [[Heatwave (Timelines)|missile truck]] heading their way! Will believes that it’s the military, but Sephie points out that while it is a military vehicle, it’s colored red and blue. Even odder, they soon spot the [[Soundwave (SG)|van]] of rock band [[Cold Slither (band)|Cold Slither]] accompanying it. Rick wonders if they might be the [[Cobra|rebels]], but Arkeville, using his cybernetic eye, peaks into the vehicle with infrared vision, finding them empty. The four are puzzled, but are broken from their musings when a white, mechanical [[Ravage (SG)|jaguar]] greets them in a garbled, web-based form of English. The four begin to run away, and the robot cat, eager to make friends, goes chasing after them.

Elsewhere, teenage criminal [[Butch Witwicky (SG)|Butch Witwicky]] is followed by his brothers [[Spike Witwicky (SG)|Spike]] and [[Buster Witwicky (SG)|Buster]], as the former plans to steal his 16th birthday present. Butch comes upon a souped up [[Rodimus (SG)|black car with purple flames]]; Spike admonishes him for picking a ride that’s gonna get him arrested, but the youngest Witwicky brother ignores him, blowing off his complaints by telling him he’ll have it souped up himself. However, Butch quickly realizes that the car has no keyhole, and no sooner than that does a voice emerge from the car. The three brothers watch as the car unfolds and stand up, having transformed into his true form: the Autobot Rodimus! Rodimus tells the three terrified boys that he is their leader now…

Back in the desert, Will and Rick have been separated from Sephie and the Professor, the metal jaguar, Ravage, still on their tails. Hiding behind a boulder, Rick plans to get the mechanical feline attention by throwing a rock, but his phone begins to go off. Opening it, he finds he has a message on his [[Yatter]] feed…from Ravage himself, who is right on top of them! The two run to the Cold Slither fan, hoping to find refuge, only for it to transform into a robot as well. The van, revealed to be the Decepticon Soundwave, picks Will up, horrifying the boy. The missile tank, Heatwave, transforms as well, trying to calm the human down. Tensions are defused when the Professor and Sephie arrive with another Decepticon, [[Frenzy (SG)|Frenzy]], who has explained the situation to the pair. Professor Arkeville welcomes the Decepticons, and offers to help dig out the ''Nemesis'' and her crew.

Out in one of the abandoned cities along the [[Arizona Bay]], Rodimus drives with the Witwicky brothers, heading for the ''[[Ark (SG)|Ark]]'', which fell into the ocean upon re-entry. Soon, Rodimus is intercepted by [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]], [[Big Daddy (SG)|Big Daddy]], [[Brawn (SG)|Brawn]], and [[Beachcomber (SG)|Beachcomber]], who bring their weapons to bear on him. Goldbug has taken up the position of Autobot leader after Rodimus bailed on them, and is ready to tear his fellow [[Seeker (SG)|Seeker]] apart. Rodimus manages to talk his way out of getting a beat down, showing off the Witwickies and pointing out that their intel on Earth was heavily off, revealing that the ''Nemesis'' had been nuked. Convinced, the other take him back to the ''Ark'', where [[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]] and [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]], the only Autobots onboard that are online, work on repairs. Rodimus already is trying to reassert his leadership, but is interrupted when [[Seaspray (SG)|Seaspray]] comes back from a scouting mission. The Autobot hovercraft has found something odd behind vault doors; bundles of paper which the Witwickies recognize as money, left over from before the war. The Autobots are confused at the concept of currency, having always taken resources from the weak, and so the Witwicky brothers begin to explain the criminal and economical concepts of Earth…

Back in the desert, the Decepticons and their new human allies have gotten onboard the ''Nemesis'', finding [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]]. Starscream remarks they weren’t expecting this level of technology, noting that the broadcasts they intercept of Earth were out of date. The Decepticon commander explains to the humans that they came here to stop the Autobots from plundering their planet, and that they’re stuck here for the time being, their home planet’s current location disrupting communications. Arkeville offers to help, but Cliffjumper, an Autobot from a mirror universe where the Decepticons are evil, interrupts the conversation, demanding to know what happened to California. The Professor explains that on this Earth, progress was less smooth, with the 1980’s seeing World War III...a war which Arkeville doesn’t really want to see repeated. Starscream assures him that the Autobots were destroyed, but Cliffjumper doesn’t buy it, having first-hand experience with ''Arks'' and crashing. Starscream admits that he’s right, but that they need to recover the others first, and with his alien jet mode, he’ll have to stay back at the ''Nemesis''. Will, Rick, and Sephie offer to help the Decepticons find their friends, while Arkeville will stay behind and help Starscream, who now discards his plans to return to Cybertron in favor of the long term.

Rodimus has been won over by the Witwicky’s "protection racket" pitch, shoving aside Blaster’s cries about the old Autobot way of plundering. Goldbug, however, still is unconvinced, pointing out that they don’t have the botpower to pull off a scheme like that at the moment, and the humans have more advanced technology than they thought. Rodimus has a plan for that as well, however; he motions for Spike to play a recording that [[Teletraan-X (SG)|Teletraan-X]] broadcasts to the crew-an announcement from the United States government of the launch of their new superweapon, the [[Global Orbiting Defense Satellite]]. Rodimus plans to steal this satellite for the Autobots, using it to rule the planet. Goldbug refuses, and challenges Rodimus for leadership. The two are evenly matched, but Goldbug’s greater fuel economy gives him the edge. Rodimus is at Goldbug’s mercy, but before the older Autobot can finish him off, Rodimus commands Teletraan-X to delete Goldbug’s personnel file. Now registering Goldbug as an intruder, the computer unleashes her tentacle arms, binding Goldbug in place; Rodimus laughs at Goldbug calling him a cheater, reminding him how Optimus won control of the Autobots over [[Ultra Magnus (SG)|Ultra Magnus]]. Rodimus brings his buzzsaw arm against his defeated adversary, but Goldbug quickly yields, although he manages to convince Rodimus to let him stay second-in-command. Re-christening himself Rodimus Prime, the new Autobot commander orders Blaster to search for the control base for the GODS satellite, and has Wheeljack alter Teletraan-X so it only responds to his and the mad scientist’s voice commands. Spike asks Rodimus if he’s sure it’s a good idea to let Goldbug live, but Rodimus tells him that with him as second-in-command, Goldbug will ensure no one but him will be allowed to kill Rodimus, and he isn’t worried about him; after all, he’s Rodimus ''Prime''.

Outside [[Burpleson Air Force Base]], the Autobots and the Witwickies recon the base. Blaster insists on sending in the [[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounges]], but Rodimus, knowing they’re low on soldiers and don’t know what kind of weapons the base is packing, insists on stealth, and noting that the Witwickies have an inside man on the base. Rodimus assigns Blaster to lead a diversionary attack, while he, Wheeljack, and Goldbug infiltrate the base. The three transform into vehicle mode, and have the Witwickies pretend to joyride them. The three are detained by on-edge Lieutenant [[McMillan]]. McMillan tries to get information out of the three, but before he can get any substantial information, an explosion rocks the base...an explosion caused by giant metal wheels! The lieutenant rushes to the uber-patriotic General, who is manning the guns against the intruders. McMillan spots a few civilian vehicles, and when he spies a military jeep without a driver, he realizes something is very wrong. Sure enough, Rodimus, Wheeljack, and Goldbug transform and break free, with Big Daddy, Brawn, [[Side Burn (SG)|Side Burn]], and the Scrounges doing the same. Terrified soldiers run from the giant robots, while McMillan, realizing that the Witwickies are connected somehow, runs back to base. The General prepares to fire upon Rodimus, but finds the guns are jammed, the work of a saboteur on the inside. Returning to the room, McMillan finds the MP he left behind unconscious, the Witwickies having escaped. Fortunately for him, they’ve not gone far, having been retaken by a sergeant. The lieutenant demands to know what nation they’re working for, but the Witwickies give them the straight truth-they’re working for an alien empire. McMillan doesn’t believe him, but when he notices that the handcuffs are loose on the three, he reaches for his gun, only to be knocked out by the sergeant. McMillan cannot believe he would betray his country, but to sergeant [[Bruce Witwicky]], family comes first!

The Decepticons have made some progress in finding the others, finding [[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]] at "[[Bay’s Demolition Yard]]". Driving around in a nearby city, the Decepticons watch the humans go about their daily tasks. Cliffjumper is wigged out, having expected the humans to be more violent. As if on cue, televisions and cell phones all over suddenly erupt into static and ringtones, and the Decepticons watch as Rodimus Prime’s sneering face resolves on-screen. Rodimus declares that Earth is now Autobot territory, and that Earth’s leaders answer to them now. In exchange for some of their fuel, the Autobots will protect them from any…''unfortunate'' accidents. Rodimus demonstrates what this entails, using the GODS to blow apart the [[Statue of Liberty]]. The Autobot leader gives them 24 hours to give in to his command, and signs off. The Decepticons quickly return to the ''Nemesis'', where, with the help of their new human friends, figure out that Rodimus has taken over a military base. Using Sephie’s [[oPod]], Heatwave accesses the internet and asks every military computer he can find for access, with only one not answering at all. Starscream muses that with the Autobots believing that the ''Nemesis'' was destroyed in orbit, the Decepticons just might have a chance to stop them…

At the base, Cliffjumper, Crasher, Soundwave, Heatwave, and their human allies scout out the situation. Most of the Autobots appear to be outside, and Starscream and the professor figure that Rodimus is in the control room, the only room big enough to accommodate him. Spotting a transmitter, Heatwave figures he can use it to communicate with the base’s security system and help get the humans inside. Frenzy and Ravage offer to help inside, with the former going with Will and Rick, and the latter going with Sephie. A few minutes later, a Scrounge escorts the van mode Soundwave to Big Daddy and Side Burn. Will and Rick pretend to be the bases caterers while Sephie and the Cassettes hide in the back, convincing them to let them inside. Brawn begins to escort them around the base, but Soundwave sends the signal to attack, and leaves his human and cassette compatriots inside as he follow Brawn back to the battle. Outside, Heatwave attempts to reach the transmitter dish, but with Scrounges dogging him, his chances look slim. Soundwave helps him out, tapping into the human radio and unleashing a amplified rock station, disabling the Scrounges. Inside, Wheeljack, still disoriented from earlier, finds Ravage and Sephie. The Decepticon jaguar angers the Autobot’s mad scientist by calling him insane, and the pair bolt as Wheeljack begins to chase after them. Elsewhere, Frenzy, Will, and Rick come upon Goldbug. Using a fire extinguisher, the three disorient him, and Frenzy steals his gun, tricking Goldbug into following them. When they reach the control room, Frenzy has the two run away, and the diminutive cassette hulks out, beating down on Goldbug. As Rodimus frantically attempts to coordinate the battle from within, Goldbug’s body is thrown through the walls, and Frenzy engages the Autobot leader. With the Autobots occupied, Heatwave can now speak to the transmitter without any trouble, and he convinces the surprising friendly transmitter to have the GODS fire on Burpleson. The alarms begin to sound, and when everyone has evacuated, Heatwave has the transmitter fire. The base is quickly destroyed, and Heatwave sadly destroys the transmitter, preventing anyone from accessing the GODs again.

Sometime later, President [[Colton]] is informed by Secretary of Defense [[Hauser]] that the GODS self-destruct sequence was successful. Colton wants to build another one, but Vice President [[Clay]] advises against it, concerned about international relations and any retaliation from the [[Ottoman Confederacy]], the [[United Kingdom|British]], and the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]]. Hauser runs down the alien robots, intelligence having figured that there’s two groups, the Autobots and the secondary, as of yet unknown group. Files on their human allies are also brought up, and while the mention of Professor Arkeville peaks his interest, President Colton only considers the robots a priority now...especially the Autobots.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h2=[[Autobot]]s|c2=
*[[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus "Prime"]] (11)
*[[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] (13)
*[[Big Daddy (SG)|Big Daddy]] (14)
*[[Brawn (SG)|Brawn]] (15)
*[[Beachcomber (SG)|Beachcomber]] (16)
*[[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]] (17)
*[[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]] (18)
*[[Seaspray (SG)|Seaspray]] (19)
*[[Side Burn (SG)|Side Burn]] (23)
*[[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounge]]s (25)
|h1=[[Decepticon]]s|c1=
*[[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]] (5)
*[[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Ravage (SG)|Ravage]] (7)
*[[Frenzy (SG)|Frenzy]] (12)
*[[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] (21)
*[[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]] (28)
|c3=
*[[Henri Arkeville]] (1)
*[[Will Hayes|Will]] (2)
*[[Sephie Beller|Sephie]] (3)
*[[Rick Ottman|Rick]] (4)
*[[Butch Witwicky (SG)|Butch Witwicky]] (8)
*[[Spike Witwicky (SG)|Spike Witwicky]] (9)
*[[Buster Witwicky (SG)|Buster Witwicky]] (10)
*[[McMillan]] (24)
*The General (26)
*[[Bruce Witwicky|Bruce "Buzz" Witwicky]] (27)
*[[Colton]] (29)
*[[Hauser]] (30)
*[[Clay]] (31)
|c4=
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Cliffjumper]] (20)
*[[Teletraan-X (SG)|Teletraan-X]] (22)
}}

==Quotes==
"Metal monsters from the center of the earth! The government said that'd never happen again!" 
[...] "Whoah, little meaty dudes! Fear not, for we come from outer space." 
"The government said ''that'' wouldn't happen again, either!"
:—'''Will''' is not happy about meeting '''Soundwave'''.

"Sorry 'bout the memory failure there. They only recently started making bots like you back in my dimension, you'd think it'd help me remember you better." 
"Bots like me?" 
"Well, yeah, because... uh... I mean you're..." ''(Cliffjumper waves his hands in a vague hourglass shape)'' "That is, you've... y'see... there's bots and then there's... oh, hey, look Heatwave's here!"
:—'''Cliffjumper''' and '''Crasher''' discuss Crasher's... curviness.

'''Heatwave''': I really don't like talking to your infoweb, I feel like I need a decon wash after every connection. 
'''Ravage''': Rilly? I think it's full of win. 
'''Heatwave''': Is that supposed to be a euphemism for— 
'''Cliffjumper''': Can we just get on with this?!
:—Heatwave and Ravage discuss the internet, much to Cliffjumper's consternation.

"You dudes may be numerous, but there's one thing you don't know. I have no mouth...yet I must ''rock''."
:—'''Soundwave'''

"Hello there, I am Heatwave. I'm afraid I've got bad news. Yes, you've been hijacked by a hostile power. No, it's not them. I don't know who the 'Russkies' are, but the Autobots are worse, trust me on this."
:—'''Heatwave''' introduces himself to a military satellite defense controller.

"Clay...in all the years you've known me, where have the concerns of the international community typically lain in my priority list?" 
"Somewhere between National Bran Awareness Day and your alimony payments, sir."
:—'''President Colton''' and '''Vice President Clay''' discuss presidential concerns.

==Notes==
* Mentioned characters include: [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]], Prime’s [[Ultra Magnus (SG)|brother]], [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] and his crew, Blaster’s “cassette buddies”, Frenzy’s [[Rumble (SG)|brother]], and [[Abdul Fakkadi (SG)|Abdul Fakkadi]].

===Continuity notes===
* Soundwave was reformatted in “[[The Desert Heat!]]”, a two-page comic prelude to this story.
* Ravage originally appeared in his bio in [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 26|issue #26]] of the Club magazine, while Frenzy originally appeared in the issue “[[Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass]]”. Crasher, Wheeljack, and Side Burn originally appeared in “[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]”, wherein Beachcomber was also briefly mentioned
* Optimus Prime’s brother is Ultra Magnus; his coup was originally mentioned in “Dungerons & Dinobots” and was mentioned in several bios after that.
* Cliffjumper notes that fembots are a recent phenomena in his home dimension; the original ''Transformers'' comic presented the Cybertronians as having no biological sexes (although they’re all coded male, gender-wise). ''Classics'' [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]]’s [[BotCon 2009]] toy bio indicated that she just appeared one day, with only [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] knowing her origins.
* Cliffjumper notes that a few humans on his Earth tried to take them out back in the day, referencing government group [[Rapid Anti-robot Assault Team|RAAT]].
* Astrotrain and his crew were separated from the other Decepticons in “Do Over” during his assault on the ''Ark''.
* Side Burn is really interested in humans. We’ll find out why later.
* Frenzy’s brother is Rumble, who was executed by the Autobots in the original “Shattered Glass” comic.

===Transformers references===
* Several new ''Shattered Glass'' characters are introduced, including the first appearance of humans in this continuity.
** Professor Arkeville is a ''Shattered Glass'' version of [[Doctor Arkeville]], the Decepticon’s ally seen in a few episodes of the first season of the original ''Transformers'' cartoon. Like his counterpart, he has cybernetic parts.
** Will and Rick are ''Shattered Glass'' versions of [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] and [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]], former bullies from the ''Armada'' cartoon. Will is the one that eats a lot in this version.
** Sephie is a ''Shattered Glass'' version of Josie Beller, better known as the supervillain [[Circuit Breaker (G1)|Circuit Breaker]] from the Marvel ''Transformers'' comic. Sephie loves machines, unlike her positive-universe counterpart.
** Three of the Witwicky brothers are based on pre-existing positive-universe characters. Butch is the obscurest, his positive universe [[Butch Witwicky (G1)|counterpart]] only having appeared in a [[Forest Rescue Mission|coloring book]], while Spike and Buster’s [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|positive]] [[Buster Witwicky (G1)|counterparts]] were the main human allies in the ''Transformers'' cartoon and Marvel comic, respectively. Buzz, meanwhile, was originally meant to be a version of the live-action movie's [[Sam Witwicky]], but was re-named after the authors were told not to directly reference to movies. Their father is mentioned several times; while never named, it’s fairly easy to guess that he would be called [[Sparkplug Witwicky]].
** Big Daddy is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Big Daddy (Movie)|Big Daddy]]; Big Daddy is a senior Autobot, unlike his young positive-universe [[Big Daddy (G1)|counterpart]].
** Brawn is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Strongarm (Movie)|Strongarm]].
** Beachcomber is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Hardtop (Movie)|Hardtop]].
** Seaspray is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Storm Surge (Movie)|Storm Surge]].
** Teletraan-X is the ''Shattered Glass'' version of [[Teletraan I]], the Autobot computer from the ''Transformers'' cartoon. X has a female voice, as opposed to I’s male voice.
** McMillan’s the odd one out, being entirely new and untied to any concept or character in previous fiction.
* The ''Nemesis'' crashed into a mountain, like the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' did in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.
* The ''Ark'', meanwhile, crashed into the ocean, with the Autobots making a tunnel to the surface, like the ''[[Victory (G1)|Victory]]'' in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.
* Butch wants to repaint Rodimus into a cherry red, like his positive-universe [[Hot Rod (G1)|counterpart]].
* The ''Nemesis'' had a [[Reconfiguration Matrix]] onboard, named for an object first mentioned in the bio of ''Generation 2'' Go-Bot [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]].
* Prime and Magnus being brothers originated as a concept in the 2001 ‘''Robots in Disguise'' series with its [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Prime]] and [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|Magnus]].
* Brawn has [[nucleon shock gauntlet]]s; these originally appeared in ''Timelines'' prose story “[[Force of Habit]]”. Additionally, they reference the positive-universe [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]’s unrelased ''Universe''/OTFCC 2005 toy, which would have had a newly sculpted pair of gauntlets to fit over his fists, and was a redeco of ''Energon'' [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] (who was redecoed into live-action movie Strongarm, the toy ''Shattered Glass'' Brawn is repurposed from).
* Cliffjumper calls the GODS satellite a “satellite of doom”, referencing the ''Transformers'' Kids Stuff story book [[Satellite of Doom|of the same name]].
* Autobots generally don't fly, something that surprises Cliffjumper, as his universe’s Autobots don’t fly often either.
* One of Wheeljack’s insane projects is that of created atomic supermutant [[alloygator]]s; alloygators were originally mentioned in the [[BotCon 2007]] comic “[[Games of Deception]]”.
* [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] [[FIRRIB|confuses]] [[Frenzy (SG)|Frenzy]] with his brother, [[Rumble (SG)|Rumble]], in reference to the classic fandom debate about their positive-universe counterparts.
* [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] has [[stinger (weapon)|stingers]], just like his [[Bumblebee (Animated)|''Animated'' counterpart]].
* Goldbug begins to say that the Decepticon’s infiltration is “finished, ov-“ before being cut off by Frenzy, referencing the [[Furmanism]].
*The pacifistic Abdul Fakkadi’s despotic positive-universe counterpart (whose depiction was an ''extremely'' racist stereotype) debuted in [[Five Faces of Darkness]], the beginning miniseries of the third season of the ''Transformers'' cartoon as the leader of [[Carbombya]] (also extremely racist and stereotypical); here, he’s the leader of the Ottoman Confederacy, for obvious reasons.

===Real-world references===
* Sephie identifies Heatwave's Earth alternate mode as a "Stompbox Mobile Missile Deployer", [[Withered Hope|yet]] [[I, Lowtech|another]] of writer [[Greg Sepelak]]'s references to a {{w|They Might Be Giants}} song, in this case the differently-parsed "[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Stomp_Box Stomp Box]".
* In this universe, [[World War III]] occurred during the 1980s. In 1988 one specific attack destroyed the Western seaboard of the United States and sent most of it underwater. The combatants aside from America are unknown, but modern day enemies of the United States include the [[Soviet Union]] (which collapsed in 1991 in the real-world; the [[Cold War (history)|Cold War]] is noted to still be in effect), the [[United Kingdom]] (the Queen Mother wants to conquer America and take their land; evidently, the tensions from the early days of the United States never cooled), and the [[Ottoman Confederacy]] (this universe’s version of the {{w|Ottoman Empire}}, which collapsed shortly after World War I in the real world; its capital, [[Istanbul]], is mentioned by McMillan).
* Rick mistakes Soundwave’s alt-mode as the van of the [[Misfits]] from ''Jem and the Holograms''; the positive universe version was all-black, with their name inscribed on the side, as opposed to the bright pink van decorated with three screaming banshees described here.
* Rick mentions “rebels”; combined with who the president is, and comments from McMillan (see below), it seems likely they are mirror-universe versions of [[Cobra]] from ''G.I. Joe''.
* Ravage inquires if he “can haz humanz,” referencing the {{w|I Can Has Cheezburger?}} meme.
* The ''Shattered Glass'' equivalent to {{w|Twitter}} is [[Yatter]], while the equivalent to {{w|iPod}}s are [[oPod]]s. The oPod’s buttons are in a diamond configuration, as opposed to the circle configuration of iPods.
* The mention of monsters from the center of the Earth are a reference to the ''[[Inhumanoids]]'', another Marvel/Sunbow production from the same era as the Transformers with a toyline by Hasbro.
* Frenzy’s mannerisms and “angry” mode are based on the [[Hulk]], specifically the version played by {{w|Bill Bixby}}/{{w|Lou Ferrigno}} in the 1978 ''{{w|The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)|Incredible Hulk}}'' series.
* Big Daddy’s mannerism are based on {{w|Bing Crosby}}.
* Beachcomber's line "Cats in the cradle! And the silver spoon!" are lyrics from the song "{{w|Cat's in the Cradle}}" by {{w|Harry Chapin}}, while his line "Now's your time to burn your mind!" are lyrics from the song "{{w|Fire (Arthur Brown song)|Fire}}" by {{w|Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown}}.
* Cliffjumper is especially distrustful of Arkeville; their positive-universe counterparts shared the same voice actor, [[Casey Kasem]].
* Starscream makes reference to [[Pete Prometheus]], a fictitious space ranger they caught from Earth transmissions. Presumably, he’s based on characters like [[Buck Rogers]].
* The GODS satellite was delivered to space by the ''[[Defiant (G.I. Joe)|Defiant]]'', the space shuttle from ''G.I. Joe''.
* Burpleson Air Force Base is a reference to the base of the same name from the film ''{{w|Dr. Strangelove}}''. Like the base in the film, the general at the base is rather…unhinged.
* President Colton has a “personal vanguard,” likely a ''Shattered Glass'' version of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]].
* The general’s lines “Who the heaven cares?” and “Well, I’ll be raptured” seem likely influenced by the DC Comics ''{{w|JLA: Earth 2}}'' graphic novel, in which several inhabitants of the Antimatter Universe Earth utter the phrase “God below,” among other inversions of phrases. The graphic novel itself revitalizes the {{w|Crime Syndicate of America}}/Earth-3 concept, which was one of the first mirror universes seen in fiction, predating the main inspiration of ''Shattered Glass'', the ''[[Star Trek]]'' episode [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Mirror,_Mirror_(episode) Mirror, Mirror], by three years.
* McMillan notes that the soldiers fell for the “{{w|Trojan Horse}} gambit”.
* When the Witwickies tells McMillan that they’re working for an alien empire, McMillan sarcastically asks them if the Autobots were built by “aliens” from [[M.A.R.S.]]-the weapons company belong to Cobra ally [[Destro]].
*The Decepticons discover Crasher's [[stasis pod]] in "[[Bay's Demolition Yard]]", a reference to [[Michael Bay]], director of the live-action ''Transformers'' movies.
* The [[Statue of Liberty]] has a sword instead of a torch, and is golden in color, rather than the dirty green the statue is today.
* Side Burn mockingly says “blah blah blah, yackity schmackity” after Big Daddy admonishes him, quoting the catchphrase of Hugh from ''{{w|Taz-Mania}}'', whose mannerisms are based on Bing Crosby as well.
* Soundwave's line "I have no mouth... Yet I must rock", is a reference to {{w|Harlan Ellison}}'s short story "{{w|I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream}}".
* President Colton is the mirrorverse version of [[Joe Colton]] the original G.I. Joe. Vice-President Clay is the counterpart of [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]], while Secretary of Defense Hauser is the counterpart of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]].
* Will’s full name, William Hayes, references wrestler {{w|Billy Jack Haynes}} and infomercial star {{w|Billy Mays}}, while Rick’s full name, Frederick Ottman, references wrestler {{w|Fred Ottman}}.

==External links==
* [http://transformersclub.com/prose/Eye_in_the_Sky.pdf "Eye in the Sky"] at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

[[Category:Shattered Glass media]]
[[Category:Text stories]]
[[Category:Timelines media]]

Do Over

2018-12-05T20:09:08Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers Timelines (fiction)|Transformers Timelines]]'' text story
|prev=Dungeons & Dinobots
|next=Eye in the Sky
|next2=The Desert Heat!
|seriesissue2=''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]''
|image=DoOver cover.jpg
|caption=
|title="Do Over"
|publisher=[[Fun Publications]]
|date=[[February 13]], [[2009]]
|written by=[[Trent Troop]] and [[Greg Sepelak]]
|illustrations by=[[Yuki Ohshima]]
|colors by=[[Drew Eiden]]
|cover=[[Yuki Ohshima]]
|pagecount=30pp
|chronology=[[Shattered Glass timeline|Current era (2009)]]
|continuity=[[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|Shattered Glass]]
}}
'''Ricochet springs a trap for Megatron as Optimus Prime prepares to launch a rebuilt ''Ark'' towards Earth.'''

==Synopsis==
As morning begins, [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] is excited; with eight new [[Dinocon]]s, he finally has a chance to slip back into his old scientist role from before the war. Unfortunately, he is unable to find [[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] and [[Overkill (SG)|Overkill]], the smallest of the new Decepticons. Increasingly worried, Starscream frantically attempts to find them; the largest of the Dinocons, [[Goryu (SG)|Goryu]], hasn’t seen him, and Starscream notices that his speech has become far clearer than before. Starscream calls [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]], having him search through the security footage, and suddenly finds a pair of data cartridges. Soundwave reports back, unable to find anything aside from the occasional glitch, but Starscream soon is pulled away as the two cassettes start shaking. Figuring them to be explosives, Starscream ducks, only to find Overkill and Slugfest. The Dinocons have somehow gained an ember, and with it, intelligence and the ability to transform! Later, the Decepticons gather in [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]’s auditorium to discuss this development. Starscream notes that he couldn’t find any listening devices and trackers, and that [[Bombshell (SG)|Bombshell]]’s psyche evaluations look promising. Soundwave, meanwhile, can’t find any evidence of an intruder; this concerns [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]], as embers can’t just be created out of thin air. Starscream asks [[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] if they saw anything that could have caused this, as their report was rather vague. The two tell all they can remember: they encountered [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] and [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] while following [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]], and the [[Dinobot (SG)|Dinobot]] was seemingly destroyed, the four parting ways after due to damages. Starscream accepts their story, apologizing for his disbelief, while Cliffjumper can’t help but feel he isn’t remembering all that happened. With no further clues, the Decepticons shift to discussing a far more urgent matter: [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] is almost ready to retry launching the ''[[Ark (SG)|Ark]]''. Cliffjumper is shocked, feeling as though his contributions were for nothing, but Megatron explained that they always knew that Prime would try again, and that Cliffjumper’s actions have allowed for the Decepticons to complete Project Doubletake: the construction of the starship ''[[Nemesis (SG)|Nemesis]]''. This ship will follow the ''Ark'', protecting [[Earth]] from Prime’s reign. Cliffjumper is assigned to clear all volunteers for this mission, due to his experience with Earth. Megatron has Starscream take over as he receives a communication, and Starscream explains they must hurry, as [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]’s erratic orbit is nearing the [[Plait Expanse]]. The nebula is filled with gamma radiation, making [[transwarp]] travel inside it impossible and off-world communications impractical; luckily, they’ll be on the outer rim of the expanse, of Cybertron. But if they don’t follow now, Prime will be unopposed on Earth for at least a year, more than enough time for him to conquer the planet.

As Cliffjumper assigns Soundwave to his duty on the ship, Starscream calls the Mini-Vehicle, unable to find Megatron. Cliffjumper just assumes he’s checking out the last adjustments, and turns off his comm, turning to the next volunteer, [[Demolishor (SG)|Demolishor]]. Cliffjumper is puzzled by him, having never met an incarnation of him back home, but approves him anyway, along with the equally-unfamiliar [[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]]. Meanwhile, Megatron investigates a signal he received from [[Boltax (SG)|Boltax]], who he thought had died. Arriving at the now empty ruins of the [[Temple of Knowledge]], Megatron is only able to find a ramshackle [[Ricochet's victims|robot]], who worriedly explains that someone captured him and his friends hostages, before being destroyed by a blast from [[Ricochet (SG)|Ricochet]]. Megatron demands the Autobot to surrender and return Boltax and the hostages, but the mad Ricochet tells him that Boltax died after the [[Underbase]] disappeared and shows off one of the newest Autobots: the diminutive [[Nightstick (SG)|Nightstick]]. Megatron laughs, the Decepticons already having invented Micromasters long ago, but Nightstick is more than meets the eye. As Megatron turns into his fighter jet mode, Nightstick turn into a gun, his plasma blasts knocking the Decepticon leader out of the sky. Eventually, the Decepticon leader comes back online, finding himself chained and without his drone [[Rumbler (SG)|Rumbler]], hanging along with two other old robots above a coolant shaft armed with a variety of death traps. Ricochet, along with the cowardly [[Scoop (SG)|Scoop]] and the lazy [[Crosshairs (SG)|Crosshairs]], greet their prisoner. Ricochet demonstrates the cliché trap’s lethalness as he presses a button, sending one of the robots on his side to his death. Ricochet has the others grab their guns as he makes a call to Decepticon HQ. The main viewscreen at Kaon lights up, as Ricochet shows the Decepticons their leader in chains, with Scoop and Crosshairs pointing their guns at him. Ricochet tells them that the ransom demands will be given in one hour, and that if the Decepticons try anything, Megatron will die, killing the final of the three old robots to demonstrate, and the Autobot cuts off the transmission as he laughs. Starscream wants to go after Megatron immediately, but Cliffjumper realizes that Ricochet is trying to lull them into a trap, preventing them from getting off planet. Still, he can’t risk losing Megatron, and bringing up the files, he decides to have the [[Predacon (SG)|Predacon]]s and [[Whisper (SG)|Whisper]] sent out to rescue their leader. Cliffjumper also tells Starscream that no matter what, the ''Nemesis'' must launch…even if that means without Megatron.

At Autobot headquarters, Optimus Prime watches [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]] chew out the [[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounge]]s placed under his command. [[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] gives his commander a status report, but when he lets slip that Ricochet is holding Megatron, Prime is furious. Unwilling to let anyone else kill Megatron, and unwilling to allow Megatron control of Cybertron while he is gone, Prime rushes off to the Temple of Knowledge, insisting that the shuttle will not launch until he returns. [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] reflects that Prime could be late, which would be a real shame….

Outside the Temple of Knowledge, [[Razorclaw (SG)|Razorclaw]], along with [[Rampage (SG)|Rampage]], [[Divebomb (SG)|Divebomb]], and Whisper survey the area. Divebomb spots an access vent with his eagle eyes, but Razorclaw know they’re likely to be seen. Whisper solves that by flying high in the air, using his sound distorting engines to make it seem as if a whole Decepticon battlefleet is coming. The autoguns emerge, firing off at a non-existent fleet, as the Predacons rush to join Whisper at the access vent. Razorclaw reflects as they get in that the lesson learned is that sometimes, crazy works. Meanwhile, Scoop is terrified, having been tricked by Whisper’s engines, but Ricochet orders him and Crosshairs off to go look for intruders. Megatron attempts to call Ricochet’s bluff, knowing that Prime would slowly murder anyone who killed Megatron before he did, but Ricochet simply plans to blame Crosshairs. As the two Autobots search for intruders, Scoop’s worrying begins to grind on Crosshairs’ nerves. Hearing a clang in a darkened corridor, Scoop is sent to investigate by Crosshairs, and when another noise erupts forth, Scoop blindly fires, nicking Whisper’s wing. His flight systems now useless, Whisper distorts his voice, pretending to be the ghost of Boltax. Scoop is paralyzed with fear, but another voice urges him to calm down, as Whisper’s act becomes less and less convincing. Scoop’s gun converts into another Targetmaster, a helicopter named [[Holepunch (SG)|Holepunch]], as the diminutive Autobot takes control of the situation. Forcing Whisper out of his cover, Holepunch points the Decepticon out to Scoop, and the Autobot is angered by his tricks, drawing all his weapons out on him. Meanwhile, Crosshairs, having been awoken from his stasis nap, goes to check it out, before Rampage knocks him to the ground and Divebomb lands on his neck. Unfortunately for the Predacons, Crosshairs gun is also a Targetmaster, and the boxy bot fires off “fire-and-forget” missiles at Divebomb. The enthusiastic robot, [[Pinpointer (SG)|Pinpointer]], assaults Rampage, while Divebomb’s attempts to have the missiles lock on to Crosshairs fail due to being tuned into his energy signature. Elsewhere, Whisper takes advantage of the angered Scoop’s attacks, throwing his voice all over the room. Holepunch fails to calm his partner down, and when the Autobot bulldozer accidentally blasts a support beam, the ceiling falls on the two, as Whisper rushes off to the center of the complex. Divebomb and Rampage still attempt to deal with Crosshairs and Pinpointer, the latter of whom manages to get on everyone’s nerves. Rampage is knocked into a nearby wall when Crosshairs fires off his chest cannon, and Divebomb, trying to end this fight before it gets any worse, stoops right at the floor. Turning up at the last second, the missiles destroy the floor, sending Crosshairs and Pinpointer down below. The two Predacons are pleased with themselves, but rush to flee when more missiles are fired from below.

Back at Autobot HQ, Rodimus receives a static-filled message from Prime, telling him to delay the launch, as he cannot return. Rodimus tells his commander that he can count on him, but no sooner than he hangs up does he start shutting down the docks holding the ''Ark'' in place. Suddenly, Blurr and [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] enter the room. When questioned, Rodimus attempts to bluff, but the two see through his lies, Goldbug in particular noting the foam insulation from the communications array on his buzzsaw hand. Instead, Rodimus pitches that they leave without Optimus; Blurr threatens to call Prime, but Goldbug eases him, questioning him on what will happen when they return to Prime. Rodimus tells them they ''don’t''; after all, Cybertron’s a wasteland. Blurr still refuses, calling Rodimus a traitor, but Goldbug draws his weapon, proclaiming that with Optimus out of the way, he (and Rodimus) will control the Autobots.

At the Temple, Ricochet grimly watches as the doors holding back Optimus buckle and break. Megatron laughs at Ricochet’s weak-willed attempts to bluff, and soon, the doors topple over as Prime enters. Staring intently at his bodyguard, Prime is quick to take credit for Ricochet’s work, scaring Ricochet away from taking credit. Megatron laughs at Prime’s insecurity, but Prime brushes him off, and is about to pull the lever...when Razorclaw comes straight through the ceiling! Knocking Ricochet to the ground, he bounds off of the Autobot straight into Optimus Prime’s direction. The Autobot emperor dodges the Decepticon wolf, but soon finds that he wasn’t the target, as Razorclaw has ripped off the lever controlling the death trap. While Prime fires wildly, the now swinging Megatron uses his thrusters and momentum to swing to the edge. Noticing this, Prime aims at his nemesis, but Razorclaw bites into his leg, throwing him off. Megatron, now free, blasts Prime back, while Rampage and Divebomb, having just arrived, knock Ricochet back down once more. Enraged, Prime charges forward, clashing with Megatron and threatening to kill him in his weakened state. Megatron goads him, telling him all he needs is to keep Prime late; with the launch window fading, Megatron guarantees that Prime’s crew will betray him, and that unlike him, Megatron can count on his crew to save the day without him. Prime’s energy runs out, and as he staggers over, Megatron reaches for Nightstick, and aims the Targetmaster at Prime. Just as he pulls the trigger, however, his arm jerks up, and begins firing wildly. Ricochet laughs, explaining that the Targetmasters patch themselves into the arm of their partners to help them aim, and can takeover the arms of those who they are not bonded to. Optimus, having recovered, grabs Rumbler, activating the sword on the drone and charging at Megatron once more. Fortunately, the Decepticon leader uses this to his advantage, bring his wrist in contact with the blade, cutting off his hand and freeing him from Nightstick’s control. Recalling Megatron to his stump of an arm, Prime and Megatron stare each other down. Eventually, the tension is broken when Prime receives a call; furious at the news he is given, Prime orders Ricochet to gather his minions and roll out. Soon after the Autobots retreat, Whisper enters the room, disappointed at having missed the fight. Divebomb retrieves Megatron’s hand, and the Decepticon leader looks up at the stars, wishing Starscream good luck.

At the ''Ark'' launch site, Prime barrels through security, as both his ship and the ''Nemesis'' take off into the stars. The majority of the Autobots lie injured on the ground, and those that remain online aren’t much better off. Prime interrogates [[Nightbeat (SG)|Nightbeat]], who explains that Rodimus and the others got the drop on them, forcing those considered too loyal to Prime out of the ship. The damaged Blurr weakly pleads to his leader, telling him he tried to stop the launch, but Prime grabs him, ordering the Autobots to pursue. No sooner than the words leave his mouth, however, does the Plait Expanse envelop Cybertron. Furious, Prime orders Nightbeat to get a headcount, and Scoop to take Ricochet and Crosshairs to the [[Agonizing Rehabilitation Chamber]]. Glowering at his damaged lieutenant, Prime tells Blurr that he has failed for the last time…

As the Plait closes around them, the ''Nemesis'' and her crew brave through the static, keeping the ''Ark'' in their sights. Unable to fire weapons yet, the ''Nemesis'' and ''Ark'' prepare for a [[transwarp]] jump. Cliffjumper tries to tell the despondent Starscream he did the right thing, but before Starscream can finish responding, the ''Nemesis'' makes the jump straight to the Sol system. The two ships begin firing on each other, but as the ''Nemesis'' approaches, the ''Ark'' fires her neutron cannon, keeping them at bay. With the shields already damaged, Starscream launches Plan Theta, sending [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] and his Micromaster crew into the fray. Avoiding the autoguns, Astrotrain lands on the ship, and his Micromaster crew tears into the hull while the Decepticon space shuttle approaches the cannon. Inside, the Autobots take notice; Blaster begins to send the Scrounges out, but Rodimus has a better idea, having them plunge into Earth’s atmosphere to burn the Decepticons off. Starscream orders Astrotrain back to the ''Nemesis'', but Astrotrain shuts off his comm, and he and his Micromasters sabotage the neutron cannon’s aiming system. Astrotrain blasts off with his crew, blazing into reentry, while the neutron cannon fires straight into the ''Ark’s'' engines. Onboard, explosions rip throughout the ship, sending it plummeting into the atmosphere. Rodimus takes his chance to get to the escape pods during the confusion, while the others stay on board, too far into the atmosphere to risk burning up in them. Back at the ''Nemesis'', the Decepticons cheer, but Cliffjumper is quick to notice something off about Earth; namely, California is ''gone''. Starscream orders Soundwave to get a lock on Astrotrain, but the Decepticons have another problem...a human launched fusion bomb! The Decepticons raise their shields as Soundwave lets loose with a massive EMP pulse, knocking power grids across America offline, but even that isn’t enough to stop the nuke from taking out the Nemesis. Starscream is briefly knocked offline, but Soundwave gets him back, and the commander orders Heatwave for a status report. Using his strange abilities, Heatwave communicates with the ship, and reports that while the ship should still survive re-entry, the Decepticons will have to abandon ship if they want to stay online, and quickly re-routes the damaged comms to broadcast the order. Heatwave informs Starscream that it will take megacycles to bring the systems back online, and the Decepticon jet orders him and Soundwave to the pods as well, determined to prevent the ''Nemesis'' from crashing into the population. Sounwave begins to protest, but Cliffjumper pushes him back, telling the communicator that they’ll need him if they ever want to get contact with Megatron. Soon, Starscream and Cliffjumper are the only ones left on board, and the dimension-tossed Autobot can't help but feel a sense of deja vu….

Six months later on Cybertron, [[Downshift (SG)|Downshift]] stares at the sky, stuck out with his comrades in [[Remote Patrol Six]] in a vain attempt to find a way off the planet. Downshift wishes he would have left, and tells the aerophobic Powerglide that with the rumors of the Decepticon’s new [[Stellar spanner]], he wouldn’t have to fly to get off the planet. [[Hound (SG)|Hound]] begins to mock Powerglide, but the Autobot jet turns the tables on him, making fun of the fact that he made himself look like he had died after being thrown off the ''Ark'', all because he’s afraid of organics. Hound, angered, powers up his [[Psycho-Projector]], but [[Sandstorm (SG)|Sandstorm]] calls him off, having picked up a signal in [[Zone Y-AT]]. Recognizing the signal, Hound decides someone should check it out. [[Camshaft (SG)|Camshaft]] quickly volunteers, but Hound refuses to let him go, and suggests Downshift instead. Downshift wants to remain here, scared of what he might find, but patrol leader [[Kup (SG)|Kup]] simply levels his blaster at him, and orders him to go. As the cowardly Autobot leaves, Camshaft questions why Hound did that, as the Autobot knows he has the skill, and in any case, Downshift isn’t one of “them”. The Autobot master of fear quickly cuts him off, telling him that if the reading is [[Alpha Trion (SG)|what]] he thinks it is, the game is about to change, big time...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|h2=[[Autobot]]s
|c2=
* [[Ricochet (SG)|Ricochet]] (12)
* [[Nightstick (SG)|Nightstick]] (13)
* [[Scoop (SG)|Scoop]] (14)
* [[Crosshairs (SG)|Crosshairs]] (15)
* [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]] (19)
* [[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounges]] (20)
* [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] (21)
* [[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] (22)
* [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] (23)
* [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] (24)
* [[Holepunch (SG)|Holepunch]] (29)
* [[Pinpointer (SG)|Pinpointer]] (30)
* [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] (31)
* [[Nightbeat (SG)|Nightbeat]] (32)
* [[Downshift (SG)|Downshift]] (38)
* [[Powerglide (SG)|Powerglide]] (39)
* [[Kup (SG)|Kup]] (40)
* [[Warpath (SG)|Warpath]] (41)
* [[Hound (SG)|Hound]] (42)
* [[Sandstorm (SG)|Sandstorm]] (43)
* [[Camshaft (SG)|Camshaft]] (44)
|h1=[[Decepticon]]s
|c1=
* [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] (1)
* [[Goryu (SG)|Goryu]] (2)
* [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]] (3)
* [[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] (4)
* [[Overkill (SG)|Overkill]] (5)
* [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] (8)
* [[Demolishor (SG)|Demolishor]] (9)
* [[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]] (10)
* [[Rumbler (SG)|Rumbler]] (16)
* [[Razorclaw (SG)|Razorclaw]] (25)
* [[Divebomb (SG)|Divebomb]] (26)
* [[Rampage (SG)|Rampage]] (27)
* [[Whisper (SG)|Whisper]] (28)
* [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] (33)
* [[Submarauder (SG)|Submarauder]] (34)
* [[Fasttrack (SG)|Fasttrack]] (35)
* [[Stonecruncher (SG)|Stonecruncher]] (36)
* [[Tailwind (SG)|Tailwind]] (37)
|c4=
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (7)
* [[Ricochet's victims|Ricochet's victim]] #1 (11)
* Ricochet's victim #2 (17)
* Ricochet's victim #3 (18)}}

==Quotes==
"Overkill and Slugfest are missing. Did you see where they went?" 
"Nope. Sorry." 
"You didn't... ''eat'' them, did you?" 
"Whut? No, never! Well, don't think so... maybe if I wuz starvin', and they wuz bein' mouthy, but they weren't and I wasn't..."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Goryu''' discuss the Dinocon's eating habits.

"If'n he breaks loose, or if I throw this big switch on the wall, he gets zapped, ground up an' roasted... it ain’t gonna kill him, but it do dump him inna thousand-meter drop fulla old cables and nasty sharp edges, and at the bottom of it all... the ol' standby, big-aft fraggin' vat o' acid! You gettin' alla this, Megsy?" 
"I do believe so. You weren't satisfied with merely one cliché deathtrap, so you went with five." 
"Anythin' worth doin’ is worth overdoin'."
:—'''Ricochet''' and '''Megatron'''

"I zink hyu miserable Zcrounges are going to vind up in ze scrap yard, crying for hyu manufacturer! But it iz mein job to make zhure zat doesn’t happen! Zo hyu! Zuck in zhat pipe, straighten up, feet togezer! Ven I zay 'attenshyun!' hyu give me attenshyun! Hyu!" 
"Zir, I mean, sir, yes, sir!" 
"Vat are hyu?!" 
"I am a Scrounge, sir!" 
"Hyu are vat I sez hyu is! If I choose to call hyu Little Mhiz Zparkle-Bootz, hyu will answer, unterstand?!" 
"Sir, yes, sir!" 
"Unt vat is zat hyu have zher, hanging off hyu verthless chassis?!" 
"This is my special arm, sir! There are many like it but this one is mine!" 
"Guut!"
:—'''Blaster''' gives the <s>Little Mhiz Zparkle-Bootz</s>'''Scrounges''' the "Full Metal Jacket" treatment.

"Your attacks are futile! I am everywhere, yet nowhere! There is no tech support here! You are doomed, forsake all hoooope! Your demise will be slow and painful! [[Antroid]]s shall devour your optics while [[razor snake|razor-snake]]s constrict your mechanisms! Your warranty is voided! Your head is a bucket, you suck [[turboworm]]s, I hate your feeeeeeeeeeet!"
:—'''Whisper''' does quite possibly the worst impression of a ghost ever.

==Notes==
* Characters mentioned who do not appear include: [[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]], [[Primus]], [[Bombshell (SG)|Bombshell]], [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]], [[Reflector (SG)|Reflector]], [[Boltax (SG)|Boltax]], [[Dead End (SG)|Dead End]], Cliffjumper's [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], the [[Terrorcon (SG)|Terrorcon]]s, [[Broadside (SG)|Broadside]], and [[Ironhide (SG)|Ironhide]].
* The "Prologue" at the end leads directly into the Collectors' Club magazine's ''[[Reunification]]'' comic arc.

===Continuity notes===
* Many of the events from the previous prose story, “[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]”, are referred to in this story, including the capture of the Dinobots and Dinocons, the attack on the Arch-Ayr fuel station, and Cliffjumper and Sideswipe’s mission. The Dinobots and Dinocons were gathered by Grimlock at the end of that story to take them to a “secret place”; evidently, he took them to [[Omega Terminus]] to grant them life.
* Starscream’s pre-war scientific career was originally established in his [[BotCon 2008]] toy bio.
* Bombshell was previously mentioned by Cliffjumper as a psychiatrist in “Dungeons & Dinobots”.
* Cliffjumper feels odd about the report because Omega Terminus altered his memories in the previous prose story.
* Cliffjumper helped delay the ''Ark'' in the original “[[Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass]]” comic; he’s shocked that Prime chose to repair the ship, as most of the evil leaders in his home dimension abandoned a scheme when it was foiled.
* Cliffjumper, as noted, is flummoxed by the presence of Demolishor and Heatwave, because they don't exist in his home universe. Indeed, Demolishor seems to be an alternate-universe version of ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (an exception to the idea of ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]'' as an alternate [[The Transformers (franchise)|Generation 1]]) and [[Transhuman|is not entirely]] [[Coalescence|what he seems]], and Heatwave has a [[Nexus Prime|greater destiny]].
* Whisper’s bio in the Club magazine established that Micromasters were a Decepticon invention.
* Cliffjumper notes that the Decepticons had the Micromasters sent in first at the original ''Ark'' launch, as seen in the original “Shattered Glass” comic.
* Rodimus gained his buzzsaw hand in “Dungeons & Dinobots”.
* As the out of control ''Nemesis'' enters Earth's atmosphere, Cliffjumper mutters, "Here we go [[The Transformers (issue)|again]],” referring to the first issue of the ''Transformers'' comic.
* The “Prologue” to Reunification takes place some time after “[[Transhuman]]”, with rumors abounding that the Decepticons have a working [[stellar spanner]].
* The energy signature from Zone Y-AT is from [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]]’s return in [[Reunification: Part 1]]. Hound recognizes it, being one of Trion’s secret loyalists.

===Transformer references===
* As with most ''Shattered Glass'' fiction, characters introduced are repurposed from/virtual redecoes of various toys.
** Demolishor (who seems somewhat less dedicated to the Decepticon cause as his positive-universe [[Demolishor (Armada)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from his positive universe counterpart’s “Powerlinx” colors toy.
** Nightstick (a mirror-universe version of [[Nebulon (Headmasters)|Nebulon]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Prowl (Armada)|Prowl]]’s [[X-Dimension]] toy.
** Scoop (a cowardly Autobot, unlike his brave positive-universe [[Scoop (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Grindcore (Movie)|Grindcore]], and his partner Holepunch (who has far better people skills than his positive-universe [[Holepunch (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Makeshift (Armada)|Makeshift]]’s X-Dimension toy.
** Crosshairs (a lazy Autobot as opposed to his positive-universe [[Crosshairs (G1)|counterpart]]’s meticulous nature) is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Warpath (Movie)|Warpath]], and his partner Pinpointer (far more enthusiastic than his positive-universe [[Pinpointer (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Firebot (Armada)|Firebot]]’s X-Dimension toy.
** Blaster is a grey version of his positive-universe [[Blaster (G1)|counterpart]], with a German accent. His command over the Scroungers references their positive-universe counterpart's friendship.
** The Scrounge’s are grey versions of their singular positive-universe [[Scrounge (G1)|counterpart]], with a gun in place of his “special arm”.
** Astrotrain is repurposed from ''Timelines'' [[Astrotrain (Cybertron)|Astrotrain]]; Fasttrack is repurposed from [[Starcatcher (Cybertron)|Starcatcher]]; Stonecruncher is repurposed from [[Astro-Hook]]; Tailwind is repurposed from [[Astro-Line]]; and Submaurader is repurposed from [[Astro-Sinker (Cybertron)|Astro-Sinker]].
* The Decepticons have obtained eight Dinocons; aside from Goryu, Slugfest, and Overkill, this presumably includes [[Kakuryu (SG)|Kakuryu]] and [[Doryu (SG)|Doryu]] (who were seen in theillustrations of “Dungeons and Dinobots”) and ''Shattered Glass'' versions of [[Gairyu]], [[Rairyu]], and [[Yokuryu]].
* The ''Nemesis'' is colored gold, as the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' was in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.
* The positive-universe version of [[Boltax (G1)|Boltax]], along with the Temple of Knowledge and the Underbase, all originally appeared in [[The Flames of Boltax!|#48]] of the original Marvel ''Transformers'' comic. The Underbase is only mentioned once, but it becomes important later…
* The victims of Ricochet seem to be based on the [[empty|empties]], with simplistic robot forms that have no indication of alt-modes.
* Cliffjumper notes that the native Dead End is quite a happy bot, as opposed to his dour mirror-universe counterpart.
* “Sometimes, crazy works” was originally uttered by [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] in ''Beast Wars'' episode “[[Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge]]”.
* Whisper mentions several Cybertronian animals while impersonating Boltax, including [[antroid]]s (mentioned in ''Transformers'' cartoon episode “[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]”), [[Razor snake]]s (mentioned in ''Beast Wars'' [[Spittor (BW)|Spittor]]’s Tech Specs), and [[turboworm]]s (mentioned in issue [[King of the Hill!|#27]] of the Marvel ''Transformers'' comic).
* Prime and Megatron’s fight parallels that of their positive-universe counterparts in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', including some cribbed dialogue (“It’s over Prime!” “Never!”).
* The members of Remote Patrol Six all have personalities opposite of their counterparts; Downshift is wistful, Camshaft is eager, Powerglide hates flying, Kup is quiet, and Hound is afraid of organics.

===Real-world references===
* Slugfest and Overkill’s cassette alt-modes are noted to be “octaltrack data cartridges”, named for the {{w|8-track tape}}s that preceded cassette tapes.
* The Plait expanse is named for astronomer {{w|Phil Plait}}.
* The Scrounge's line "This is my special arm, sir! There are many like it but this one is mine!" is a parody of a line from the 1987 film ''{{w|Full Metal Jacket}}'', combined with a callback to Generation 1 [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]'s babbling about [[:File:Scroungedisarmed.jpg|his "special arm" and how "there is no other like it"]] in the Marvel issue "[[The Smelting Pool!]]".
* Bits of Whisper's ghost impression are lifted from a ''{{w|The Kids in the Hall}}'' skit about a rather mouthy little demon added to a room as a "redecoration".
* Nightbeat’s vocal patterns are based on actor {{w|Edward G. Robinson}}’s gangster roles.
* There is a sea where [[California]] should be in the ''Shattered Glass'' universe. Various bits of information in "[[Eye in the Sky]]" later reveal this to be due to some sort of hostile attack that wiped out most of the Western seaboard during [[World War III]].
* Zone Y-AT is named for [[Derrick J. Wyatt]], lead character designer on ''Transformers Animated''.
===Errors===
* Not "technically" an error internal to the story, but every subsequent piece of fiction Slugfest appears in (all of which is written by different authors) ignores his intelligence boost from gaining an ember.
* In "[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]", the following is said about Slugfest: "[I]ts design clearly marked it as having a memory-cartridge alternate mode". Yet somehow Slugfest only gains an alternate mode in this story.
* Similarly in "Dungeons & Dinobots", Cliffjumper did not recognize Slugfest or Goryu as the counterpart of someone of his dimension (and indeed, Slugfest and Gōryū did not appear in any of the Marvel stories or ''Classics'' stories prior). He didn't pay it any specific attention, nor that the number of Dinobots in the ''Shattered Glass'' universe is much larger than in his universe. Yet for some reason, he makes a big deal out of not recognizing Demolishor and Heatwave in "Do Over", going as far as to claim he thought he knew everyone on his planet.
* On page 6, Ricochet shoots one of [[Ricochet's victims|his victims]] with his flame-cannon, but somehow doesn't hit Megatron who's standing between them and couldn't even tell where the shot was from.
* On page 11, Divebomb is an eagle. On page 15, he's a falcon. He goes back to being an eagle on page 17. This would later be corrected to him being an eagle consistently.

==External links==
* [http://transformersclub.com/prose/Do_Over.pdf "Do Over"] at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

[[Category:Shattered Glass media]]
[[Category:Text stories]]
[[Category:Timelines media]]

Do Over

2018-12-05T20:02:44Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers Timelines (fiction)|Transformers Timelines]]'' text story
|prev=Dungeons & Dinobots
|next=Eye in the Sky
|next2=The Desert Heat!
|seriesissue2=''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]''
|image=DoOver cover.jpg
|caption=
|title="Do Over"
|publisher=[[Fun Publications]]
|date=[[February 13]], [[2009]]
|written by=[[Trent Troop]] and [[Greg Sepelak]]
|illustrations by=[[Yuki Ohshima]]
|colors by=[[Drew Eiden]]
|cover=[[Yuki Ohshima]]
|pagecount=30pp
|chronology=[[Shattered Glass timeline|Current era (2009)]]
|continuity=[[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|Shattered Glass]]
}}
'''Ricochet springs a trap for Megatron as Optimus Prime prepares to launch a rebuilt ''Ark'' towards Earth.'''

==Synopsis==
As morning begins, [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] is excited; with eight new [[Dinocon]]s, he finally has a chance to slip back into his old scientist role from before the war. Unfortunately, he is unable to find [[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] and [[Overkill (SG)|Overkill]], the smallest of the new Decepticons. Increasingly worried, Starscream frantically attempts to find them; the largest of the Dinocons, [[Goryu (SG)|Goryu]], hasn’t seen him, and Starscream notices that his speech has become far clearer than before. Starscream calls [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]], having him search through the security footage, and suddenly finds a pair of data cartridges. Soundwave reports back, unable to find anything aside from the occasional glitch, but Starscream soon is pulled away as the two cassettes start shaking. Figuring them to be explosives, Starscream ducks, only to find Overkill and Slugfest. The Dinocons have somehow gained an ember, and with it, intelligence and the ability to transform! Later, the Decepticons gather in [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]’s auditorium to discuss this development. Starscream notes that he couldn’t find any listening devices and trackers, and that [[Bombshell (SG)|Bombshell]]’s psyche evaluations look promising. Soundwave, meanwhile, can’t find any evidence of an intruder; this concerns [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]], as embers can’t just be created out of thin air. Starscream asks [[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] if they saw anything that could have caused this, as their report was rather vague. The two tell all they can remember: they encountered [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] and [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] while following [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]], and the [[Dinobot (SG)|Dinobot]] was seemingly destroyed, the four parting ways after due to damages. Starscream accepts their story, apologizing for his disbelief, while Cliffjumper can’t help but feel he isn’t remembering all that happened. With no further clues, the Decepticons shift to discussing a far more urgent matter: [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] is almost ready to retry launching the ''[[Ark (SG)|Ark]]''. Cliffjumper is shocked, feeling as though his contributions were for nothing, but Megatron explained that they always knew that Prime would try again, and that Cliffjumper’s actions have allowed for the Decepticons to complete Project Doubletake: the construction of the starship ''[[Nemesis (SG)|Nemesis]]''. This ship will follow the ''Ark'', protecting [[Earth]] from Prime’s reign. Cliffjumper is assigned to clear all volunteers for this mission, due to his experience with Earth. Megatron has Starscream take over as he receives a communication, and Starscream explains they must hurry, as [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]’s erratic orbit is nearing the [[Plait Expanse]]. The nebula is filled with gamma radiation, making [[transwarp]] travel inside it impossible and off-world communications impractical; luckily, they’ll be on the outer rim of the expanse, of Cybertron. But if they don’t follow now, Prime will be unopposed on Earth for at least a year, more than enough time for him to conquer the planet.

As Cliffjumper assigns Soundwave to his duty on the ship, Starscream calls the Mini-Vehicle, unable to find Megatron. Cliffjumper just assumes he’s checking out the last adjustments, and turns off his comm, turning to the next volunteer, [[Demolishor (SG)|Demolishor]]. Cliffjumper is puzzled by him, having never met an incarnation of him back home, but approves him anyway, along with the equally-unfamiliar [[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]]. Meanwhile, Megatron investigates a signal he received from [[Boltax (SG)|Boltax]], who he thought had died. Arriving at the now empty ruins of the [[Temple of Knowledge]], Megatron is only able to find a ramshackle [[Ricochet's victims|robot]], who worriedly explains that someone captured him and his friends hostages, before being destroyed by a blast from [[Ricochet (SG)|Ricochet]]. Megatron demands the Autobot to surrender and return Boltax and the hostages, but the mad Ricochet tells him that Boltax died after the [[Underbase]] disappeared and shows off one of the newest Autobots: the diminutive [[Nightstick (SG)|Nightstick]]. Megatron laughs, the Decepticons already having invented Micromasters long ago, but Nightstick is more than meets the eye. As Megatron turns into his fighter jet mode, Nightstick turn into a gun, his plasma blasts knocking the Decepticon leader out of the sky. Eventually, the Decepticon leader comes back online, finding himself chained and without his drone [[Rumbler (SG)|Rumbler]], hanging along with two other old robots above a coolant shaft armed with a variety of death traps. Ricochet, along with the cowardly [[Scoop (SG)|Scoop]] and the lazy [[Crosshairs (SG)|Crosshairs]], greet their prisoner. Ricochet demonstrates the cliché trap’s lethalness as he presses a button, sending one of the robots on his side to his death. Ricochet has the others grab their guns as he makes a call to Decepticon HQ. The main viewscreen at Kaon lights up, as Ricochet shows the Decepticons their leader in chains, with Scoop and Crosshairs pointing their guns at him. Ricochet tells them that the ransom demands will be given in one hour, and that if the Decepticons try anything, Megatron will die, killing the final of the three old robots to demonstrate, and the Autobot cuts off the transmission as he laughs. Starscream wants to go after Megatron immediately, but Cliffjumper realizes that Ricochet is trying to lull them into a trap, preventing them from getting off planet. Still, he can’t risk losing Megatron, and bringing up the files, he decides to have the [[Predacon (SG)|Predacon]]s and [[Whisper (SG)|Whisper]] sent out to rescue their leader. Cliffjumper also tell Starscream that no matter what, the ''Nemesis'' must launch…even if that means without Megatron.

At Autobot headquarters, Optimus Prime watches [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]] chew out the [[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounge]]s placed under his command. [[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] gives his commander a status report, but when he lets slip that Ricochet is holding Megatron, Prime is furious. Unwilling to let anyone else kill Megatron, and unwilling to allow Megatron control of Cybertron while he is gone, Prime rushes off to the Temple of Knowledge, insisting that the shuttle will not launch until he returns. [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] reflects that Prime could be late, which would be a real shame….

Outside the Temple of Knowledge, [[Razorclaw (SG)|Razorclaw]], along with [[Rampage (SG)|Rampage]], [[Divebomb (SG)|Divebomb]], and Whisper survey the area. Divebomb spots an access vent with his eagle eyes, but Razorclaw know they’re likely to be seen. Whisper solves that by flying high in the air, using his sound distorting engines to make it seem as if a whole Decepticon battlefleet is coming. The autoguns emerge, firing off at a non-existent fleet, as the Predacons rush to join Whisper at the access vent. Razorclaw reflects as they get in that the lesson learned is that sometimes, crazy works. Meanwhile, Scoop is terrified, having been tricked by Whisper’s engines, but Ricochet orders him and Crosshairs off to go look for intruders. Megatron attempts to call Ricochet’s bluff, knowing that Prime would slowly murder anyone who killed Megatron before he did, but Ricochet simply plans to blame Crosshairs. As the two Autobots search for intruders, Scoop’s worrying begins to grind on Crosshairs’ nerves. Hearing a clang in a darkened corridor, Scoop is sent to investigate by Crosshairs, and when another noise erupts forth, Scoop blindly fires, nicking Whisper’s wing. His flight systems now useless, Whisper distorts his voice, pretending to be the ghost of Boltax. Scoop is paralyzed with fear, but another voice urges him to calm down, as Whisper’s act becomes less and less convincing. Scoop’s gun converts into another Targetmaster, a helicopter named [[Holepunch (SG)|Holepunch]], as the diminutive Autobot takes control of the situation. Forcing Whisper out of his cover, Holepunch points the Decepticon out to Scoop, and the Autobot is angered by his tricks, drawing all his weapons out on him. Meanwhile, Crosshairs, having been awoken from his stasis nap, goes to check it out, before Rampage knocks him to the ground and Divebomb lands on his neck. Unfortunately for the Predacons, Crosshairs gun is also a Targetmaster, and the boxy bot fires off “fire-and-forget” missiles at Divebomb. The enthusiastic robot, [[Pinpointer (SG)|Pinpointer]], assaults Rampage, while Divebomb’s attempts to have the missiles lock on to Crosshairs fail due to being tuned into his energy signature. Elsewhere, Whisper takes advantage of the angered Scoop’s attacks, throwing his voice all over the room. Holepunch fails to calm his partner down, and when the Autobot bulldozer accidentally blasts a support beam, the ceiling falls on the two, as Whisper rushes off to the center of the complex. Divebomb and Rampage still attempt to deal with Crosshairs and Pinpointer, the latter of whom manages to get on everyone’s nerves. Rampage is knocked into a nearby wall when Crosshairs fires off his chest cannon, and Divebomb, trying to end this fight before it gets any worse, stoops right at the floor. Turning up at the last second, the missiles destroy the floor, sending Crosshairs and Pinpointer down below. The two Predacons are pleased with themselves, but rush to flee when more missiles are fired from below.

Back at Autobot HQ, Rodimus receives a static-filled message from Prime, telling him to delay the launch, as he cannot return. Rodimus tells his commander that he can count on him, but no sooner than he hangs up does he start shutting down the docks holding the ''Ark'' in place. Suddenly, Blurr and [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] enter the room. When questioned, Rodimus attempts to bluff, but the two see through his lies, Goldbug in particular noting the foam insulation from the communications array on his buzzsaw hand. Instead, Rodimus pitches that they leave without Optimus; Blurr threatens to call Prime, but Goldbug eases him, questioning him on what will happen when they return to Prime. Rodimus tells them they ''don’t''; after all, Cybertron’s a wasteland. Blurr still refuses, calling Rodimus a traitor, but Goldbug draws his weapon, proclaiming that with Optimus out of the way, he (and Rodimus) will control the Autobots.

At the Temple, Ricochet grimly watches as the doors holding back Optimus buckle and break. Megatron laughs at Ricochet’s weak-willed attempts to bluff, and soon, the doors topple over as Prime enters. Staring intently at his bodyguard, Prime is quick to take credit for Ricochet’s work, scaring Ricochet away from taking credit. Megatron laughs at Prime’s insecurity, but Prime brushes him off, and is about to pull the lever...when Razorclaw comes straight through the ceiling! Knocking Ricochet to the ground, he bounds off of the Autobot straight into Optimus Prime’s direction. The Autobot emperor dodges the Decepticon wolf, but soon finds that he wasn’t the target, as Razorclaw has ripped off the lever controlling the death trap. While Prime fires wildly, the now swinging Megatron uses his thrusters and momentum to swing to the edge. Noticing this, Prime aims at his nemesis, but Razorclaw bites into his leg, throwing him off. Megatron, now free, blasts Prime back, while Rampage and Divebomb, having just arrived, knock Ricochet back down once more. Enraged, Prime charges forward, clashing with Megatron and threatening to kill him in his weakened state. Megatron goads him, telling him all he needs is to keep Prime late; with the launch window fading, Megatron guarantees that Prime’s crew will betray him, and that unlike him, Megatron can count on his crew to save the day without him. Prime’s energy runs out, and as he staggers over, Megatron reaches for Nightstick, and aims the Targetmaster at Prime. Just as he pulls the trigger, however, his arm jerks up, and begins firing wildly. Ricochet laughs, explaining that the Targetmasters patch themselves into the arm of their partners to help them aim, and can takeover the arms of those who they are not bonded to. Optimus, having recovered, grabs Rumbler, activating the sword on the drone and charging at Megatron once more. Fortunately, the Decepticon leader uses this to his advantage, bring his wrist in contact with the blade, cutting off his hand and freeing him from Nightstick’s control. Recalling Megatron to his stump of an arm, Prime and Megatron stare each other down. Eventually, the tension is broken when Prime receives a call; furious at the news he is given, Prime orders Ricochet to gather his minions and roll out. Soon after the Autobots retreat, Whisper enters the room, disappointed at having missed the fight. Divebomb retrieves Megatron’s hand, and the Decepticon leader looks up at the stars, wishing Starscream good luck.

At the ''Ark'' launch site, Prime barrels through security, as both his ship and the ''Nemesis'' take off into the stars. The majority of the Autobots lie injured on the ground, and those that remain online aren’t much better off. Prime interrogates [[Nightbeat (SG)|Nightbeat]], who explains that Rodimus and the others got the drop on them, forcing those considered too loyal to Prime out of the ship. The damaged Blurr weakly pleads to his leader, telling him he tried to stop the launch, but Prime grabs him, ordering the Autobots to pursue. No sooner than the words leave his mouth, however, does the Plait Expanse envelop Cybertron. Furious, Prime orders Nightbeat to get a headcount, and Scoop to take Ricochet and Crosshairs to the [[Agonizing Rehabilitation Chamber]]. Glowering at his damaged lieutenant, Prime tells Blurr that he has failed for the last time…

As the Plait closes around them, the ''Nemesis'' and her crew brave through the static, keeping the ''Ark'' in their sights. Unable to fire weapons yet, the ''Nemesis'' and ''Ark'' prepare for a [[transwarp]] jump. Cliffjumper tries to tell the despondent Starscream he did the right thing, but before Starscream can finish responding, the ''Nemesis'' makes the jump straight to the Sol system. The two ships begin firing on each other, but as the ''Nemesis'' approaches, the ''Ark'' fires her neutron cannon, keeping them at bay. With the shields already damaged, Starscream launches Plan Theta, sending [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] and his Micromaster crew into the fray. Avoiding the autoguns, Astrotrain lands on the ship, and his Micromaster crew tears into the hull while the Decepticon space shuttle approaches the cannon. Inside, the Autobots take notice; Blaster begins to send the Scrounges out, but Rodimus has a better idea, having them plunge into Earth’s atmosphere to burn the Decepticons off. Starscream orders Astrotrain back to the ''Nemesis'', but Astrotrain shuts off his comm, and he and his Micromasters sabotage the neutron cannon’s aiming system. Astrotrain blasts off with his crew, blazing into reentry, while the neutron cannon fires straight into the ''Ark’s'' engines. Onboard, explosions rip throughout the ship, sending it plummeting into the atmosphere. Rodimus takes his chance to get to the escape pods during the confusion, while the others stay on board, too far into the atmosphere to risk burning up in them. Back at the ''Nemesis'', the Decepticons cheer, but Cliffjumper is quick to notice something off about Earth; namely, California is ''gone''. Starscream orders Soundwave to get a lock on Astrotrain, but the Decepticons have another problem...a human launched fusion bomb! The Decepticons raise their shields as Soundwave lets loose with a massive EMP pulse, knocking power grids across America offline, but even that isn’t enough to stop the nuke from taking out the Nemesis. Starscream is briefly knocked offline, but Soundwave gets him back, and the commander orders Heatwave for a status report. Using his strange abilities, Heatwave communicates with the ship, and reports that while the ship should still survive re-entry, the Decepticons will have to abandon ship if they want to stay online, and quickly re-routes the damaged comms to broadcast the order. Heatwave informs Starscream that it will take megacycles to bring the systems back online, and the Decepticon jet orders him and Soundwave to the pods as well, determined to prevent the ''Nemesis'' from crashing into the population. Sounwave begins to protest, but Cliffjumper pushes him back, telling the communicator that they’ll need him if they ever want to get contact with Megatron. Soon, Starscream and Cliffjumper are the only ones left on board, and the dimension-tossed Autobot can't help but feel a sense of deja vu….

Six months later on Cybertron, [[Downshift (SG)|Downshift]] stares at the sky, stuck out with his comrades in [[Remote Patrol Six]] in a vain attempt to find a way off the planet. Downshift wishes he would have left, and tells the aerophobic Powerglide that with the rumors of the Decepticon’s new [[Stellar spanner]], he wouldn’t have to fly to get off the planet. [[Hound (SG)|Hound]] begins to mock Powerglide, but the Autobot jet turns the tables on him, making fun of the fact that he made himself look like he had died after being thrown off the ''Ark'', all because he’s afraid of organics. Hound, angered, powers up his [[Psycho-Projector]], but [[Sandstorm (SG)|Sandstorm]] calls him off, having picked up a signal in [[Zone Y-AT]]. Recognizing the signal, Hound decides someone should check it out. [[Camshaft (SG)|Camshaft]] quickly volunteers, but Hound refuses to let him go, and suggests Downshift instead. Downshift wants to remain here, scared of what he might find, but patrol leader [[Kup (SG)|Kup]] simply levels his blaster at him, and orders him to go. As the cowardly Autobot leaves, Camshaft questions why Hound did that, as the Autobot knows he has the skill, and in any case, Downshift isn’t one of “them”. The Autobot master of fear quickly cuts him off, telling him that if the reading is [[Alpha Trion (SG)|what]] he thinks it is, the game is about to change, big time...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|h2=[[Autobot]]s
|c2=
* [[Ricochet (SG)|Ricochet]] (12)
* [[Nightstick (SG)|Nightstick]] (13)
* [[Scoop (SG)|Scoop]] (14)
* [[Crosshairs (SG)|Crosshairs]] (15)
* [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]] (19)
* [[Scrounge (SG)|Scrounges]] (20)
* [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] (21)
* [[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] (22)
* [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] (23)
* [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] (24)
* [[Holepunch (SG)|Holepunch]] (29)
* [[Pinpointer (SG)|Pinpointer]] (30)
* [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] (31)
* [[Nightbeat (SG)|Nightbeat]] (32)
* [[Downshift (SG)|Downshift]] (38)
* [[Powerglide (SG)|Powerglide]] (39)
* [[Kup (SG)|Kup]] (40)
* [[Warpath (SG)|Warpath]] (41)
* [[Hound (SG)|Hound]] (42)
* [[Sandstorm (SG)|Sandstorm]] (43)
* [[Camshaft (SG)|Camshaft]] (44)
|h1=[[Decepticon]]s
|c1=
* [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] (1)
* [[Goryu (SG)|Goryu]] (2)
* [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]] (3)
* [[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] (4)
* [[Overkill (SG)|Overkill]] (5)
* [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] (8)
* [[Demolishor (SG)|Demolishor]] (9)
* [[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]] (10)
* [[Rumbler (SG)|Rumbler]] (16)
* [[Razorclaw (SG)|Razorclaw]] (25)
* [[Divebomb (SG)|Divebomb]] (26)
* [[Rampage (SG)|Rampage]] (27)
* [[Whisper (SG)|Whisper]] (28)
* [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] (33)
* [[Submarauder (SG)|Submarauder]] (34)
* [[Fasttrack (SG)|Fasttrack]] (35)
* [[Stonecruncher (SG)|Stonecruncher]] (36)
* [[Tailwind (SG)|Tailwind]] (37)
|c4=
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (7)
* [[Ricochet's victims|Ricochet's victim]] #1 (11)
* Ricochet's victim #2 (17)
* Ricochet's victim #3 (18)}}

==Quotes==
"Overkill and Slugfest are missing. Did you see where they went?" 
"Nope. Sorry." 
"You didn't... ''eat'' them, did you?" 
"Whut? No, never! Well, don't think so... maybe if I wuz starvin', and they wuz bein' mouthy, but they weren't and I wasn't..."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Goryu''' discuss the Dinocon's eating habits.

"If'n he breaks loose, or if I throw this big switch on the wall, he gets zapped, ground up an' roasted... it ain’t gonna kill him, but it do dump him inna thousand-meter drop fulla old cables and nasty sharp edges, and at the bottom of it all... the ol' standby, big-aft fraggin' vat o' acid! You gettin' alla this, Megsy?" 
"I do believe so. You weren't satisfied with merely one cliché deathtrap, so you went with five." 
"Anythin' worth doin’ is worth overdoin'."
:—'''Ricochet''' and '''Megatron'''

"I zink hyu miserable Zcrounges are going to vind up in ze scrap yard, crying for hyu manufacturer! But it iz mein job to make zhure zat doesn’t happen! Zo hyu! Zuck in zhat pipe, straighten up, feet togezer! Ven I zay 'attenshyun!' hyu give me attenshyun! Hyu!" 
"Zir, I mean, sir, yes, sir!" 
"Vat are hyu?!" 
"I am a Scrounge, sir!" 
"Hyu are vat I sez hyu is! If I choose to call hyu Little Mhiz Zparkle-Bootz, hyu will answer, unterstand?!" 
"Sir, yes, sir!" 
"Unt vat is zat hyu have zher, hanging off hyu verthless chassis?!" 
"This is my special arm, sir! There are many like it but this one is mine!" 
"Guut!"
:—'''Blaster''' gives the <s>Little Mhiz Zparkle-Bootz</s>'''Scrounges''' the "Full Metal Jacket" treatment.

"Your attacks are futile! I am everywhere, yet nowhere! There is no tech support here! You are doomed, forsake all hoooope! Your demise will be slow and painful! [[Antroid]]s shall devour your optics while [[razor snake|razor-snake]]s constrict your mechanisms! Your warranty is voided! Your head is a bucket, you suck [[turboworm]]s, I hate your feeeeeeeeeeet!"
:—'''Whisper''' does quite possibly the worst impression of a ghost ever.

==Notes==
* Characters mentioned who do not appear include: [[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]], [[Primus]], [[Bombshell (SG)|Bombshell]], [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]], [[Reflector (SG)|Reflector]], [[Boltax (SG)|Boltax]], [[Dead End (SG)|Dead End]], Cliffjumper's [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], the [[Terrorcon (SG)|Terrorcon]]s, [[Broadside (SG)|Broadside]], and [[Ironhide (SG)|Ironhide]].
* The "Prologue" at the end leads directly into the Collectors' Club magazine's ''[[Reunification]]'' comic arc.

===Continuity notes===
* Many of the events from the previous prose story, “[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]”, are referred to in this story, including the capture of the Dinobots and Dinocons, the attack on the Arch-Ayr fuel station, and Cliffjumper and Sideswipe’s mission. The Dinobots and Dinocons were gathered by Grimlock at the end of that story to take them to a “secret place”; evidently, he took them to [[Omega Terminus]] to grant them life.
* Starscream’s pre-war scientific career was originally established in his [[BotCon 2008]] toy bio.
* Bombshell was previously mentioned by Cliffjumper as a psychiatrist in “Dungeons & Dinobots”.
* Cliffjumper feels odd about the report because Omega Terminus altered his memories in the previous prose story.
* Cliffjumper helped delay the ''Ark'' in the original “[[Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass]]” comic; he’s shocked that Prime chose to repair the ship, as most of the evil leaders in his home dimension abandoned a scheme when it was foiled.
* Cliffjumper, as noted, is flummoxed by the presence of Demolishor and Heatwave, because they don't exist in his home universe. Indeed, Demolishor seems to be an alternate-universe version of ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (an exception to the idea of ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]'' as an alternate [[The Transformers (franchise)|Generation 1]]) and [[Transhuman|is not entirely]] [[Coalescence|what he seems]], and Heatwave has a [[Nexus Prime|greater destiny]].
* Whisper’s bio in the Club magazine established that Micromasters were a Decepticon invention.
* Cliffjumper notes that the Decepticons had the Micromasters sent in first at the original ''Ark'' launch, as seen in the original “Shattered Glass” comic.
* Rodimus gained his buzzsaw hand in “Dungeons & Dinobots”.
* As the out of control ''Nemesis'' enters Earth's atmosphere, Cliffjumper mutters, "Here we go [[The Transformers (issue)|again]],” referring to the first issue of the ''Transformers'' comic.
* The “Prologue” to Reunification takes place some time after “[[Transhuman]]”, with rumors abounding that the Decepticons have a working [[stellar spanner]].
* The energy signature from Zone Y-AT is from [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]]’s return in [[Reunification: Part 1]]. Hound recognizes it, being one of Trion’s secret loyalists.

===Transformer references===
* As with most ''Shattered Glass'' fiction, characters introduced are repurposed from/virtual redecoes of various toys.
** Demolishor (who seems somewhat less dedicated to the Decepticon cause as his positive-universe [[Demolishor (Armada)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from his positive universe counterpart’s “Powerlinx” colors toy.
** Nightstick (a mirror-universe version of [[Nebulon (Headmasters)|Nebulon]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Prowl (Armada)|Prowl]]’s [[X-Dimension]] toy.
** Scoop (a cowardly Autobot, unlike his brave positive-universe [[Scoop (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Grindcore (Movie)|Grindcore]], and his partner Holepunch (who has far better people skills than his positive-universe [[Holepunch (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Makeshift (Armada)|Makeshift]]’s X-Dimension toy.
** Crosshairs (a lazy Autobot as opposed to his positive-universe [[Crosshairs (G1)|counterpart]]’s meticulous nature) is repurposed from live-action movie toy [[Warpath (Movie)|Warpath]], and his partner Pinpointer (far more enthusiastic than his positive-universe [[Pinpointer (G1)|counterpart]]) is repurposed from ''Armada'' [[Firebot (Armada)|Firebot]]’s X-Dimension toy.
** Blaster is a grey version of his positive-universe [[Blaster (G1)|counterpart]], with a German accent. His command over the Scroungers references their positive-universe counterpart's friendship.
** The Scrounge’s are grey versions of their singular positive-universe [[Scrounge (G1)|counterpart]], with a gun in place of his “special arm”.
** Astrotrain is repurposed from ''Timelines'' [[Astrotrain (Cybertron)|Astrotrain]]; Fasttrack is repurposed from [[Starcatcher (Cybertron)|Starcatcher]]; Stonecruncher is repurposed from [[Astro-Hook]]; Tailwind is repurposed from [[Astro-Line]]; and Submaurader is repurposed from [[Astro-Sinker (Cybertron)|Astro-Sinker]].
* The Decepticons have obtained eight Dinocons; aside from Goryu, Slugfest, and Overkill, this presumably includes [[Kakuryu (SG)|Kakuryu]] and [[Doryu (SG)|Doryu]] (who were seen in theillustrations of “Dungeons and Dinobots”) and ''Shattered Glass'' versions of [[Gairyu]], [[Rairyu]], and [[Yokuryu]].
* The ''Nemesis'' is colored gold, as the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' was in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.
* The positive-universe version of [[Boltax (G1)|Boltax]], along with the Temple of Knowledge and the Underbase, all originally appeared in [[The Flames of Boltax!|#48]] of the original Marvel ''Transformers'' comic. The Underbase is only mentioned once, but it becomes important later…
* The victims of Ricochet seem to be based on the [[empty|empties]], with simplistic robot forms that have no indication of alt-modes.
* Cliffjumper notes that the native Dead End is quite a happy bot, as opposed to his dour mirror-universe counterpart.
* “Sometimes, crazy works” was originally uttered by [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] in ''Beast Wars'' episode “[[Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge]]”.
* Whisper mentions several Cybertronian animals while impersonating Boltax, including [[antroid]]s (mentioned in ''Transformers'' cartoon episode “[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]”), [[Razor snake]]s (mentioned in ''Beast Wars'' [[Spittor (BW)|Spittor]]’s Tech Specs), and [[turboworm]]s (mentioned in issue [[King of the Hill!|#27]] of the Marvel ''Transformers'' comic).
* Prime and Megatron’s fight parallels that of their positive-universe counterparts in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', including some cribbed dialogue (“It’s over Prime!” “Never!”).
* The members of Remote Patrol Six all have personalities opposite of their counterparts; Downshift is wistful, Camshaft is eager, Powerglide hates flying, Kup is quiet, and Hound is afraid of organics.

===Real-world references===
* Slugfest and Overkill’s cassette alt-modes are noted to be “octaltrack data cartridges”, named for the {{w|8-track tape}}s that preceded cassette tapes.
* The Plait expanse is named for astronomer {{w|Phil Plait}}.
* The Scrounge's line "This is my special arm, sir! There are many like it but this one is mine!" is a parody of a line from the 1987 film ''{{w|Full Metal Jacket}}'', combined with a callback to Generation 1 [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]'s babbling about [[:File:Scroungedisarmed.jpg|his "special arm" and how "there is no other like it"]] in the Marvel issue "[[The Smelting Pool!]]".
* Bits of Whisper's ghost impression are lifted from a ''{{w|The Kids in the Hall}}'' skit about a rather mouthy little demon added to a room as a "redecoration".
* Nightbeat’s vocal patterns are based on actor {{w|Edward G. Robinson}}’s gangster roles.
* There is a sea where [[California]] should be in the ''Shattered Glass'' universe. Various bits of information in "[[Eye in the Sky]]" later reveal this to be due to some sort of hostile attack that wiped out most of the Western seaboard during [[World War III]].
* Zone Y-AT is named for [[Derrick J. Wyatt]], lead character designer on ''Transformers Animated''.
===Errors===
* Not "technically" an error internal to the story, but every subsequent piece of fiction Slugfest appears in (all of which is written by different authors) ignores his intelligence boost from gaining an ember.
* In "[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]", the following is said about Slugfest: "[I]ts design clearly marked it as having a memory-cartridge alternate mode". Yet somehow Slugfest only gains an alternate mode in this story.
* Similarly in "Dungeons & Dinobots", Cliffjumper did not recognize Slugfest or Goryu as the counterpart of someone of his dimension (and indeed, Slugfest and Gōryū did not appear in any of the Marvel stories or ''Classics'' stories prior). He didn't pay it any specific attention, nor that the number of Dinobots in the ''Shattered Glass'' universe is much larger than in his universe. Yet for some reason, he makes a big deal out of not recognizing Demolishor and Heatwave in "Do Over", going as far as to claim he thought he knew everyone on his planet.
* On page 6, Ricochet shoots one of [[Ricochet's victims|his victims]] with his flame-cannon, but somehow doesn't hit Megatron who's standing between them and couldn't even tell where the shot was from.
* On page 11, Divebomb is an eagle. On page 15, he's a falcon. He goes back to being an eagle on page 17. This would later be corrected to him being an eagle consistently.

==External links==
* [http://transformersclub.com/prose/Do_Over.pdf "Do Over"] at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

[[Category:Shattered Glass media]]
[[Category:Text stories]]
[[Category:Timelines media]]

Dungeons & Dinobots

2018-12-05T19:24:52Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers Timelines (fiction)|Transformers Timelines]]'' text story
|prev=I, Lowtech
|next=Do Over
|seriesissue2=''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]''
|prev2=Shattered Glass (issue)
|image=DungeonsandDinobots cover.jpg
|caption=
|title="Dungeons & Dinobots"
|publisher=[[Fun Publications]]
|date=[[December 5]], [[2008]]
|written by=[[Trent Troop]] and [[Greg Sepelak]]
|illustration by=[[Evan Gauntt]]
|cover=[[Evan Gauntt]]
|pagecount=36
|chronology=[[Shattered Glass timeline|Current era (2008)]]
|continuity=[[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|Shattered Glass]]
}}
'''Following the ''Ark''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s destruction, the new Dinobots are unleashed! But what ancient horror is behind Grimlock's miraculous transformation?'''

==Synopsis==
{{note|Events from the prologue are in italics}}
At the recently discovered [[Arch-Ayr]] fuel dump in [[Khon]], the Decepticons defend the station from the Autobots, who are attempting to steal the fuel so they can make the ''[[Ark (SG)|Ark]]'' space-worthy once more. [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] is wounded, and [[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] rushes to his downed leader with a medi-pack, as [[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] pushes his foot forward. Megatron asks his second in command for a status report; [[Huffer (SG)|Huffer]] is hardly a concern, and [[Hound (SG)|Hound]]'s hallucinations have been negated. Prime is staying back, but [[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] and [[Arcee (SG)|Arcee]] are attempting to flank towards [[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] and [[Gutcruncher (SG)|Gutcruncher]]'s position. Their conversation is interrupted when the Decepticon's newest recruit, a [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] who claims to be from a mirror universe where Autobots are good and Decepticons are evil, begins firing across the battlefield at Prime. Megatron orders his second-in-command to help Cliffjumper, while he repairs himself, vowing to not allow the fuel depot to fall into Prime's hands. Starscream reluctantly suggests destroying the depot, but [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]]'s voice cuts in on the Decepticon radio, telling the others that he's called in reinforcements. An exasperated Megatron realizes the one squad he's called in: the over-enthusastic [[Mayhem Suppression Squad]]. Suddenly, [[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]] races across the battlefield, transforming and pounding her hands into the ground, her energized strike sending Huffer and Hound flying. Crasher greets her commander and sends [[Dirge (SG)|Dirge]] and [[Thundercracker (SG)|Thundercracker]] to deal with Rodimus and Arcee. Dirge's laughter-inducing engines take Rodimus out of the battle, and the insane Arcee is downed by Thundercracker's bubbles of silence and Gutcruncher concussion cannon. Prime is furious with his troop's weakness, but is attacked by [[Bludgeon (SG)|Bludgeon]] and [[Carnivac (SG)|Carnivac]], who work together to keep Prime disoriented. Eventually, the Autobots retreat to cover, and the Decepticons try to figure out how to flush the Autobots out. Suddenly, rumble shakes the battlefield. Cliffjumper spots massive mechanical beasts, crushing everything in their way. Sideswipe assumes its one of Hound's illusions, but Thundercracker points out that he's offline, and that the dampener is still running. Cliffjumper notices [[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]] in the lead, and realizes they're newly created [[Dinobot (SG)|Dinobot]]s. The herd stops, and atop the [[Sludge (SG)|largest one]], [[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]] greets Prime, the mad scientist having escaped from his exile in [[Gygax]] to enact his revenge with his newest creations. Prime, seeing his disadvantage, forgives the scientist for all his sins...provided his creations work. Not the reaction Wheeljack expected, he nevertheless orders his creations to destroy the Decepticons. The heard roars...and begins to tear into each other. Wheeljack fails to control his creations, and is knocked straight to the ground.

At Autobot headquarters in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], Prime furiously berates two of his soldiers, [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] and [[Side Burn (SG)|Side Burn]]. Optimus blames the loss of the depot on Blurr, the cousin of Crasher. His subordinate attempts to defend himself, but the younger Side Burn cuts in, pointing out that he had suggested reforming the [[Wrecker]]s, and that if the Decepticons had been defeated, Wheeljack would have attacked Prime with his Dinobots. Angered, Prime nevertheless considers the recovery of the Dinobots more important than "stress relief" or the recovery of a minor fuel depot. Grimlock is a priority, Prime not wanting him to fall back into his Decepticon creator's hands. All Autobots who are not involved in ''Ark'' repair are to search for the Dinobots. Prime intends on sending Wheeljack back into exile, but Side Burn, recognizing Wheeljack's potential, comes up with an alternative punishment: forcing Wheeljack to repair the computers for the ''Ark'', a lowly task for the scientist, and to have him be part of the Earthbound crew in case of sabotage. Delighted by Side Burn's deviancy, Prime has him reporting to ''Ark'' duty, where Wheeljack will join him after getting a Earth-mode from the Autobot "medic" [[Ratchet (SG)|Ratchet]], while Blurr will search for the Dinobots. Leaving the chamber, Blurr pushes Side Burn into the wall; suspicious of the younger Autobot, Blurr tells him to stay out of his way, lest an "accident" happen. Side Burn simply smiles as the elder Autobot drives off.

At the fuel depot, reinforcements from [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]] load up supplies and [[energon rod]]s into [[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]]. Dirge advocates capturing a few of the Dinobots to make [[Dinocon]]s, but Cliffjumper is unsure, remembering the troublesome [[Dinobot (SG)|Dinobot]]s of his home dimension. Starscream, however, sees merit in Dirge's idea, hoping recover his old A.I. matrix. Megatron agrees, sending Astrotrain back to Darkmount with the supplies for "[[Nemesis (SG)|Project Doubletake]]", and has Starscream gather a dozen of their best soldiers for this "Dinobot Hunt".

''The ever-optimistic Huffer follows Grimlock into the abandoned levels of Cybertron. Smiling to himself, he launches his tow-cable around Grimlock. Noticing this, Grimlock begins to thrash about, throwing Huffer into a wall and causing him to drop the [[positronic deregulator]] made by Wheeljack to tame the Dinobots. Grimlock rushes forth to his attacker, but when he sees the Autobot symbol on Huffer's tow-cannon, the hardwired directives installed in him by Optimus Prime begin to cause him pain. Huffer tries to placate the Dinobot, but Grimlock tells him to shut up, hearing a voice that Huffer can't. As the smaller Autobot begins to slowly aim his cannon, Grimlock, following the unseen voices instructions, leans forth and grabs Huffer's gun, destroying it and the Autobot symbol that caused him pain. Huffer, not one to push his chances, transforms and flees. Grimlock wants to chase Huffer, but his unseen [[Omega Terminus|instructor]] beckons him to come forth, as the Dinobot heads further into Cybertron...''

Near the [[Rust Sea]], Cliffjumper and Sideswipe spy in their makeshift hunting blind as one Dinobot, a small red and grey one named [[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] feeds on the energon crystalline growths. Sideswipe isn't sure how to proceed, but Cliffjumper jumps forth, tackling Slugfest to the ground. Slugfest yelps, telling Cliffjumper that he has big friends, but the extradimensional Autobot ignores his claims, fixing a [[restraining bolt]] to Slugfest. Suddenly, Sideswipe warns him to look out, as a [[Goryu (SG)|large Dinobot]] bursts through the crystal "trees", declaring "Me gore you!" The Dinobot lunges at Grimlock, but when he notices Cliffjumper's symbol, the Dinobot is confused; it looks the the purple face he's not supposed to hurt, but is colored like the red face he's allowed to. Sideswipe attracts the Dinobot's attention, transforming into vehicle mode as the beast gives chase, with Cliffjumper hanging on to his tail. Climbing up with a restraining bolt in his teeth, Cliffjumper accidentally looses it when he shouts to Sideswipe, with his comrade attempting to avoid the Dinobot's ice-breath all the while. Elsewhere, [[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] and [[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] have managed to find a Dinobot of their own; a flying one named [[Swoop (SG)|Swoop]], who is currently nesting on an old communications tower. Jazz wants to kill the beast, but Goldbug insists on keeping it alive, telling Jazz to climb tower. The two continue to argue until Blurr and Rodimus arrive. The two [[Seeker (SG)|Seeker]]s agree with their commander on sending Jazz up, but Prime's bodyguard flips down his missile racks, still refusing to go up. When all the other's weapons are leveled at him, however, Jazz asks for a cable. Back near the Rust Sea, Sideswipe swerves on part of the ground frozen in ice, sending him straight into a patch of crystals, pinning him. The Dinobot celebrates his victory, and turns his attentions to Cliffjumper. Unable to grab him with his tiny arms, Cliffjumper goads the Dinobot, and leaps off the beast's head with his jetpack when the Dinobot rams his head into the ground in an attempt to smash him. With the Dinobot knocked out, Cliffjumper heads over to Sideswipe, helping him up, who fixes a spare restraining bolt to the Dinobot. Sideswipe contacts Soundwave, telling him to send Astrotrain to pick up Slugfest and "Goryu" (having mistaken the latter's statement of intent for a name), while Cliffjumper spots the fleeing Huffer in the distance. Sneaking up on the Autobot, the two demand to know which Dinobot he ran into. Huffer is reluctant at first, but when Sideswipe mentions that Cliffjumper believes in [[Primus]], the unnerved Autobot tells them that he saw Grimlock heading towards sector Alpha-Seven, although he manages to extort an energon rod out of them. Huffer flees while the two Decepticons discuss what to do, and as they head after their more important target, Huffer smiles to himself, figuring it will all turn out okay in the end. Meanwhile, Jazz screams for help as he holds on to the flying Swoop, who declares the Autobot to be his new friend, looping around in circles. Goldbug, pragmatic as ever, gets his comrade down by shooting Swoop's wing, and the two fall to the ground, with Jazz stuck right underneath the Dinobot. Rodimus laughs, while Blurr questions why he just didn't shoot Swoop in the first place, to which Goldbug casually replies that it would have taken more effort to get him off his tower-nest if he had. While Goldbug attaches a restraining bolt to Swoop, Blurr and Rodimus take their leave, the former having received an alert from Huffer on Grimlock's location.

Sideswipe and Cliffjumper follow Grimlock's trail, straight into the [[Rad Zone]], traveling through the perilous path formed both by nature and by Grimlock's passage. Finding an entryway to an ancient bunker, Sideswipe deduces that Grimlock went in, pointing out the fresh claw marks to his companion. Cliffjumper, however, notices that Sideswipe has been on edge, and demands to know what's up. Sideswipe reluctantly tells Cliffjumper that this is where the ambush Prime set up for him went down, and where Cliffjumper, or rather, Sideswipe's [[Cliffjumper (SG)|Cliffjumper]], was accidentally killed. Sideswipe feels guilty, blaming himself for his former comrade's death, but Cliffjumper simply sighs, figuring that this universe's version of himself was an evil monster who deserved to die, and seeing his own corpse isn't likely to be the weirdest experience in this dimension. Heading on in, they eventually find what appears to be an access tunnel leading even further underground. The two walk in silence until Sideswipe spots pictographs; the former Autobot realizes that they aren't in an access tunnel, but a tomb. The images depict what appears to be a funeral, followed by interment, disassembly, and then the process in reverse. Sideswipe can only understand some of the writing accompanying it, an ancient Decepticon dialect which indicates a warning. Suddenly, a low voice rumbles throughout the cavern, telling them to get out. The two decide to flee, but when they head back in the direction they came from, they find a solid wall blocking their path. Meanwhile, Blurr and Rodimus have followed Grimlock to the bunker in the Rad Zone as well, Blurr telling Rodimus to keep his wits about him, knowing the danger inherent to the area.

Traveling further down the tomb, Cliffjumper accidentally steps on a booby trap, activating a wall that juts out spears at every angle, with a wall closing behind them. Cliffjumper sprays some [[glass gas]] mist, sending it throughout the corridor, and has Sideswipe bash the spears with his clubs. Following the pattern, the two head forth through the corridor. Two-thirds of the way in, however, an out-of-synch spear stabs straight above Cliffjumper's knee, with its speed causing it to penetrate even with the glass gases' effects. Sideswipe helps his comrade stay mobile, and the two hurry out of the tunnel. The spear tip, embedded in his leg, returns to normal, and Cliffjumper manages to limp along, telling Sideswipe he hates this place. Elsewhere, Rodimus and Blurr happen upon some energon rods. The greedy Rodimus rushes forward against Blurr's warnings, and finds his arm trapped in some sort of energy field. Unable to pull out of it, Rodimus begins to notice wisps coming off his arm as it pulls him forward; Blurr surmises that it's some sort of custodial equipment, designed to eat metallic matter. Rodimus begs Blurr to help him, but laser blasts prove ineffective, the field simply refracting the light. Rodimus is goaded by Blurr into shooting him; the bolts strike Blurr straight into the chest, and he absorbs their speed. Transforming to vehicle mode, Blurr pushes Rodimus straight through the barrier, his speed preventing him from being caught in the field himself, landing on the other side. Getting up, Blurr suddenly finds himself accosted by Sideswipe and Cliffjumper; Sideswipe threatens his former comrade, while Cliffjumper advocates getting out before anything worse happens. Cliffjumper goes to pick up Rodimus, but the Autobot, already recovered, jumps him, sending him crashing into a wall. Blurr attempts to warn him until deciding against it, watching as the activate a trapdoor that sends the two down a passageway. Blurr smiles to himself for a second, and then is punched by Sideswipe straight into the ground.

Landing on his back, Cliffjumper gets up, ready to fight Rodimus. The Seeker, however, advocates for a truce, knowing they're trapped together. Unfortunately, Cliffjumper's [[Wave Crusher]] is ruined, the flight pack having broken his fall. Unable to reach the vent or access their comms, the two examine the stone walls; Rodimus blasts prove ineffective, and they activate yet another trap, causing it and the other walls to close in on each other. Back above ground, Sideswipe demands that Blurr help him find Cliffjumper. Suddenly, a howl rings out of another corridor. Bringing up their weapons, Sideswipe continues to insist on finding the others, but Blurr, realizing just what the tomb is, feels that the stakes are too important to waste time on their companions. Suddenly, a large, warped mechnical being comes forth, the two recognizing it as a [[Mutant (SG)|Mutant]]. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper and Rodimus attempt to stop the compactor. Rodimus, having seen similar traps before, shouts to look for an auto-reset. Cliffjumper finds a half-meter long protrusion, matching up to a hole on the opposite side. Their hands too big to fit in the hole, Rodimus grabs the spear shaft in Cliffjumper's leg, pushing it in and shooting it forward. The trap stops, ejecting the two into a debris filled room. Rodimus realizes where they are: the chamber of Omega Terminus. Rodimus explains that the Omega Terminus is a supercomputer and creator of life on Cybertron, only able to be controlled by the long-lost [[Terminus Blade]], and that no one knows where the computer is because the Omega Terminus makes them forget. Rodimus tries to convince Cliffjumper to team up with him to build an army of their own, and when the Autobot rejects his offer, find himself a bottle of [[scraplet]]s. Rodimus offers it to Cliffjumper, but the horrified Autobot tells him to stay away; Rodimus simply shrugs, ingesting some of them. Cliffjumper watches as Rodimus' wounds heal; scraplets in this universe, as it turns out, only eat dead metal, turning it into living metal. Rare due to the presence of water vapor on Cybertron, Rodimus is happy with his luck, while an exasperated Cliffjumper asks for some as well.

Sideswipe and Blurr are chased by the mutants, until the two reach a chamber that frightens off the creatures. The chamber contains a chasm, where an island in the center holds a crystalline object surrounded by dead Cybertronians; Omega Terminus. Sideswipe and Blurr are soon joined by Cliffjumper and Rodimus, when bridges suddenly extend from the island to the ledges they stand on. Unable to think of anything else to do, the quartet cross them. Blurr believes Optimus Prime will reward them well, but Rodimus proposes not telling Prime at all. Showing his true intelligence and ambition, he proposes that the four of them use Omega Terminus to create a faction of their own; after all, no one can stop them. At that moment, Grimlock chooses to reveal himself, rising from one of the junk piles. He tells them that he came here at the insistence of a voice, a voice that doesn’t want them to be there. Omega Terminus begins to spin, and a bolt of energy hits Grimlock, endowing the Dinobot with an ember. The Dinobot begins to transform and turns from a monstrous beast to a super-intelligent robot!

Rodimus attempts to greet Grimlock, but the Dinobot remembers the way the Seeker used to treat him, and quickly converts back to his tyrannosaurus mode, ripping off Rodimus's left hand. Transforming back to robot mode, Grimlock tells the four that something bigger is happening, beyond that of the war, and that they in the Omega Terminus' way. Cliffjumper angrily shouts that they outnumber Grimlock...to which the Omega Terminus begins to spin again, shooting more bolts into the corpses surrounding it. Four dead bodies rise from the grave, one of whom is Sideswipe's former commander, [[Drench (SG)|Drench]], and another the native Cliffjumper! Grimlock begins to monologue, explaining that the Mutants gather raw materials in the Rad Zone, which the Omega Terminus breaks down to make new Cybertronians. His monologue is interrupted by Rodimus, and Grimlock is angered enough to be forced back to his unintelligent beast mode. The zombies rush forth, focusing on Blurr and Sideswipe, while Cliffjumper and Rodimus engage Grimlock. Sideswipe attempts to reason with Drench, reminding him of their friendship, but the living dead bot ignores him, savagely attacking him along with an endoskeletal zombie. Blurr, meanwhile, fights with Cliffjumper and a zombie holding his own head. The decapitated corpse throws his head onto Blurr’s shoulder, but Blurr manages to work through the pain and sends the zombie off-balance, causing the headless horror to fall into the chasm below. Rodimus and Cliffjumper manage to briefly blind Grimlock, and the two turn their attention to the zombies, their combined laser fire barely affecting the bots. Rodimus wonders how your supposed to kill something that’s not even alive, and Cliffjumper, realizing how to defeat them, has Rodimus give him the Scraplets. Throwing the bottle onto his doppelganger, Cliffjumper watches as the panicking zombie attempts to get the Scraplets off him, lunging forward, only for his positive-universe counterpart to rip his arm off and for Rodimus to ram him into the endoskeleton. Cliffjumper throws the arm at Drench, and Sideswipe watches sadly as his old friend and the other corpses disintegrate into nothingess. Grimlock, however, is soon back to fight, and knocks the assembled Decepticons and Autobots onto the ledge. Transforming back into robot mode, Grimlock gloats over the bots at his mercy. Blurr, however, begins to insult the Dinobot. Grimlock nearly turns back into dinosaur mode again, but manages to calm himself, knowing now that his anger can be used against him. Blurr, however, was merely distracting Grimlock, allowing for Sideswipe to get Cliffjumper back on the platform. Grimlock quickly turns around, but Blurr saps his speed. Cliffjumper knocks him off the platform, sending the helpless Grimlock tumbling into the depths below. The four get back on the platform, and Omega Terminus, still with plenty of corpses around, demands that they get out, opening passages surface.

Back at Autobot headquarters, Rodimus wakes up on Ratchet’s surgical table, panicking as the mad doctor offers various “enhancements” to him. Optimus Prime’s entrance silences the two, and Prime tells Rodimus he should consider himself lucky; he was going to place him on the wall, but his advisors still think the former Wrecker has potential. Angered, Rodimus notices that his missing hand has been replaced with a buzzsaw, punishment for failing to capture Grimlock. Prime leaves the room, leaving an enraged Rodimus to stew. Soon, Blurr reports to his leader on the Autobot success; they now have eight new Dinobots at their disposal. When Blurr reports that Grimlock was destroyed (the Seeker’s memories altered by Omega Terminus), Prime lashes out at his subordinate, grabbing him by the neck. Suddenly, Grimlock enters the room in tyrannosaurus mode, having survived his fall. Prime beckons him to come forth, but Grimlock refuses, transforming into robot mode. Prime is furious, his greatest weapon having gained sentience. Grimlock, however, ignores his threats, telling him that he is simply bored and requires stimulation. Strolling over the ‘’Ark’’ schematics, Grimlock points out a fatal flaw in the fuel system. Prime has Blurr confirm it, and convinced of Grimlock’s intentions, gives Grimlock a probationary welcome back into the Autobot ranks.

Later, at the new Dinocon corral, Slugfest is unable to sleep. He likes his new friends, especially Starscream, but misses the noises of Gygax. Suddenly, the door to the corral opens, terrifying Slugfest, until he sees a familiar face. Grimlock tells Slugfest to gather the others so he can take them to a secret place…

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|h2=[[Autobot]]s
|c2=
*[[Optimus Prime (SG)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Huffer (SG)|Huffer]] (4)
*[[Hound (SG)|Hound]] (5)
*[[Rodimus (SG)|Rodimus]] (6)
*[[Arcee (SG)|Arcee]] (7)
*[[Grimlock (SG)|Grimlock]] (21)
*[[Sludge (SG)|Sludge]] (22)
*[[Wheeljack (SG)|Wheeljack]] (23)
*[[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]] (24)
*[[Side Burn (SG)|Side Burn]] (25)
*[[Jazz (SG)|Jazz]] (29)
*[[Goldbug (SG)|Goldbug]] (30)
*[[Swoop (SG)|Swoop]] (31)
*[[Drench (SG)|Drench]] (33)
*[[Cliffjumper (SG)|Cliffjumper]] (34)
*[[Ratchet (SG)|Ratchet]] (35)
|h1=[[Decepticon]]s
|c1=
*[[Starscream (SG)|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] (2)
*[[Sideswipe (SG)|Sideswipe]] (8)
*[[Gutcruncher (SG)|Gutcruncher]] (9)
*[[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave]] (11)
*[[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]] (12)
*[[Dirge (SG)|Dirge]] (13)
*[[Thundercracker (SG)|Thundercracker]] (14)
*[[Bludgeon (SG)|Bludgeon]] (15)
*[[Carnivac (SG)|Carnivac]] (16)
*[[Slugfest (SG)|Slugfest]] (17)
*[[Kakuryu (SG)|Kakuryu]] (18)
*[[Goryu (SG)|Goryu]] (19)
*[[Doryu (SG)|Doryu]] (20)
*Unnamed dead Decepticon Micromaster (26)
*[[Astrotrain (SG)|Astrotrain]] (27)
|c4=
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Cliffjumper]] (10)
*[[Omega Terminus]] (28)
*[[Mutant (SG)|Mutant]]s (32)
}}

==Quotes==
"Fear not, Mega-Dude! This is Soundwave, rockin' the radio from Darkmount, and I bring you joyous tidings! For I have totally called in the cavalry!"
:—'''Soundwave''' is the righteous bearer of good news.

"Shoot it! I can't keep this up forever!" 
"I can't, the [[glass gas]]'ll blow back in my face!" 
"That's a terrible weapon!" 
"Why don't you just beat it to death with a ''missile'' if you're so smart!"
:—'''Sideswipe''' and '''Cliffjumper''' discuss tactics.

"Yes, it seems we could use a hand." 
"Heh, good thing I gots two, eh?" 
:—'''Goldbug''' and '''Rodimus'''. Oh, the irony.

"Listen Huffer, you'd better talk. My partner here isn't quite what you'd call sane. He believes in Primus."
:—'''Sideswipe''' gives the Shattered Glass perception of Transformer religious views.

"Me... me... m... m... my... I... iii... I... Griiimm... lock... waaaaannnt... to talk a little bit about the truly fascinating ramifications of directly applied neutronic rearrangement when applied to instantaneous mechanical re-engineering! It is a fascinating subject, particularly in terms of practical application, wot?"
:—'''Grimlock''' goes from stupidly incomprehensible to intelligently incomprehensible.

"LEAVE WITH YOUR LIVES. NEVER RETURN." 
"And if we don't?" 
"YOU ARE OUT OF SCRAPLETS."
:—'''Omega Terminus''' makes a rather persuasive argument to '''Sideswipe'''.

==Notes==
* Characters mentioned but who do not appear in-story include: the "real" [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], Cliffjumper's [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], [[Sunstreaker (SG)|Sunstreaker]], the [[Wrecker]]s, Cliffjumper's [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]s, Astrotrain's [[Micromaster]] partners, [[Blaster (SG)|Blaster]], [[Geronimo (SG)|Geronimo]], [[Slag (SG)|Slag]], [[Primus]], [[Bombshell (SG)|Bombshell]], [[Ultra Magnus (SG)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Beachcomber (SG)|Beachcomber]], the [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Old One]], [[Fixit (SG)|Fixit]], eight Autobot-aligned Dinobots, [[Hoist (SG)|Hoist]], and [[Chromedome (SG)|Chromedome]].
===Continuity notes===
* This story takes place after the original "[[Shattered Glass (issue)|Shattered Glass]]" comic. Various events and ideas from that story, including the foiling of the launch of the Ark, the Decepticons being joined by the positive universe Cliffjumper, and the idea that mirror universe [[spark]]s are called "embers", are mentioned near the beginning of the story.
* Crasher was originally mentioned in Blurr's [[BotCon 2008]] biocard as his cousin; her role is greatly expanded on in this story.
* Grimlock was noted to be a creation of Starscream's in his BotCon 2008 biocard.
* Blurr attempts to defend himself by pointing out that Prime didn't have Sunstreaker kill Sideswipe, his brother; Sunstreaker showed up in the original "Shattered Glass" comic, shown to be one of Prime's earliest recruits.
* The Wreckers were originally mentioned as a mercenary group in Rodimus' BotCon 2008 biocard; Rodimus was the sole survivor of the group.
* Side Burn is treated as something of an enigma, not really belonging with the Autobots. Later stories would make exactly why this is explicit.
* Cliffjumper notes that his Dinobots often ran off on their own, and would occasionally attempt to take over the Autobots; the former calls back to Marvel ''Transformers'' issues [[Command Performances!|#19]] and [[The Pri¢e of Life!|#70]], while the later likely refers to issue [[King of the Hill!|#27]], where [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] vied for and obtained leadership of the Autobots.
* Goldbug notes that Jazz retreated during the Decepticon's bomb run on the ''Ark'' in the original "Shattered Glass" comic.
* It was noted in the original "Shattered Glass" comic that the mirror-universe Cybertronians had never heard of Primus, the Decepticons only learning of him when Cliffjumper explained who he was after exclaiming his name. Evidently, the Autobots have learned of this belief as well: Rodimus derisively refers to him as "Mr. 'The Planet is a God'".
* The ambush on Sideswipe and ''Shattered Glass'' Cliffjumper's death were recounted in the original "Shattered Glass" comic. Drench's death, meanwhile, was noted in Sideswipe's BotCon 2008 bio to be the cause of Sideswipe's questioning of his allegiance and his eventual defection to the Decepticons.
* A drawing of a robot with an "ornate sword" in the Omega Terminus chamber and the mention of the "Old One", the only Cybertroniaon who knows of Omega Terminus location (having been previously referred to im in the original "Shattered Glass" comic) implies that Omega Terminus has a connection to Alpha Trion, homaging the connection his positive-universe counterpart has a connection to [[Vector Sigma]]. Alpha Trion was seen escaping from [[Axiom Nexus]] in the last chapter of the "Transcendent" storyline, published a month before the release of this prose story.

===Transformers references===
* Like a few characters in the original ''Shattered Glass'' comic, many of the characters introduced in this story are either repurposed from existing toys, or virtual redecoes of existing toys. (Although some, such as characters simply namedropped, as well as Hound, are not sufficient described in story to know what they are repurposed/"redecoed" from.) Additionally, while the original "Shattered Glass" story depicted most of its characters as being near identical to their positive-universe counterparts but with their moralities inverted, this story depicts the characters having opposite versions of their positive-universe counterpart's tics and abilities.
** Huffer, repurposed from the [[Target]]-exclusive live-action movie [[Armorhide (Movie)|Armorhide]] toy. Many of these Scout class figures would be repurposed as various ''Shattered Glass'' characters. Unlike positive-universe [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]'s whiny, complaining nature, Huffer takes everything in stride, considering even damage to himself a reason to smile.
** Hound, who is noted to have an "hallucination signal"; later stories would make it clear that this is an inversion of the positive-universe [[Hound (G1)|Hound]]'s holograms.
** Arcee, repurposed from the Target-exclusive live-action movie [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]] toy. Arcee is depicted as being completely insane, perhaps owning to the original depiction of her positive-universe [[Arcee (G1)|counterpart]] in the IDW comics.
** Gutcruncher, repurposed from the Target-exclusive live-action movie [[Signal Flare (Movie)|Signal Flare]] toy.
** Soundwave (having previously appeared in a non-speaking role in the original "Shattered Glass" comic) is depicted as one righteous dude, compared to rather emotionless depiction of [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.
** Crasher, who is either repurposed from or shares her positive-universe [[Crasher (GoBots)|counterpart]]'s initial white color scheme. Crasher is noted to make an odd whirring noise when she transforms; the ''Challenge of the GoBots'' cartoon depicted the Guardian and Renegade's conversion noise as a mechanical-sounding whir, more similar to the ''Beast Wars'' conversion noise than the concurrent ''Transformers'' one. Additionally, ''Shattered Glass'' Crasher releases shock waves into the ground with her arms, as opposed to ''GoBots'' Crasher using her feet to produce them.
** Dirge, a virtual redeco of ''Timelines'' [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] in the colors of ''Beast Wars II'' [[Thrust (BWII)|Thrust]]. Dirge is depicted as a lively bot who looks on the bright side and cracks jokes, as compared to positive-universe Dirge's grim, depressive personality. ''Shattered Glass'' Dirge has laughter inducing engines, while ''Generation 1'' Dirge had fear-inducing engines.
** Thundercracker, a virtual redeco of ''Classics'' [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] in his positive-universe [[Thundercracker (G1)|counterpart]]'s [[Action Master]] color scheme. Thundercracker can create areas of pure silence, mirroring his positive-universe counterpart's ability to create a sonic boom.
** Bludgeon, repurposed from his ''Robots in Disguise'' [[Bludgeon (RID 2001)|counterpart]]'s toy. Bludgeon is depicted as having been influenced by transmissions from Earth to model himself after a cowboy, pistols and hip holsters included, as opposed to his positive-universe samurai [[Bludgeon (G1)|counterpart]].
** Carnivac, a virtual redeco of his positive-universe [[Carnivac (G1)|counterpart]]'s toy in either red-and-blue or gold (the story doesn't say whether Carnivac is a Pretender or not; its likely that one of the color schemes is in error). Carnivac is depicted as something of a knight, similar to ''Beast Wars'' [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]].
** Wheeljack, a virtual redeco of ''Energon'' [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]] in European-exclusive ''Generation 1'' [[Slicer (Decepticon)|Slicer]] colors, who was himself a Decepticon redeco of ''Generation 1'' [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]]'s Action Master toy. This would later become a real toy at [[BotCon 2010]] as "Decepticon Slice", which could be repurposed as Wheeljack. Unlike most, Wheeljack is still a mad scientist in this story, although with more emphasis on the "mad" part. Like his positive-universe counterpart, his "ears" glow when he talks, in a sickly yellow-green instead of blue.
** Goryu, a virtual redeco of ''Masterpiece'' [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] in a color scheme inspired by Goryu's positive-universe [[Goryu (Victory)|counterpart]]'s shell, along with the distinctive spikes of said shell added to his dinosaur mode.
** Slugfest, a virtual redeco of his positive-universe [[Slugfest (G1)|counterpart]]'s toy in the color of fellow cassete [[Grand Slam (G1)|Grand Slam]]. Slugfest believes himself to be "the coolest" and that everyone loves him; positive universe Slugfest, meanwhile, is paranoid about what everyone thinks of him.
** Kakuryu (who only shows up in illustration, along with Doryu), based on ''Generation 1'' [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] in a color scheme inspired by Kakuryu's positive-universe [[Kakuryu (Victory)|counterpart]]'s shell colors; Kakuryu's dinosaur alt-mode has been changed from a ''Triceratops'' to a ''Styracosaurus''.
** Doryu, based on ''Generation 1'' [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] in a color scheme inspired by Doryu's positive-universe [[Doryu (Victory)|counterpart]]'s shell colors.
** Sludge, a virtual redeco of his ''Generation 1'' [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] in [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]] colors.
** Side Burn, repurposed from his positive-universe [[Side Burn (RID)|counterpart]]'s ''Universe'' toy. Side Burn believes that "undue attention to females" is a waste of resources, while the positive-universe Side Burn was a womanizing mech who was more often occupied with chasing them instead of his missions.
** Astrotrain, repurposed from his ''Cybertron'' [[Astrotrain (Cybertron)|counterpart]]'s toy. His Micromaster partners would later be named in "Do Over".
** Swoop, a virtual redeco of ''Cybertron'' [[Brimstone (Cybertron)|Brimstone]] in the color of ''Armada'' [[Ravenus]]' mutated form (Ravenus normal form resembles Swoop's positive-universe [[Swoop (G1)|counterpart]]). His positive-universe counterpart's position as the "friendliest Dinobot" is amped to 11 here.
** Drench, repurposed from his positive-universe [[Drench (G2)|counterpart]]'s toy with red eyes.
** Cliffjumper, a virtual redeco of ''Classics'' [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] in navy and grey. Sideswipe notes that he was trusting and forgiving, unlike the always-suspicious positive-universe Cliffjumper.
** Ratchet, a virtual redeco of ''Energon'' [[Inferno (Energon)|Roadblock]] in white and green scrubs, with a new head inspired by Ratchet's positive-universe [[Ratchet (G1)|counterpart]].
* Additionally, a few ''Shattered Glass'' characters are mentioned who do not appear in the story. Most of these characters would eventually appear in the other prose stories, comics, or some other source. These characters include:
** Blaster, who's noted to have a cassette/"memory cartridge" holding form.
** Geronimo, who died early in the war; his positive-universe [[Geronimo (G1)|counterpart]] also died early in the war, as mentioned in Dreamwave Productions' ''[[Transformers: War Within: The Age of Wrath|The Age of Wrath]]'' comic.
** Slag, whom Goryu thinks is ugly.
** Bombshell, who's noted to be a therapist, as opposed to his postive-universe [[Bombshell (G1)|counterpart]]'s function of psychological warfare.
** Ultra Magnus, noted to be a traitor who Blurr briefly sided with.
** Beachcomber, an insane Autobot, unlike his pacifistic positive-universe [[Beachcomber (G1)|counterpart]].
** Fixit, who's noted to have a price for his repairs.
** Hoist, a lazy mechanic who does jury-rigged patch jobs.
** Chromedome, who Prime threatens to put Blurr next to on the "shelf".
* At the beginning of the story, Starscream yells "Megatron has fallen!" when his commander is wounded, the orders the others to stick to the plan; this inverts the rather common event of the positive-universe Starscream declaring himself leader after even the slightest damage caused to Megatron in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon ("Megatron has fallen! I, Starscream, am now your leader!").
* Soundwave radios in from [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]], the Decepticon-held city introduced in the original Marvel ''Transformers'' comic.
* The Mayhem Suppression Squad originally appeared in the "[[Shattered Expectations (SG)|Shattered Expectations]]" April Fool's comics, set outside the main ''Shattered Glass'' timeline. Dirge, Thundercracker, and Astrotrain make the jump into main ''Shattered Glass'' continuity here.
* Carnivac shouts "The Mayhem Suppression Squad has shown you its valor, ''can you not do more?''" inverting the [[Furmanism]] of "I can do no less."
* Wheeljack is the creator of the Dinobots, much like his positive-universe counterpart was their co-creator in the original ''Transformers'' cartoon. Huffer notes in the prologue that Wheeljack and Ratchet (whose positive-universe counterpart was the other creator of the Dinobots) could always make more if the escapees are permanently offlined.
* Gygax was originally mentioned in ''Classics'' story "[[The New World]]", also written by Sepelak and Troop.
* Side Burn notes that they Wreckers would have been the Autobot's best bet against the Mayhem Suppression Squad; the Wreckers and the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]] often fought one another in the Marvel UK ''Transformers'' comics.
* Energon is stored in yellow rods, rather than in pink cubes, as in most positive universes; Cliffjumper thinks it has a weird aftertaste.
* With the Dinobots crazed and scattered, and with both teams trying to gather them up, this story calls back to the Marvel UK ''Transformers'' story "[[Dinobot Hunt!]]", and Megatron names their mission a "Dinobot Hunt" accordingly.
* The Rust Sea was originally mentioned in the Marvel UK ''Transformers'' letters page.
* Written on Goryu's hip is [[Cybertronix]] reading "D-322"; D-322 was the Japanese ID number of his positive-universe counterpart's toy.
* Goryu possesses ice-breath, rather than flame-breath like most positive-universe Dinobots.
* Words in the ancient Decepticon dialect include: "cho'rk", meaning "sacred"; "zansh-kor-re", the first part of which means "depart", with the "re" is a inflection indicating a warning.
* Blurr's superspeed transformation leaves afterimages, much like his postive-universe [[Blurr (G1)|counterpart]] normally does.
* The Mutants are negative-universe version of the [[Mutant (G1)|Mutant]]s introduced in the Marvel UK ''Transformers'' comics.
* Blurr notes that aside from the Seekers, Sideswipe use to be a member of the Firestormers; the positive-universe [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] was a member of the [[Firestormer]]s in the Marvel ''Generation 2'' comics.
* Omega Terminus is the mirror-universe version of [[Vector Sigma]], the supercomputer from the ''Transformers'' cartoon that granted life to all Cybertronians. It is noted to be controlled by the Terminus Blade, the counterpart of the [[Key to Vector Sigma]].
* The positive-universe version of Scraplets originally appeared in the Marvel ''Transformers'' comics; there, they were a parasitic race that ate living metal. Water vapor is noted to be the mirror-universe Scraplets weakness; water was the only cure to the positive-universe Scraplets.
* Grimlock's intelligence boost likely owes some inspiration to his positive-universe [[Grimlock (G1)|counterpart]] going through a similar process in the ''Transformers'' episode [[Grimlock's New Brain]].
* Rodimus' saw blade is present on his toy as a fold-out feature; the original version of the toy (as ''Classics'' [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus]]) had it as a homage to the scenes in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', where Hot Rod used it several times.
* The Autobots have gained 8 new Dinobots; aside from Swoop, these are likely the aforementioned Slag, Sludge, a ''Shattered Glass'' version of [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]], and ''Shattered Glass'' versions of the [[W Cassettebot]]s.

===Real-world references===
* An mechanimal known as a [[dieselle]] is mentioned in the prologue, presumably the Cybertronian equivalent to a gazelle.
* The Arch-Ayr fuel dump is named for the former high-ranking [[Hasbro]] employee, [[Aaron Archer]].
* Several characters take influence from real-life celebrities/fictional characters, including:
** Optimus Prime's voice is meant to sound like the 1980s ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons (TV series)|Dungeons & Dragons}}'' cartoon villain, Venger, who was also voiced by [[Peter Cullen]].
** Rodimus, whose dialogue in this story is modeled on {{w|John Travolta}}'s character, Vinnie Barbarino, from the sitcom ''{{w|Welcome Back, Kotter}}''. ("Ey, up your pipe with a windshield-wipe.")
** Soundwave, who, according to author Greg Sepelak, is modeled on "{{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure|Bill S. Preston Esq. and "Ted" Theodore Logan}}, with a big heaping helping of {{w|Dexter's Laboratory|Val Halen}} {{sic}}. " (The former from the ''Bill & Ted'' films, and the latter from ''The Justice Friends'' segments of ''Dexter's Laboratory''.)
** Bludgeon's personality, while not influenced by any specific person, seems to be inspired by the adaption of several samurai films into westerns.
** Jazz's speech patterns, as in other stories, is based off of {{w|Mr. T}}, with it really becoming evident in this story. (In particular, his line, "I pity the tool that thinks he can force me to climb a tower," riffs on Mr. T's character Clubber Lang, from ''{{w|Rocky III}}''.)
* Gygax, the location on Cybertron to which Wheeljack was exiled, is named after {{w|Gary Gygax}}, the co-creator of ''{{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}''. The name of the text story and several of its settings, themes, and objects are an overt homage to ''Dungeons & Dragons''.
* Cliffjumper presumably picked up the exclamation "{{w|Geronimo (exclamation)|Geronimo}}" on Earth, which itself is named for the famous Native American {{w|Geronimo|leader}}.
* Cliffjumper isn't very good at remembering dinosaur names; he calls Slugfest a "stagnosaurus" and Goryu a "tyrantosmarmus".
* Cliffjumper thinks the pictographs look Egyptian; Among the things he knows about Egyptians is that they walked funny, referring the to song "{{w|Walk Like an Egyptian}}" most famously sung by {{w|The Bangles}}.
* Grimlock's shift to an intelligent robot closely follows a similar such scene in ''{{w|Gremlins 2: The New Batch|Gremlins 2}}'', when a Gremlin injected with an intelligence serum immediately declares that "iiiii wwwaaaaaaannnnn....ttto talk about this fascinating phenomenon taking place at this moment."
* A few symbols and images appear on Ratchet's computer displays, including:
** The symbol of Atomsk, the pirate king from the ''{{w|FLCL}}'' anime series.
** A few helmets from the ''{{w|Mega Man}}'' video game series.
** A [https://zeromayhem.deviantart.com/art/OPTIMUS-Transformers-FullForce-59912346 fanmade design] for Optimus Prime by artist Evan Gauntt.
* Aside from being inversions of [[CR chamber]]s, the [[Agonizing Rehabilitation Chamber]]s are likely a reference to the [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Agony_booth agony booths] from the mirror-universe ''[[Star Trek]]'' stories.

===Errors===
* On page 7, Cliffjumper remarks on the noticeable memory cartridge kibble on Slugfest, indicating his alternate mode. However, Dinobots and Dinocons don't HAVE alt modes at this point in the story. They were unable to transform until the [[Omega Terminus]] altered them between this story and ''[[Do Over]]''.
* On page 20, "air" is misspelled as "hair".
* On page 27, "Blurr" is misspelled as "Burr".
* On page 28, "last remnants of his one-time friend was" should be "last remnants of his one-time friend were".
* On page 30, Blurr claims that since the Autobots have captured eight Dinobots, they have an eight hundred percent increase. Before the hunt, they had zero Dinobots. Eight hundred percent of zero is still zero, and if by some chance Grimlock could count as one Dinobot because he was shortly on their side some time ago, then the increase would be seven hundred percent to get up to eight Dinobots.

==External links==
*[http://transformersclub.com/prose/DandD.pdf "Dungeons & Dinobots"] at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

[[Category:Shattered Glass media]]
[[Category:Text stories]]
[[Category:Timelines media]]

2005 IDW timeline

2018-12-05T03:43:08Z

Prowl245: /* 3 million BCE */

{{featured}}
[[File:ChaosTheory1 montage.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Let's see how far we've come.]]

Beginning as a simple reimagining of the traditional [[Generation 1 continuity family]] under the pen of [[Simon Furman]], the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]] has evolved over the course of thirteen years into the single longest-running continuity in the history of the brand, spanning numerous ongoings, miniseries, and one-shots. Almost every work ties into the overarcing '''timeline''', telling a single unified story that starts at the dawn of time, moves through to the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] and eventually into a new era of post-war reconstruction. Naturally, such a long-running work of fiction is bound to contain occasional storytelling and artistic inconsistencies, though [[John Barber|certain writers]] have actively sought to correct these mistakes over the course of their careers.

In 2016, [[IDW Publishing]] announced the formation of the [[Hasbro Universe]], a shared comic continuity retroactively encompassing the Transformers, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]], other Hasbro properties such as [[Rom|Rom the Space Knight]], and, in a stranger development, the events of the largely forgotten ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' miniseries. This chronology focuses largely on the adventures of the Transformers as they relate to the timeframe of the larger Hasbro Universe, with characters from other properties only dealt with in passing.

{{quote|The story never ends, Ironhide. It just changes into something else.|[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], having a nice [[Furmanism]]|[[Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia]]}}

==1,000,000+ years ago==
===5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] is formed around this time; later religions will hold that the creation of the planet was divinely ordained by the Transformer god [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===4.5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Earth]] forms. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===16 million BCE===
The [[Stentarian]] civil war begins, pitting the heroic [[Terradore]]s against the villainous [[Ammonite]]s. {{storylink|Little Victories}} Their war precipitates the disastrous [[Shattering]], necessitating the creation of the [[Galactic Council]] to stabilize the galaxy and govern the planets who join its ranks. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

===12 million BCE===
[[File:GodWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Name Brand vs. great value.]]

According to legend, the very first Cybertronian, in the land that will one day become [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], realizes that he can [[Transformation|transform]]. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} This first Transformer is Primus; though later religions will remember him as an omnipotent warrior-god, the "true" Primus is a humble robot much like any other, distinguished solely by his ability to generate the [[photonic crystal]]s capable of storing [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} At some point after his creation, he is joined by four others like him: [[Mortilus]], [[Adaptus]], [[Solomus]], and [[Epistemus]]. The five are present for the first activation of Cybertron's twelve [[hot spot]]s, which birth the first true generation of Transformers. The five become known as the "[[Guiding Hand]]." Primus is able to use his alternate mode to compress multiple photonic crystals together, creating the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:TheUnremembering-informationcreep.jpg|thumb|right|300px|When Moons Attack.]]

The creation and subsequent proliferation of the Transformer race leads to the planet's first golden age. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} Primus supposedly delivers the [[Prime Pastoral]] at the future site of [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} The peace lasts until the ambitious Adaptus—worried that their perfect society will only lead to stagnation—encourages Cybertron to wage war against the rest of the galaxy, to encourage growth; when the other four members of the pantheon refuse, the conflict leads to the "[[God War]]," pitting the four allies against their treacherous brother. Epistemus is killed in the conflict, and Adaptus—routed but not defeated—flees to [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], where he blasts the planet with an [[electromagnetic pulse]] designed to erase the memories of Cybertron's inhabitants and leave them disoriented while he makes his escape. Primus attempts to ''absorb'' this same blast, but is only partially successful; he and the other surviving members of the Guiding Hand forget their true identities, with Primus being rendered "compulsively forgettable", and the fallout gives rise to the neurological condition known as "[[information creep]]." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Adaptus escapes Cybertron by installing thrusters on Luna-1 and leaving the planet through the [[Warren]]. In the meantime, the Cybertronian race, left with only hazy memories of their origins, create new myths based on half-remembered truths; in these stories, ''Mortilus,'' supposedly the "god of death," is cast as the treacherous member of the Guiding Hand, whose "death" at the hands of "Primus" rendered the Cybertronian race immortal while giving rise to the Matrix, the [[brain module]] and [[transformation cog]], and [[Vector Sigma]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

The first generation of Cybertronians present to witness these supernatural feats supposedly go on to become the mythical [[Knights of Cybertron]], {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} who go on to turn the planet into a paradise. Among their many feats involve defeating the monstrous [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], rumored to be a creation of Mortilus, {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} alongside [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], the First [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]. Trypticon's body is sealed away beneath the [[Toraxxis Plains]]. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}}

[[File:MtMtEAnn2012-Metrotitans.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Fleeing the Great Kirby Krakle Scourge of Cybertron.]]

Eventually, after turning Cybertron into a utopian haven for both the mind and spirit, the Knights leave Cybertron to spread enlightenment aboard a fleet of [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]s, taking the Matrix of Leadership with them. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} They never return, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} though some later evidence suggests that the Knights split into different clans during their voyage across the galaxy. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} Most successive generations of Cybertronians do not believe in the Knights as concrete beings, instead viewing them as mythological folk heroes. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

Having fled Cybertron, Adaptus exploits the strange properties of the Warren to travel many millions of years into the future; there he witnesses a terrible sight of a gigantic, false effigy to Primus ravaging the galaxy. In order to prevent this fate from coming to pass, he returns to his own era of history, setting up Luna One as a new base of operations for himself and his clan of followers while building a new network of contacts designed to prevent this terrible future from coming to pass. In this new role, he dubs himself the "Grand Architect," and adopting the motto "prepare, confront, [and] repel." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusOrigins.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Everything from this image that follows is [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|his]] fault.]]

Deprived of the benevolent leadership of the Knights of Cybertron, Cybertron regresses into a primitive state of barbarism, reverting to a new dark age as early Cybertronian civilization splinters into a multitude of competing tribes and societies. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} As a result of the destruction of his [[chronal drive]], the [[Decepticon]] [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] is flung twelve million years into the past from the moment of his defeat in the year [[#2012-2013|2013]]. Grievously injured, he spends years wandering the barbarian land until he is found by a peaceful "shepherd" named [[Onyx Prime|Onyx]], who Shockwave recognises as the Cybertronian who will one day be known as Onyx Prime. Shockwave murders Onyx and takes on his identity; he also takes control of Onyx's "flock" of mostly [[beast mode|beast-mode Cybertronians]], taking one particularly fearless individual under his wing as a student and naming him "[[The Fallen|Megatronus]]".

Inspired by [[#10,000 BCE|a previous encounter]] in his youth, Shockwave uses his knowledge of future events to manipulate history on a grand scale, guiding it along the course he learned in his youth, while simultaneously manipulating those around him in the hopes of analyzing why his species falls to civil war; {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} eventually, Shockwave determines that the only hope for his race's future is to destroy its past, and sets about creating every facet of its culture and religion so that he can, in time, reveal it as a falsehood and build a new civilization on a blank slate. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

Prominent tribal leaders soon arise, chief among them the [[Prime (rank)|Primes]]. Five of these Primes—[[Solus Prime|Solus]], [[Nexus Prime|Nexus]], [[Alchemist Prime|Alchemist]], [[Vector Prime|Vector]], [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and their followers—join forces to commemorate Primus by founding the small village of Crystal City. Around the same time, Megatronus—now a powerful warlord in his own right—aims to expand his territory of the [[Darklands]], and after invading and annexing [[Protihex|Protohex]] he recruits the twin gladiators [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]], who slay their capricious master [[Septimus Prime]] and pledge allegiance to Megatronus. His legions conquer the [[Forgotten Plains]], but when Megatronus marches on the Crystal City, he is met by the armies of the Primes, bolstered by the [[Liege Maximo]] and Onyx Prime's bestial legions. Their fighting awakens the original three Titans before Onyx "realizes" that their enemy is his "old friend" Megatronus, leading to ceasefire and a truce—all of which Onyx planned, having unleashed Megatronus on Cybertron to force an alliance between the tribes that would build Cybertronian society. To celebrate the new alliance, Onyx Prime creates a new flag for Cybertron, supposedly based on the visage of Primus himself, but actually based on his foreknowledge of the symbol of the [[Autobot]]s. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:Heavy-TheThirteen.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Cybertron League Unlimited.]]

The alliance is joined by five more Primes, and together they become known as the [[Thirteen]], {{storylink|The Crucible}} each ruling a group of followers that come to be known as the [[Thirteen Tribes]] and commanding the loyalty of gigantic Titans and diminutive [[Titan Master]]s. {{storylink|White Light}} The Primes become the archetypes for future Cybertronians to pattern themselves after, {{storylink|Heavy}} but it doesn't take long before the Thirteen grow drunk on their own arrogance and begin to think themselves above other Cybertronians: indeed, it soon becomes common belief that the Primes are so powerful that only a Prime can kill another Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Origin Myths}}
{{-}}

===10 million BCE===
After leaving Cybertron, the Knights of Cybertron travel the galaxy for many years, "changing and being changed by" the many new [[alien]] races they encounter. However, their adventure takes an unfortunate turn when the Knights contract the degenerative disease [[atrophosia]] through prolonged contact with organic species; around the same time, their fleet lands on the planet [[Mederi]], a planetary euthanasia clinic. The telepathic aliens who control the planet's illusions reconcile the Knights' homesickness with their desire to explore new worlds by creating a "perfect" Cybertron for them to inhabit, a "[[Cyberutopia]]." The Knights, believing they'd found paradise at last, inscribe a map to "Cyberutopia" in the Matrix and send it back to Cybertron before they pass away. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

===8 million BCE===
[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-AntillanWar.jpg|thumb|left|300px|How come Midnight Oil never wrote a song about ''[[Antillan|them]]''?]]

As the Primes govern their planet peacefully, Shockwave, in the guise of Onyx, advises [[Prima]] to spread Cybertron's "enlightenment" to other worlds via colonization. Megatronus, Alpha Trion, Arcee, and Galvatron join [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and the [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinels]] on this mission, the first since the days of the Knights of Cybertron. Their effort to colonize the planet [[Antilla]] leads into a brutal war against the native [[Antillan]]s, which only ends when a desperate Antillan scientist constructs and activates a [[Talisman (G1)|doomsday weapon]] that annihilates ''all'' life on Antilla, its energies wreaking havoc across the galaxy. In the process, the device reaches out across time and space, drawing on the [[magic]] of [[Prysmos]] and creating the [[Dire Wraith]]s and their dark sorcery from it. The resulting dead world is transformed into the dormant [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

Inspired by Onyx Prime's rhetoric of galactic expansion, twelve Titans leave Cybertron at or around the same time, each one the former servant of a Prime. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} They embark on millennia-long deep space voyages, intending to find and colonize distant worlds in an attempt at spreading [[Pax Cybertronia]] across the cosmos. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} These planets include [[Caminus]], [[Velocitron]], [[Eukaris]], {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} and [[Arduria]]. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Some of these planets, such as [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], are aggressively [[Cyberforming|cyberformed]], crushing the native civilizations in the process. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}} Eventually, thirteen planets become closely associated with the Cybertronian species, and history will remember them as the "thirteen colonies," each connected to one of the Primes. <ref> The thirteen colonies are [[LV-117]], [[Gorlam Prime]], [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Caminus]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Arduria]], [[Antilla]], [[Tsiehshi]], [[Velocitron]], [[Carcer]], [[Eukaris]], [[Elonia]], and [[Earth]]. Not all of these planets were shown to have been officially colonized by Cybertronians; in some cases, they are only called colonies due to their close ''association'' with the history of Cybertron, though it's possible that at least some of them hosted true colonies that simply failed. </ref> {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusKillsSolus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Look, Hasbro, we'll give you anything to not have this plot point come up again.]]

After the Antillan mission fails, however, Prima blames Megatronus for the expedition's failure; acting on Onyx's orders, Liege Maximo stokes Megatronus's resentment, leading him to turn on Prima. Solus Prime intervenes in the fight to save Prima's life, but is killed by Megatronus with the Star Saber. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} The betrayal ignites tensions between the thirteen tribes and escalates into the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Heavy}} Megatronus flees the planet, while Liege Maximo is captured by the Primes and imprisoned within his titan, [[Vigilem]], whom the other Titans deem unworthy of remembrance and exile into space. A repentant splinter of Liege Maximo's old tribe agree to keep their former leader and his Titan permanently interred, renaming their dormant Titan "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]". {{storylink|Rubicon}} {{storylink|Heavy}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Onyx Prime allies first with [[Micronus Prime]], {{storylink|White Heat}} and later, [[Nexus Prime]]. Onyx and Nexus utilize the [[Enigma of Combination]] to create an army of [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]: [[combiner]]s between beast-bots and humanoid Transformers. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} The joint faction proves powerful, and the Headmasters see action on distant worlds such as [[Spindrift]]. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 3|Heart of Darkness #3}}

Onyx Prime and Prima hunt down Megatronus aboard Prima's Titan [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]], finding him on the planet [[Tsiehshi]]; Megatronus kills Prima before being slain by Onyx, his usefulness to Shockwave's machinations at an end. Emissary carries Prima's body to the stars, but Onyx ensures that he will crash on [[Elonia|a faraway planet]]. On returning, Onyx tells Alpha Trion that Megatronus and Prima slew each other in final battle. Megatronus's name is soon forgotten by history, and he becomes known only as "the Fallen". {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:TheMindBomb-GalvatronKillsHeadmasters.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Off with his Headmaster.]]

Disgusted by this fusion between beast-bots and his own kind, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] deserts his post in Megatronus's army to begin his own campaign against the Headmasters—a campaign that ends with him killing Nexus Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Disgusted by the idea of combination, Galvatron conceals the Enigma to prevent any future combiners from coming into being. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} {{storylink|The Crucible}} The realization that they are not as invulnerable as they thought provokes many of the Primes to flee Cybertron, with the exception of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Nexus Prime's most devoted servant, a diminutive Titan Master named [[Infinitus]], vows revenge for his master's death and swears allegiance to Onyx Prime before going into hiding. {{storylink|White Light}}

With the war over and the Primes gone, Trion brings together Galvatron and [[Prima]]'s follower [[Nova Prime|Nova Major]] in hopes of reuniting Cybertron. Nova Major agrees, noting that under the principles of [[functionism]], everyone will "know their place". {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:Windblade1 Caminus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The lack of tail fins was a dissapointment.]]

Over time, the surviving members of the Guiding Hand re-emerge under new identities: Solomus as the judge [[Solomus|Tyrest]], Mortilus as the forensic pathologist [[Mortilus|Censere]], and Primus as the unassuming psychiatrist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} Censere is inspired by the death of an [[Tusk|an old friend of his]] to begin a lifelong mission to chronicle the deaths of every Cybertronian; after losing his hometown in the war, he relocates to a [[Necroworld|distant planet]] where he sets up a base of operations, equipped with a [[teleport chamber]] to allow him to record every fatality. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} He is unaware that this "planet," is in fact, a hollow "mould" used to forge multiple copies of Cybertron, utilized by his former brother Adaptus to create a weapon known as the "[[God Gun]]" as part of his ongoing goals. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} Elsewhere, the decapitated head of Epistemus ends up under the care of the [[Omega Guardian]]s and becomes known as "the Magnificence", an artifact able to immediately and accurately answer any question posed to it. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Eventually, however, the [[space bridge]] network between the Titans fails and the colonies are permanently cut off from Cybertron and each other. In their absence, the colonists begin developing their own societies that invariably venerate the Thirteen—and, by extension, all Primes—as deities. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}
{{-}}

===7 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-NovaPrimeAndFriends.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Pastel Age was a soothing time.]]
Alpha Trion and Metroplex work together to explore the surface of Cybertron, {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} until the Titan eventually goes dormant beneath the city of [[Nyon]]. {{storylink|Ruins}}

Nova Major declares himself "Nova Prime". Accompanied by Galvatron, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]], [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], he embarks on a quest into the planet's lowermost reaches. There, they discover the ancient [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], who allies himself with the Prime in the hopes of returning their wartorn planet to its former glory. With Omega Supreme's aid, Nova Prime ushers in Cybertron's "Golden Age". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Under his direction, the Cybertronian empire expands into space, with the [[Primal Vanguard]] serving as offworld peacekeepers. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}}

At some point following the departure of the colony Titans, [[female Transformer]]s disappear from Cybertron under unknown circumstances. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} Arcee, feeling that her "forged male" status has never been true to her spark, approaches Jhiaxus for help; but though the scientist's experiments in reintroducing female Transformers to the now "genderless" Cybertronian species are broadly successful, the invasive process of altering Arcee's CNA gives her her a "maelstrom of contradictory sensory input", and Jhiaxus abandons his now disoriented and homicidal follower. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}} {{storylink|Post}}

===6.7 million BCE===
[[File:Tyrest and the matrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It consisted of our Top Bots."]]

Nova Prime aims to further expand the reach of the Cybertronian race and, inspired by the legends of the Knights of Cybertron, begins planning what he calls the "[[Expansion]]", a massive wave of interplanetary colonization and conquest aimed at establishing "[[Pax Cybertronia]]" across the known galaxy. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} To do so, he requires a fresh generation of new Cybertronians, but, around this time, the life-giving, [[hot spot]]-igniting pulse waves of Vector Sigma slow down. Nova tasks a team of scientists, led by Tyrest, with extracting new sparks from the [[Matrix of Leadership]], exponentially boosting the Cybertronian population and dividing Cybertronians along [[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|"forged" or "cold constructed"]] lines. A "first wave" of new Transformers is created; additional Sparks are stored until bodies can be created for them.

The process ends after a scientist has a crisis of conscience, steals the Matrix, and replaces it with a forgery while hiding the real one underground. The team simply assumes that they have bled the Matrix dry and the project is abandoned. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

Hoping to rediscover the lost art of combination, Nova Prime conspires with Jhiaxus in an attempt to replicate combiner technology, seeking a process that allows sentient minds to be merged into one in the pursuit of peace—eliminating all free will save his own, a society where "all are one". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Galvatron, still opposed to the existence of combiners, secretly launches Nexus's [[Enigma of Combination]] into space to put it beyond Jhiaxus's reach. It lands on [[Earth]], in the region that will one day be known as [[Mesopotamia]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

In deep space, Onyx Prime and his Titan [[Chela]] make planetfall on [[Eukaris]], an uninhabited jungle world. Using the [[hot spot]] within his Titan, Onyx oversees the development of a new civilization of [[beast mode]] Transformers, free to live without the stigma surrounding beast modes. He eventually departs, but instructs Chela to guard his colony from any intruding "standard-formers". {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}}

Aware of Galvatron's gambit from his past experiences as Shockwave, Onyx correctly deduces that Nexus's artifact has landed on Earth and dispatches a Titan Master named [[Sovereign]] to find the artifact and summon the Prime when he had found it. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Abandoning his colony Titan, [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Micronus Prime]] creates and then retreats into the sub-atomic realm of [[Microspace]]. {{storylink|White Heat}} {{storylink|O Ship of State}} {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===6.5 million BCE===
With the Cybertronian population growing exponentially under [[Nova Prime]]'s program of expansion, Jhiaxus's student [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] begins planning for an inevitable energon shortage by developing a [[Ore-14|self-regenerating energy source]]. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

===6 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-Monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|They did, in fact, ask for this.]]
After a long period of experimentation, Jhiaxus creates [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] from six volunteers. Though physically powerful, Monstructor is also violently insane as a result of the crude combination process, and Nova Prime's enthusiasm for the creature prompts Omega Supreme and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]] to turn on him. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}}

While Omega Supreme is occupied battling the beast, Nova Prime and Jhiaxus depart Cybertron in the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' to begin their work, with notable crew members Galvatron, {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]], [[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]], {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}} and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} A young 'bot named [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], born only two weeks previously, is part of the crew responsible for cleaning out the craft's coolant tubes before take-off. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} He runs late and tries taking a shortcut across the fragile [[Mitteous Plateau]], which results in him falling into stasis underground for several million years. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:DarkCybertron01-setcoursefortheanomaly.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"We'll simply set a new course, for that empty region over there, near that blackish, hole-ish thing."]]

After a prolonged battle, Omega defeats Monstructor and locks him away in an inter-dimensional prison {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} and entrusts [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], one of two remaining Titans on Cybetrtron, to Dai Atlas. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things}} The [[Crystal City]] is destroyed, but not before Shockwave plants a seed of [[Ore-14]] within. The defeat of Monstructor allows Shockwave to realize that his old teacher had flaws of his own; Shockwave takes up the mantle of his teacher, striving to study and better his erstwhile master's works. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Around this time he begins to investigate the history of ancient Cybertron. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Nova Prime's ''Ark'' is subsequently lost in the [[Benzuli Expanse]], transported to the [[Dead Universe]]. All aboard perish and are resurrected as undead creatures to serve the will of the [[D-Void]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

With Nova Prime gone, Cybertron enters a brief period known as the [[Interregnum]]. Unaware that it's a fake, [[Delta Magnus]] of the Primal Vanguard safeguard the Matrix of Leadership until a new bearer can be found. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Cybertron suffers from a lack of energy in the wake of Nova's expansion program, and tensions emerge.

Those who were constructed cold face institutionalized apartheid; {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} although this eventually ends due to mounting public pressure, including mass protests and marches. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} However, intrinsic prejudice against constructed cold Transformers persists in among a sizable percentage of the population. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

After a period of unrest, [[Nominus Prime]] becomes the next Matrix-bearer, though by this point the office of "Prime" is largely subordinate to the new, but increasingly corrupt, [[Senate]]. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} At some point around this time, Cybertronian datekeeping switches to a [[New Calendar]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} [[Functionism|Functionist]] sentiment becomes an institution of society overseen by the [[Functionist Council]], with robots expected to stick to a single job determined by their [[alternate mode]]. [[Militant Monoform Movement|Monoformers]], those without alt mode, face shape-hate. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Unable to determine what [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] does, the Council classifies him as an "[[Ornament class|ornament]]"... {{storylink|Little Victories}} unaware that the unassuming psychiatrist, is, in fact, Primus. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:RID17 senator shockwave.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You can tell it's advanced because it's glowing.]]
The Senate use the sinister network of secret facilities known as the [[Institute]] root out and quash dissent through [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] techniques like [[shadowplay]]. The Functionist Council becomes fond of subjecting criminals to a barbaric head-and-hand replacement ritual known as [[empurata]]. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Shockwave joins the Senate in the hopes of precipitating real change on Cybertron and founds the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]] in memory of his old teacher. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

As a result of their increasingly stagnant and moribund society, neighboring alien races start calling the Cybertronians "Autobots": an insult, meaning "automatons". {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

At an unknown point, the Omega Guardians "ascend" to the "[[Higher Realms]]", becoming four-dimensional beings. They leave the Magnificence on [[Ki-Aleta]], protected by statue-like automatons. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Eventually, one of them seeks to return to three-dimensional space through a rift in the [[Benzene Cluster]], but is killed in the attempt, with their four-dimensional corpse becoming the knot of quantum tunnels known as the [[Warren]], spanning all of space and time. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering}}
{{-}}

===5 million BCE===
[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Would you kill baby Megatron?]]
The experimental ship ''[[Lost Light|Unitrex-1]]'' is commissioned and constructed in the city of [[Unitrex]], designed to house a prototype [[quantum generator]]. Before it can launch, [[time travel]]ling [[Autobot]]s from the future infiltrate the vessel, searching for a way to recharge their [[time case|time machine]]. Hoping to use the ship’s engine to provide the necessary jump-start, [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] uses [[Perceptor (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Perceptor]]'s knowledge of future quantum science to upgrade the ''Unitrex-1''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s generator so that it can perform the task, and retroactively creates the very first quantum generator. A reaction between the case and generator causes the vessel to quantum jump away through time and space. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

A watchmaker named [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] attempts to leave the [[Aerial Corps]] and follow his true passion as a watchmaker. Though initially successful due to a moderate functionary pemitting the change, the Council catches word of his blasphemy and engineer his downfall via a local criminal syndicate. In the aftermath, he is subjected to [[empurata]], leaving him destitute, and, eventually, he is convinced to join the Senate's security forces. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}}
[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] is constructed cold in [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], intended to house a spark from the Matrix of Leadership. The same Autobots from the future interfere with his development, extinguishing the original spark. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

The time travel misadventure creates a [[Functionist Universe|divergent timeline]] where Megatron was never constructed at all. Before this alternate universe can overwrite reality, the future Whirl replaces Megatron's spark with a forged [[Point One Percenter]] spark harvested from the future. This action returns history to its proper course and gives rise to the first and only "hybrid" Transformer. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} Megatron spends his early life hoping to become a medic, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} but the tenets of Functionism means that he instead becomes a miner, working at [[Nova Point]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] is brought online from a sparkfield in Iacon; the [[blacksmith]], impressed with his size, invites Alpha Trion to bear witness to his birth. With many options available to him thanks to his truck alternate mode, Orion joins the Iacon police force, but is disturbed by the violence and cynicism inherent in the system. {{storylink|Post}}

Sickened by the caste-based brutality of Nominus Prime's Cybertron, Megatron writes a [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|treatise]] arguing in favor of non-violent dissent and the peaceful exchange of ideas. His ideas prove popular among Cybertron's menial classes, attracting a growing movement that threatens the sovereignty of the Senate. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

While discussing his ideas with his friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] at [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]], the two are caught in a bar brawl {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} accidentally caused by the same time-hopping Autobots from the future. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} The fight sees both Megatron and Impactor arrested; hoping to use the event to silence Megatron, the Senate send Whirl to visit Megatron's cell to permanently silence him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

[[File:ChaosTheory2 orion addresses senate.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lend me your audio receptors.]]
Orion Pax, now a police captain, manages to arrange for Megatron's release before Whirl can finish him off, saving his life. Orion discovers Megatron's readings, and, moved by them, decides to confront the Senate, deciding to 'reclaim' the slur Autobot as short for "autonomous robot". Orion's diatribe inspires Shockwave, who has been searching for promising young Cybertronians, to befriend the police captain in the hopes of nudging him into bearing the Matrix of Leadership. Shockwave arranges for his release and repair, adding a new Matrix chamber to his chest in the repair process. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Megatron, however, comes to the realization that peaceful dissent will not be enough to unseat the Senate—and that violence makes a more powerful statement. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Shortly afterwards, several Senators make a grab for more power by ordering an attack on Nominus Prime, using it as an excuse to obtain the Matrix of Leadership and enforce more control over an increasingly unruly Cybertronian populace. During the [[Primal Procession]], Nominus is attacked by a suicide bomber and rendered comatose. The public is told that Nominus is merely in hiding while the Senate investigate the comatose Prime, hoping to use their head of security [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel]] to tap into the power of the Matrix. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} Unbeknownst to all, "Sentinel" is, in reality, a false identity constructed by [[Infinitus]], using his [[Titan Master]] powers to disguise himself as a normal Cybertronian. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Sentinel's attempts prove fruitless, but expose an ancient secret: Nominus Prime's "Matrix" is a fake holdover from the days of Nova Prime's reign. Realizing this, the Senate sees no use keeping the Prime around and kill him, releasing a cover story that he passed away from a [[rust]] infection.
Thus bolstered, the Senate impose the [[Clampdown (event)|Clampdown]], limiting the rights and social mobilities of all Cybertronians. Ostensibly, this is to root out terrorists and tighten security, in reality, it is an opportunity for Senators to track down and silence those who contest their rule. The injustice proves useful for the growing "[[Decepticon]]" movement, basing themselves off Megatron's [[w:Samizdat|samizdat]] writings.

[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."]]
As part of attempts to limit any future Decepticon uprisings, the Senate has Megatron transferred to an offworld mine on [[Messatine]] to limit his influence. {{storylink| Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} There, he meets [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly miner who encourages him to keep writing. Terminus helps smuggle each new work back to Cybertron, continuing the spread of the Decepticon movement. The Senate eventually tries to cut the problem off at the source, deploying [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] to try and rewire Megatron's mind through shadowplay. Megatron escapes the procedure due to a nearby explosion and subsequent evacuation—in reality, the explosion is caused by [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] jumping backwards through time. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}} Afterwards Megatron publishes his magnum opus, ''[[Towards Peace]]'', which will eventually become the Decepticon manifesto. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[File:Shadowplay3-SenatorWho.jpg|thumb|right|250px|We can rebuild him. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. More logical.]]
As part of a complicated plan to eliminate the threat the Decepticons pose to their social order, Senator [[Proteus]] promises to recognize the Decepticons as a legitimate political entity if 10,000 of them register as such, actually a method of gathering names for future shadowplay. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} To discredit the growing movement, the Senate intends to stage a bombing that will be pinned on the Decepticons. The scheme is foiled by Orion Pax, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], and a trio of [[outlier]]s comprising [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Tarn (DJD)|Damus]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]. They succeed, but as a repercussion, his friend Senator Shockwave is brainwashed and subjected to empurata and shadowplay by the Institute. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Realizing that he has been "liberated" from the constraints of emotions, Shockwave continues his [[Regenesis|energy research]] in secret. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Thanks to the influence of the Senate, Sentinel is installed as the new Matrix-bearer and becomes “Sentinel Prime”. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Sentinel reorganizes the Senate's security forces into the [[Elite Guard#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Elite Guard]], a collection of thuggish bruisers. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} Infinitus quietly uses his Titan Master talents to assemble a legion of sleeper agents that will join his side should the need arise, including [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]]. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] joins his security services and eventually becomes Sentinel's second-in-command. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Hoping to take out the bot responsible for the heist, Sentinel Prime's forces try to track down Orion Pax and his friends, forcing them to go on the run. While on the lam, he meets the ambitious [[Zeta Prime|Zeta]], another of Shockwave's handpicked wunderkind. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}
{{-}}

===4.2 million BCE===
On [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]], [[Thymesis Energon mining facility]] workers [[Frak]] and [[Rushcut]] uncover a [[Point One Percenter]] [[spark]] beneath the moon's surface, the first in ten generations. The spark will become [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

===4 million BCE===
[[File:BirthsDeathsAndInterventions-OutlawPax.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You seem familiar. Ain't I killed you before?"]]
By this time, Cybertronian society is growing increasingly secular, and as a result the role of the Functionist Council in society has greatly diminished. When the Senate catches wind of a new hand-shaped [[hot spot]] in [[Alyon]] that seemingly proves the existence of the supernatural Guiding Hand, they send the Elite Guard to secure the site, cover its existence from prying Functionist eyes, and use the newborn sparks within for experimentation. Orion Pax and his fugitives clash with the Senate for control of the hot spot, and with the help of some time-travelling Autobots they are successful in defending the location. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

With Messatine abandoned, Megatron is transferred to [[Mining Outpost C-12]] on [[Croteus 12]]. Growing increasingly frustrated with his life, he works there for a period of time until Senator [[Decimus]] automates the mine, leaving the miners unemployed. When Decimus and his thuggish police force arrives to announce the closure of the facility, the reaction sparks a riot—and in the chaos, Megatron takes his first life. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}} Megatron and his fellow miners escape in a shuttle to join the illegal [[Gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial games]] beneath the city of [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Megatron takes over the games and is approached by [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]], an emissary of Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], to cause terror throughout Cybertron. Thousands of new Decepticons join the cause, including the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s, who help rebuild the motley collection of gladiators into full-on warriors. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}}

During this period, Shockwave is approached by Starscream, who brings him before Megatron. Realizing that Shockwave has a goal of his own, but with no interest in what it actually ''is'', Megatron offers the former senator the freedom and resources that the Senate cannot provide. In exchange, Shockwave will use his scientific talents to study and improve on Jhiaxus's technology in the hopes of creating a functioning [[combiner]] for the Decepticons. Shockwave accepts the offer, though he notes that it will take a very long time. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|thumb|right|250px|"I could make a giant purple griffin out of stolen automobiles..."]]
Megatron unites his gladiators under the Decepticon banner and arranges their "capture" by Sentinel Prime's forces. Once captured, [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] and Soundwave's forces massacre the Senate, and release the Decepticons from prison so they can overrun the security force's HQ. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} News of the Decepticon uprising reaches Sentinel Prime, and the Prime dons his [[Apex Armor (G1)|Apex Armor]] to make a final stand against the Decepticons in Kaon. He loses the ensuing duel with Megatron, and the Decepticon leader fashions his defeated enemy's armor into a throne. With Kaon now a Decepticon stronghold, the security forces withdraw to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

Sentinel Prime's body is laid to rest within the [[Primal Basilica]]... but while "Sentinel Prime" has publicly perished, ''Infinitus'' lives on, and the tiny head-bot abandons his old body and goes into hiding underneath Kaon. Neither the Senate nor the Decepticons are able to explain the mysterious loss of the corpse's head. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

Zeta subsequently steps up as the next Prime. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} His leadership—relying heavily on pageantry and theatrical displays of force—restores a semblance of order to Cybertron, forcing the Decepticons back underground for the time being. Orion Pax returns to the force, helping to keep the peace in these troubled times; {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} he asks [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to teach him how to be a ''soldier'' and not just a cop. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Orion Pax and Zeta help to reshape Cybertron's disorganized security forces into a counter-terrorism army dubbed the "[[Autobot]]s". {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Zeta begins reorganizing Cybertron in ways large and small, "pushing Cybertronian society as fast as it can go". {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} Among other things, he gives more rights to members of the [[disposable class]], a political move spurred in part by the writings and campaigning of noted adventurer and rhetorician [[Dominus Ambus]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} Under his leadership, Zeta brings back the Senate as the "New Senate", but he also secretly resuscitates the [[Institute]] and turns it into "The New Institute" for his own uses. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

With the Decepticon movement now publicly recognized as a terrorist movement, Zeta takes numerous actions to root out illegal activity, which eventually leads to shutting down popular venues like racetracks. This temporarily puts star racer [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]] out of the spotlight. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Orion Pax later oversees a hostage exchange with the Decepticons. This is a trick to capture the wise [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], so the Decepticons can use him to find a Titan and gain spacebridge technology. Pax prevents this. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum|Spotlight: Orion Pax}}

[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] is stranded in the [[Rust Sea|Rust Spot]] and develops a fear of solitude. {{storylink|The Waiting Game|Spotlight: Hoist}} Blurr gets caught in Autobot/Decepticon crossfire, but Orion convinces him to turn his self-confidence to the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}}

[[File:DanceAmongTheShadows-zetaprime.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ah, I could just look at myself all day.]]
On the Decepticon side of things, growing tension causes ideological rifts among the community. a sizeable portion of Decepticons maintain that their movement should be one of pacifism, but others—bolstered by Megatron's recent actions—begin preparing for all-out war by amassing weapons from offworld. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 3: Behind My Bleeding Back|Behind My Bleeding Back}} Decepticon gunrunner [[Hefter]] finds himself on the wrong side of the law when Zeta's forces crack down on the Decepticons, and his death in police custody sparks a larger inquiry that involves Orion Pax. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} With the help of [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] and conflicted Decepticon pacifist [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]], Orion succeeds in uncovering exposing [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]] and [[Horri-Bull]]'s Decepticon cell, but his experiences leave him embittered and ready to go to war against the Decepticons. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

A young Cybertronian named [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] joins the Autobots after the Decepticons trick him into delivering explosives through his dreams. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}

With war looming on the horizon, Prowl forms an alliance with the neutral scientist [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Together, they create many weapons and devices that will see use in the upcoming conflict, but Prowl eventually has a crisis of conscience and recruits Impactor to dispose of his increasingly depraved comrade. Impactor does so in exchange for having [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] released, but finds himself unable to kill "Ostaros", an artificial Cybertronian created in the lab. Instead, he inducts the young "Transformer" into the Autobots as "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

Megatron holds [[Declaration Day]], officially announcing the commencement of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Zeta and Orion work to fight back against the Decepticons, but Zeta Prime's ruthlessness pushes him to create the [[vamparc ribbon]], which drains energon from his own citizens and other insurgents. Horrified by his leader, Orion Pax turns on him and forges an alliance with Megatron to overthrow the tyrannical Prime. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[File:Autocracy9 pax becomes prime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|He's getting The Touch.]]
They succeed, and Megatron kills Zeta in an action later remembered as "the gunshot that killed a civilization". {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Megatron immediately betrays Orion, casts him into the depths of Cybertron, and declares himself ruler of the planet. Lost underground, Orion discovers the long-lost true Matrix and is turned into [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Optimus uses his new connection with the Matrix to awaken the dormant Metroplex and rally a new army against Megatron's dictatorship. The new army of Autobots drive the Decepticons out of Iacon, setting the stage for all-out war. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] is finally (reluctantly) accepted for a scouting mission and crashlands on [[LV-117]]. He spends a period of time getting beaten up by giant spiders, picking his arm out of giant lizard dung, and sending a distress signal.<ref>In "[[Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination]]", Rodimus claims that Wheelie disappeared shortly after Rodimus joined the Autobots, which he did in ''Autocracy''.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Megatron is overthrown and exiled to [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who destroys Cybertron's last major source of energon and awakens the ancient monster [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. Aided by the [[Quintesson]] [[Pentius]], Megatron is able to return and defeat the beast alongside [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity}}

[[File:Drift2-somewhereinconspicuous.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Are you ''sure'' this is the Heleus Cluster?]]
Alarmed by the energon crisis and escalating hostilities, numerous Cybertronians began evacuating the planet in the [[Exodus (G1)|Exodus]], a mass diaspora of neutrals, conscientious objectors, and other non-participants in the war. Dai Atlas and Tyrest oversee the safe evacuation of approximately 10-20 million refugees. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} Among the evacuees are the [[Circle of Light]], who secretly depart Cybertron aboard [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]] and establish a hidden city on the planet of [[Theophany]]. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} A group of [[Mortilus]]-worshiping neutrals discover the drifting ''Unitrex-1'' near [[Vela Pulsar]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} They take custody of the abandoned ship for the duration of the war, keeping a mutated [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] aboard docile by feeding it [[turbofox]]es. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

Megatron revives Trypticon using Pentius's spark and gathers the scattered Decepticon forces for a full-scale assault on the Autobots, but Optimus Prime cleanses him of the Quintesson's influence and captures him, {{storylink|The Transformers: Primacy|Primacy}} though he is soon freed by a Decepticon raid. {{storylink|Post}}

At some point after this, the original [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] dies under mysterious circumstances. Hoping to keep the legend of the immortal lawman alive, Tyrest creates the [[Magnus Armor]] and recruits [[Point One Percenter|load-bearer]] Autobots to wear it, effectively becoming Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

With both sides searching for a way to bolster their numbers, Cybertronians discover reserves of cryogenically frozen [[Spark]]s created via Nova Prime's Matrix bleeding. These new sparks are used to create new Transformers which become known as "[[M.T.O.|Made to Order]]" soldiers for specific campaigns in what is later termed the "Silver Harvest". {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

The Decepticons move to conquer several nearby cities, and their string of major victories is remembered as the [[Fall of the First Five Cities]] —the conquests of [[Vos (polity)|Vos]], [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], [[Helex (polity)|Helex]], Kaon, and [[Tesarus (polity)|Tesarus]]. {{Storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} These cities become the inspiration for the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], who name their five operatives after the cities. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

Optimus Prime and Megatron repeatedly clash over the course of the war; their very first showdown at the Battle of [[Sherma Bridge]] (2nd Cycle 087) becomes legendary. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} Early into the war, Optimus Prime turns down Megatron's first and only invitation for an Autobot surrender. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] is injured saving Optimus Prime from an [[Axer (G1)|assassin]]. {{storylink|The Iron Age}}
Tyrest attempts to broker peace between the two sides. His efforts ultimately fail, but do result in the creation of the [[Tyrest Accord]], limiting the spread of Transformer technology to other races. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

[[File:ALonelyPillarOnThePlain-BattleOfJunkion.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You weren't there, man. You don't know.]]

The Autobot-Decepticon war expands beyond Cybertron and encompasses many other worlds, and thousands of battles occur both on and off Cybertron over a period of time. During this period, Shockwave leads a detachment back to Junkion in order to recruit the natives. They are opposed by Prowl; the struggle goes on, neither side able to gain an advantage over the other, until one faction decides to detonate the planet entirely to keep it out of the other's hands. The surviving Junkions, led by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and [[Rum-Maj]], flee the destruction of their home aboard a [[Quintesson Cruiser|gigantic vessel]] and become galactic nomads. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}}
{{-}}

===3 million BCE===
A battle takes place on the planet [[Clemency]] for control of the [[Nightmare Engine]], and a flight of [[K-Class]] Decepticons succeed in killing a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

The early phases of the war culminate in the destructive [[Simanzi Massacre]], a cataclysmic battle over the [[Crucible]]. Details are unclear, but the fallout from the conflict irradiates a sizeable percentage of the planet while cutting the Cybertronian population in half. Among the casualties is a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} The Simizani Massacre leads to the [[Forced Flood]] and the [[Endless Retaliation]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

[[File:Omniglobes.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Electrohamster balls were a popular accessory for the well-equipped commanding officer.]]
Bolstered by their victories, the Decepticons form the [[Constellate]], marking the peak of Decepticon power. In this brief period, the Decepticons conquer and colonize many worlds, using grandiose weapons of war like the gigantic [[Worldsweeper]]-class warships. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}} The devastation visited on other races is enough to prompt the [[Galactic Council]] to permanently blacklist the Cybertronian race, {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} and develop anti-Cybertronian weapons to safeguard their member worlds from future destruction. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

With both sides now defending on-planet and offworld footings, the conflict enters a state of total war as both sides pour all available resources into defeating the other. Optimus and Megatron seal themselves inside [[omniglobe]]s to direct the war effort. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Eventually, the Constellate collapses, marking the decline of the Decepticon's imperial phase. Imperial assets are recalled to Cybertron to fight on the home front. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Mtmte 48 grindcore.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Comes with its own cheerful [[The Empyrean Suite|theme tune]]!]]
Skids joins the Autobots as a "bomb negotiator", disabling [[anti-personal mine]]s. One negotiation session goes wrong and lands him in the notorious [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]]. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} There, he befriends [[Quark]] and catches the attention of Decepticon Damus—Skids's old friend, now a Decepticon. Damus plays a sadistic game where the Autobot repairs the camp's "teleporter", in reality a smelting chamber, and then kills the fifty Autobots he promised to send away, including Quark. The experience proves traumatic enough for Skids to suppress the memory. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} At some point after this, Damus is promoted and joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] as "Tarn". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

Skids eventually escapes prison and joins the Autobot [[Diplomatic Corps]], working to persuade other races to support the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

After several other Magnus Armor wearers succumb to battlefield injuries or ailments, [[Minimus Ambus]] becomes the latest and longest-serving bearer of the Armor. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}
{{--}}

==100,000+ years ago==
===650,000 BCE===
Shockwave realises Cybertron will soon die and fully launches [[Regenesis]]; using [[energon]] as a catalyst, he launches thirteen specific ores at thirteen distant planets.<ref>"Six Hundred Thousand Meta-Cycles Ago"</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Unbeknownst to the younger Shockwave, these planets are the thirteen colonies of Cybertronian legend, an ontological paradox set up years beforehand by his future self in the guise of "Onyx Prime." {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing}}

===500,000 BCE===
Shockwave leaves Cybertron to begin examining the fruits of Regenesis. Over the ensuing thousands of years, he discovers that the ores that have formed on the different planets have taken on wildly different attributes, and begins formulating a scheme to use them in conjunction to achieve his dream of fuelling Cybertron forever. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} Alpha Trion takes Metroplex off Cybertron to keep him out of Megatron's hands and investigate Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

Still searching for usable Titan technology, Megatron has a team of Decepticons led by [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] search outer space for Metroplex. Crew member [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] finds the Titan, but has a crisis of conscience and ends up letting him go. {{storylink|The Hunting Party (IDW)|The Hunting Party}} Another member, [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], is able to find and injure [[Quintessa (IDW)|another Titan]], causing it to teleport to [[Gorlam Prime]] where it goes dormant. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}}

===18,000 BCE===
Returning to Antilla aboard the titan [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]], Onyx Prime and his [[Maximal]]s uncover the core of the Unicron device, which he dubs the "[[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]]". {{storylink|Our Finest}} Knowing its destructive potential, Onyx entrusts the device to the Maximal crew of the ''[[Axalon]]'', sending them on a deep-space mission to locate the [[Enigma of Combination]] in the knowledge that their quest would take them to Earth; {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Centurion's profile}} Onyx's ultimate goal for the Talisman is for it to poison Cybertron and act as bait to draw in and destroy Unicron, leaving the Transformers freed of their past and able to begin again on Earth. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}} {{storylink|Our Finest}}

===10,000 BCE===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-IceAgeWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''All this has happened before All this shall happen again'']]
The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] attack a Decepticon-held Energon silo in [[Sub-Sector-Nine]]. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1}} Later, they depart Cybertron to hunt down Shockwave in pursuit of revenge for a past defeat. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

The ''Axalon'', needing to refuel, stops by prehistoric Earth after tracking the energon surges from Shockwave's experiments. Shockwave, present to check on his work, shoots them down, and the crash scrambles their memories. As an experiment, he brainwashes and retrofits the crew to think they are prominent Autobots and Decepticons so he can run the "[[Ice Age Wars]]", a control experiment of the Great War while he studies the Talisman.<ref>A caption says [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] hasn't been on the ''Axalon'' for "twenty thousand years", which clashes with ''Spotlight: Shockwave'' but does put this nicely in the Ice Age.</ref> {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===8390 BCE===
[[File:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"A six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the the middle toe. He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say... no no. He slashes at you here, or here..."]]
The Ice Age has ended<ref>The real Ice Age ended several thousand years earlier.</ref> and Ore-13 has started to grow unstable. Shockwave abandons his miniature Great War to stabilize Ore-13 but the Dynobots—seeking revenge and sporting energon-shielded beast modes—have finally tracked him down, and they engage him in combat. While he defeats them, he is deactivated by a failsafe set by Grimlock, as the Dynobots' ship triggers a volcanic eruption which buries all six in what would later become [[Eureka]], [[Nevada]].<ref>Shockwave specifies in [[Maximum Dinobots issue 5|''Maximum Dinobots'' #5]] that he has been waiting for "ten thousand, three hundred and ninety-six years, two months and three days".</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} The abandoned ''Axalon'' crew fight on for a time, but low energon levels eventually force them all into hibernation in secluded regions. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Megatron assigns Bludgeon to investigate Shockwave's projects {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}—and Soundwave to watch over Bludgeon. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] is rescued from the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] by an [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|unknown Autobot]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Jazz}}

[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] crashlands on an unnamed planet and spends a period of time there watching over young aliens named [[Kita]] and [[Coll]] until Kita dies when Cliffjumper is discovered by Decepticons. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cliffjumper}}

A Decepticon named [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] leaves [[Turmoil]]'s command when he feels disillusioned by what the civil war had become, and he stumbles across the Circle of Light. {{storylink|Drift issue 1}} His coming prompts the Circle to raise their hidden city above ground. {{storylink|Drift issue 4}}

===3000 BCE===
At some point before this period of time, ancient humans discover the Enigma of Combination. The influence of the Enigma "combines" their thoughts and ideas, allowing them to to work together and found the city of [[Uruk (Earth)|Uruk]].<ref> Issue 37 of ''The Transformers'' claims that this only happened 2000 years ago, which contradicts historical events alluded to in later issues ''and'' real life; Uruk existed as far back as 4000 years ago, and was far from the first civilization. </ref> {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}}

Sumerians develop an early civilization. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===2560 BCE===
The [[Pyramid]]s are constructed. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}} Around this time, the Talisman somehow winds up underneath the [[Tomb of Altomec]] in [[Dahshur]], [[Egypt]]. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

==100+ years ago==
[[File:GhostStories-onyxprime.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Tirac|Tirek]] got a big makeover for his ''[[My Little Pony|Friendship is Magic]]'' appearance.]]
Over time, the colony world of Caminus runs low on resources and energon, becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the galaxy. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} At an indeterminate point in time, while Caminus still has functioning interstellar ships, the inhabitants detect an emergency beacon from the planet [[Antilla]]; however, the explorers find the planet dead and rusted, and inhabited only by Onyx Prime and his army. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} The surviving explorers flee back to Caminus, but after some years are followed back there by Onyx, who attacks the village [[Parvus Oppidum]] and claims the life of [[Praesidia Magna]], leader of the [[Torchbearer]]s and one of the explorers. Her subordinate [[Pyra Magna|Pyra]] steps up as leader, {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} while the [[Mistress of Flame]] covers up the attack. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}}

===603 BCE===
The [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s put down local resistance in the [[Skomiloch Territories]]. They remain while [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]] rules a mini-empire there. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Snare's personnel evaluation}}

===27 BCE===
Octavian establishes the Roman Empire as {{w|Emperor Augustus}}. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===220===
The Han Dynasty in Ancient [[China]] ends. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1320===
[[Dante Alighieri]] publishes ''{{w|The Divine Comedy}}''—in reality, an allegorical exploration of the ideals and long-term goals oft the ancient conspiracy [[Cobra]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1408===
Fortress Maximus is instated as warden of [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

===1516===
Runaway [[blacksmith]] turned adventurer-archeologist [[Anode]] and her conjunx endura [[Lug (IDW)|Lug]] travel to [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]] at the behest of their employer, the mysterious "[[Adaptus|Grand Architect]]", in search of a rare piece of "[[Living metal #IDW Generation 1 continuity|widowed metal]]". They run afoul of a Decepticon [[Cybernought]], but Censere, as the "Necrobot", intervenes. He spirits Anode away through time and space, but Lug is left behind and perishes. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}}

Arcee, who Anode had offered to help with her trauma from Jhiaxus's experiments, is left even more unstable by her sudden disappearance, {{storylink|Post}} and ends up on a violent rampage trying to track down Jhiaxus and destroy everything he created; she is eventually stopped by Ultra Magnus, who has her spark extracted and imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

===1550===
[[File:Thunderwingwhathaveyoudone.jpg|thumb|250px|{{w|Pod People}}.]]
Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron—between ever-dwindling supplies of energon and the fallout caused by millennia of warfare—will soon be entirely uninhabitable. Believing that the Transformers must find a way to adapt to changing planetary conditions, he develops an upgrade based off of "[[Pretender|polydermal grafting]]" procedures. Unfortunately, he uses himself as a test subject for the process and, driven mad, he ends up destroying the planet even faster before perishing.<ref>700 stellar-cycles ago, so if a stellar cycle is ~7.5 months, then presumptively ~437 years ago.</ref> {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Shortly after Thunderwing's rampage, Soundwave uses [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] to take control of [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]]. Beachcomber attempts to assassinate [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], leaving him adrift in space. The Decepticons began a massive offensive against the demoralized Autobots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}} It's all for naught anyway as the planet is soon abandoned, a lifeless, radiation-saturated wreck. With Cybertron now completely uninhabitable, the war does not abate, but moves permanently off-planet. {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Following the loss of Cybertron, the nature of the war changes, becoming a series of cloak-and-dagger operations on alien worlds. The Decepticon war machine reorganizes around the [[infiltration protocol]], a step-by-step process by which Decepticons covertly infiltrate a planet's society and manipulate events to bring it down from within. As part of this process, three of the [[Warriors Elite]] are promoted to [[Phase Sixer]]s, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—who promptly deserts from the Decepticon army. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}
{{-}}

===1586===
[[United Kingdom|England]] creates the original [[Action Man]] Programme. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1610===
{{w|Galileo Galilei|Galileo}} charts the moons of [[Jupiter]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1700s===
Incumbent Magnus Armor wearer Minimus Ambus is critically injured in the line of duty, requiring him to step down as Ultra Magnus for a prolonged period. He is replaced as the armor's wearer by [[Convoy (G1)|Convoy]], a hot-headed Autobot with a disdain for organic life. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

Around this time, the [[Prysmos]]ian sorcerer [[Merklynn]], disgusted by his home planet's technological advancements, plots to reverse their technological development and does so by casting a spell that brings the system's three suns into alignment with one another, shutting down machinery across the planet. {{storylink|Cybertron No More}} In the ensuing "Age of Magic", he and his "[[Visionaries]]" keep the peace until catastrophe strikes: as the suns move back out of alignment, the gravitational forces unleashed tear the world apart, and only a handful of Prysmosians escape its destruction. Merklynn goes out into the galaxy in the hopes of finding a new world to colonize: a quest that, eventually, leads him to [[Earth]]. {{storylink|Schismatic}} Though Merklynn believes the de-alignment to have been the fault of his own miscalculations, the true cause was the creation of Unicron, which had harnessed the [[Magic|arcana vast]] from across time and space, destroying Prysmos in the process. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

===1800===
Following the destruction of his homeworld [[Elonia]] at the hands of the evil [[Dire Wraith]]s, [[Rom|Rom K'atsema]] joins the [[Solstar Order]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

Shortly afterwards, the Dire Wraiths discover Earth, drawn to Shockwave's supplies of [[Ore-13]] to amplify their powerful dark magic. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} Using their shapeshifting talents, Dire Wraith scouts begin infiltrating the worlds' governments and militaries, preparing for an eventual encounter with the Space Knight. {{istorylink|Earthfall: Part Three}}

===1830s===
[[File:Shining Armor 4 - Ultra Vekktral vs Starscream.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"]]
A Galactic Council ship destroys a Camien vessel in the [[Gray Area]]. One protoform survives, recovered by [[Rom]] and taken to the Solstar Order, where the protoform matures into [[Stardrive]]. After some years the Cybertronian joins the Order's Space Knights as a cadet, though she is often excluded and made to feel unwanted thanks to anti-Cybertronian prejudice.

The [[energon synthesizer]] the Order have developed for Stardrive draws the attention of [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], whose Decepticons ally with the Dire Wraith [[Vekktral]] and attack the attack the [[Orchid Crossing]] space station in order. The battle draws the attention of an Autobot ship commanded by Convoy's Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 1|Shining Armor #1}} The ensuing fight sees the Autobots team up with the Solstar Knights to counter the Decepticon/Dire Wraith alliance as both parties battle it out on the frozen world of [[Xetaxxis]], Wraith leader [[Vekktral]] using his [[magic]] to create monstrous Wraith-Cybertronian hybrids. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 3|Shining Armor #3}} The battle ends with Starscream destroying the energon synthesizer and sterilizing half of the planet in the process, forcing the heroes to retreat and wiping out Vekktral and his Dire Wraiths. The experience leaves Stardrive unwilling to continue fighting in the Space Knights' war; abandoning her allies, she takes up residence on a distant planet... unaware that she has been infected by a fragment of Wraith biomatter.

Bumblebee returns with the Magnus Armor to the Autobot fleet, where Minimus Ambus—recovered from his injuries—takes up the mantle once more. The Galactic Council and the Solstar Order formally decide to keep to their own sectors of space rather than getting caught up in each others' wars, while Starscream determines that the Dire Wraiths are too dangerous to risk allying with—and the Wraiths themselves decide to rely on their magic rather than turning to technology in future. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

===1867===
[[File:BeeandJohnHenry-HOS2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''John Henry was a man just six feet high Nearly two feet and a half across his breast He'd hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day And never get tired and want to rest'']]
Still believing themselves to be the Autobots and Decepticons, the lost Maximals are roused from their slumber by [[human]] activity sometime in the late 19th century.<ref>The ''Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook'' would lay down that the events of ''Hearts of Steel'' took place 150 years before the present date. This date contradicts real-world historical information; In the story, Mark Twain lives in San Francisco, as he did from 1864 to 1866, but refers to a daughter in [[Hearts of Steel issue 4|issue #4]], who would not be born in the real world until 1872.</ref> [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] (believing himself Bumblebee) awakens to the sound of [[John Henry]] laying railroad track. While Centurion takes the form of a steam locomotive and makes contact with John Henry and his friends, the brainwashed "Shockwave" fools disgraced scientist [[Tobias Muldoon]] into helping him create a "Golden Age" of progress. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 2|Hearts of Steel #2}}

Muldoon realizes he's been tricked in time and manages to alert mankind by reaching [[Mark Twain]], helped by "Ravage" following him and Twain defeating him. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 3|Hearts of Steel #3}} Human industrialists [[Vanflint]] and [[Jacob Lee Bonaventure]] collaborate with the Decepticons in Muldoon's place, while John Henry and his friends join the Autobots in heading out to stop the Decepticon's "[[Astrotrain (G1)#Hearts of Steel|Astrotrain]]" reaching [[New York City]] (running through [[United States Army]] blockades). The Autobots fight a running battle down the railroad tracks before knocking the Astrotrain, and the human collaborators riding it, off a cliff. With the threat over, the "Autobots" return to their slumber. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 4|Hearts of Steel #4}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1887===
Dormant Maximals are found by the [[fish people|Deep Ones]] that lurk in our oceans and taken to their unearthly city to join the forces of a slumbering [[Elder God]]. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}}

===1888===
[[File:TFInfestation2.2 Optimus Prime vs Elder God.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Iä! Iä! Optimus primhagn!]]
Shipping is being sunk by the fishy foes and their "Seacon" slaves, and "Ironhide" (riding the [[USS Miskatonic|USS ''Miskatonic'']] identifies the threat. The steam-powered "Autobots" are rallied again and seek 1,000,000 volts to power up "Optimus Prime" (actually Domitius Major) with the help of Muldoon and [[Nikola Tesla]], but [[Port Cenotaph]], [[Canada]] is overrun before they reach it. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}} Domitius Major is awoken just as a combined naval fleet of the world's powers reaches Port Cenotaph and runs into the Elder God. Domitius Major joins the battle and wounds the Elder God badly enough to provoke a retreat, leaving the Royal Navy bemused and questioning Tesla and Muldoon. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 2|Infestation 2: The Transformers #2}}
{{--}}

==1900s==
[[File:SpotlightHotRod rush.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Wheeeeeee!]]
Over the course of his travels, [[Sixshot]] is challenged by the alien [[Reaper]]s. He refuses to join them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sixshot}}
[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] leads a team to secure the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. [[Doubledealer]], posing as an Autobot, sabotages the raid. Hot Rod hides the Magnificence. He later infiltrates the Decepticon penal colony [[Styx]] to rescue "Dealer", who befriends him. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Meanwhile, [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]] and [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] crash-land on the planet [[Tsiehshi]], one of Shockwave's Regenesis test planets. The barren, uncharted planet is covered with radioactive crystals of [[Ore-8]]. Outback is killed in the crash, and Kup is slowly driven insane by the radiation. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

The massacre at [[Babu Yar]] takes place, which sees the deployment of the controversial bioweapon [[Gideon's Glue]] against [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]'s Autobots. {{storylink|Bullets}}

===1914-1919===
The Maximal Autobots are, by this time, slowly dying off, though several beginning to shake off their reconditioning and realizing that they are not who they believed themselves to be. Several of the Maximals try to find the Talisman and perish in the attempt. [[World War I]] breaks out on Earth, and Domitius Major and Centurion stumble on a battleground. Seeing real conflict causes their artificial memories of the Great War to unravel; Domitius perishes, but Centurion, confused and enraged, dedicates the remainder of his life to hunting down and killing the remaining Maximals on Earth. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1941===
[[Merklynn]]—who has arrived on Earth at some point before this time—has forged a [[human]] disguise and a new alter-ego as "Garrison Kreiger". Hoping to plot a new course, he joins the [[United States Army|US army]] at the beginning of [[World War II]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part Five: One Unholy Machine|One Unholy Machine}}

[[Sgt. Savage|Robert Steven Savage]] also joins the military; after going above and beyond the call of duty in [[Galibi]], he receives a crack team of his own to command: the elite [[Screaming Eagles]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Sgt. Savage profile}}

===1943===
With Garrison "Blitz" Kreiger now serving as an officer on the Screaming Eagles, the unit is deployed to fight in [[Kalistan]]. They are startled to find [[IRON Trooper|robot drones]]—in reality, creations of the Talisman—fighting for the Axis. [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]], recognizing them as the work of alien magic, becomes fascinated by them. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

===1944===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionVsFakeShockwave.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''We're leaving together, but still it's farewell'']]

In the winter of 1944, Centurion tracks the last of the ''Axalon'' crew—"[[Maximal Shockwave|Shockwave]]"—to his hiding place in [[France]]. The two battle one another, and are witnessed by the Screaming Eagles, who have arrived in France to help out the local resistance. Centurion defeats his foe and takes his gun as a trophy. Centurion asks for their help in tracking down his old starship so that he can die in peace, and although Kreiger is horrified at the prospect of the "mechanical hell" the Maximals embody, he convinces Savage to assist the alien... and so that he can learn more about the IRON Troopers.

The trio eventually locate the ''Axalon''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s frozen remains in [[Brasnya]], but are unprepared for an IRON Trooper ambush, or the sight of the robots puppeteering Domitius's corpse to attack the group. Though Centurion defeats his reanimated commander, energies unleashed by the Talisman caused the ship to vanish, with taking [[Sgt. Savage]] with it. A confused and upset Centurion agreed to assist Kreiger, who spends the next several decades grooming him as he begins a decades-long search for the Talisman. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===1960s===
Disabled amateur sleuth [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] accidentally stumbles on a ring of Brasnyan spies smuggling alien technology into the United States. Their plan is foiled by British super-spy [[Action Man]], who offers Power some words of encouragement. Bolstered by this praise, he goes on to study some of the technology he surreptitiously recovers from their base and eventually builds himself a new set of prostheses. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

===1982===
[[File:Adventure Team Revolution.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb."]]
After serving with the [[Green Berets]], [[Joe Colton|Joseph B. "Joe" Colton]] is selected to join the [[Adventure Team]], an crack team of American operatives. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1}} He serves alongside elite military assets such as [[Stalker (G.I. Joe)|Stalker]] and [[Miles Mayhem|Miles "Mayhem" Manheim]]. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} They are eventually joined by superpowered operatives including [[Bulletman]] and Mike Power, now calling himself the "[[Atomic Man]]". {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}} {{storylink|Power and Glory}} As "G.I. Joe", Colton and the Adventure Team enjoy numerous globetrotting escapades, on one occasion meeting Action Man. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

===1984===
Soundwave is sent to investigate Bludgeon's activities on Earth {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} but first makes a detour to Egypt to investigate unusual energy readings.

Kreiger, having spent decades scouring the Earth for alien artifacts, finally tracks the Talisman to its resting place in the [[Tomb of Amtoltec]] and goes to retrieve it, disposing of his [[Elliot Marsh|guide]] along the way. A few days later, the Adventure Team is deployed to rescue him. The team battles IRON Troopers and runs afoul of Soundwave before before discovering Kreiger and the Talisman. The Talisman upgrades Mike Power's cybernetic limbs; thus empowered, the team is able to see the Decepticon off and recover the Talisman, entrusting it to British intelligence. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

Soundwave returns to his main mission on Earth, but is deactivated when Bludgeon, after some of Shockwave's Regenesis ore—which he calls "ultra-energon"—triggers the eruption of [[Mount St. Helens]].<ref> In real life, the volcano erupted four years earlier.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1985===
[[File:SpotlightSoundwave infoispower.jpg|thumb|left|Decepticonism killed the radio star.]]
Soundwave, [[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] are excavated by [[Skywatch]]. Interest is taken in the cassettes, found in "[[robot mode]]", but Soundwave, in cassette player mode, is apparently discarded. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1988===
[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] lands on the backwater planet [[Nebulos]]. The latest in a series of flagrant violation of the Tyrest Accords, he develops a working relationship with [[Zarak (G1)|Mo Zarak]] and the [[Zarak Consortium]] as part of his ''modus operandi''. The duo develop a variation of the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] process involving hybridizing [[Nebulan]]s and Cybertronians. Ultra Magnus tracks Scorponok to [[Nebulos]], but despite taking severe damage, the Decepticon escapes.<ref>29 stellar cycles ago, or 18 years</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Ultra Magnus}}

[[Solomus|Tyrest]] constructs the supercomputer/judging machine [[Aequitas]], based off of [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]' old designs. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} The [[Aequitas trials]] begin, a catalog of Autobot atrocities. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}} What nobody but Tyrest knows is that every Autobot on trial is "[[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|constructed cold]]", a process he'd help develop. The revelation is enough to gnaw at his conscience, and eventually Tyrest vanishes from the public eye. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

Skids eventually moves to Prowl's covert [[Special Operations]], necessitating faking his own death. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} Partnered with [[Getaway]], he is sent to "assassinate" the rogue Tyrest by using a [[nudge gun]] to implant the impulse to resign in the Chief Justice's increasingly disturbed mind. The plan fails, and Skids barely manages to escape. Aboard his escape craft, he uses the gun to erase his own memory before setting the shuttle to hone in on the coordinates of his handlers, the [[Duobot]]s. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}}

===1990===
Obsessed with defeating [[Squadron X]], the [[Wrecker]]s track them down to the planet [[Pova]]. After capturing them, [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] is ordered to release them due to a technicality. Instead, he executes the prisoners, and as a consequence is himself imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. Springer subsequently takes over leadership of the Wreckers. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}} {{storylink|Bullets}}

After a disastrous mission, a despairing Mike Power turns to Kreiger to further upgrade his limbs. Power disappears from the public eye as Kreiger, hoping to use Power for his own ends, experiments on him further. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Though deprived of their most powerful member, Joe Colton reorganizes the team into the totally radical "Adventure Force". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1994===
Kreiger eventually manage to upgrade Power's physiology to the point where he can interface with the Talisman; in doing so, he accidentally returns the ''Axalon'' to the timestream, along with a temporally displaced Sgt. Savage. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Adventure Force storms the base, and in the crossfire, Mike Power is assumed dead. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

Thrust fifty years into the future, Sgt. Savage joins up with that era's Action Man, forming "Team Extreme". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1997===
[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and Metroplex return to Cybertron. Hoping to return the planet to habitability, Alpha Trion slowly begins cleaning Cybertron's polluted atmosphere.<ref>12 meta-cycles ago, or 13 years</ref> {{storylink|Any Old Iron}}

==2000s==
===2001===
[[File:What Its Really Like - Jazz likes jazz.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"The music was ''dope''."]]
The current era of Transformer activity on Earth begins. Starscream heads a unit on Earth as part of the now-standardized infiltration protocol, and the Autobots retaliate by deploying an Autobot cell led by Prowl. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Advance scout [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jazz]] is the first Autobot to make planetfall, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} and is eventually joined by the rest of Prowl's team aboard the ''[[Ark-19]]''. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

Conspiracy theorists like [[Hunter O'Nion]] begin searching for evidence of extraterrestrials after the anomalous "Buchanan crop manifestations" in [[Iowa]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

The Cybertronians discover that Earth is not as unaware of their presence as they might have thought—the Decepticons become aware of the [[Machination]]. In reality, this is merely a front for Scorponok's latest operation, intending to build off his Headmaster research on Nebulos in the hopes of supplying himself, by this point reduced to little more than a ruined head, with a new body. {{storylink|The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation}}

===2006-7===
[[File:Infiltration6 starscream on ultraenergon.jpg|thumb|left|200px|This is your Starscream on drugs.]]

Shockwave's hand is discovered in an excavation in Nevada. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} News of the dig reaches the conspiracy theorists but is considered a fringe theory, the "paleo-purists". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] is founded by General [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} Skywatch discovers Bludgeon's volcano base and investigate the Transformers within, successfully reactivating [[Bugly (G1)|Bugly]]. As part of [[Project Hot House]], they retrofit the Cybertronian bunker into a Skywatch research lab. Joe Colton joins forces with Joshua Red to investigate the Talisman and whether it can be weaponized. Lured to Oregon by a false distress beacon, Savage encounters G.I. Joe, Bugly, and Centurion, who lead him into Skywatch's base. As part of Colton's experiments, Savage is saturated with more Talisman energy and thrust into the future once again. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

From the Dead Universe, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] lures [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to the rapidly-evolving world of [[Gorlam Prime]] and implants a device in his brain. {{storylink|Spotlight: Nightbeat}}

On Earth, Starscream's infiltration unit discover ripe samples of Shockwave's Regenesis ore, dubbing it "Ore-13". In [[Arizona]], wandering drifter [[Verity Carlo]] steals a [[SM-40|palm computer]] from a travelling businessman, unaware that her victim is really an agent of the Machination. Possessing a record of Cybertronian activity on Earth makes her, Hunter, and [[Jimmy Pink]] targets of the Decepticons, prompting Ratchet to intervene. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 0|Infiltration #0}} {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Ratchet brings them back to the Autobot base, and, learning that the Decepticons have preemptively initiated "siege mode", brings the humans along to investigate their abandoned base in [[Nebraska]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}}

[[File:Thunderwing stormbringer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The thunder of guns Tore me apart You've been Thunderstruck!'']]

The humans discover that Megatron has come to Earth; Megatron learns from the base's old files that Starscream plans on overthrowing his leader using Ore-13. Disgusted by the power games—and infuriated when [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] accidentally bomb their old base with him inside—Megatron sets off to the new command bunker in [[Oregon]] to retake command. Megatron quickly puts down Starscream's insurrection and announces the beginning of "phase 2". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Orbiting the dead husk of Cybertron, the crew of the ''[[Calabi-Yau]]'' pick up an anomalous energy burst. Jetfire and several [[Technobot (G1)|Technobot]]s investigate the strange readings and discover that Bludgeon has used his "ultra-energon" to reanimate Thunderwing's corpse. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Thunderwing lays waste to Nebulos and overruns the Decepticon cell already located on the planet before returning to Cybertron. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Optimus Prime calls in the Wreckers to combat the threat, and bringing their full firepower to bear the Autobots blast Thunderwing until he runs out of energon. Jetfire analyzes Bludgeon's files and discovers information related to Earth and the Regenesis project. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The news prompts Optimus to set course for Earth, and he arrives shortly after Megatron removes Starscream from command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Meanwhile, Soundwave, still trapped in his alternate mode, is purchased from a pawn shop. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}
Springer orders a costly mission to rescue the stranded and demented [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]], whose Spark is beginning a fatal meltdown. They eventually succeed, but not without taking significant losses at the hands of the elderly Autobot, who mistakes his rescuers for [[zombie]]s. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Later, he died off-panel.]]
Shortly after Megatron arrives on Earth, [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] joins the Decepticon's Earth unit. Megatron initiates a plan to increase political unrest on Earth using [[Psycho-Prism|technology]] stolen from [[Doctor Doom]]. Facing resistance from the Autobots and [[Avengers]], the Decepticons initiate [[mirror response mode]] and boost their powers by tapping into [[Spider-Man]]'s superhuman abilities. Megatron's plan is thwarted by the Autobots and Avengers, helped in part by Ramjet's increasing disloyalty to Megatron. {{storylink|New Avengers/Transformers|Man and Machine}}

While returning the humans to their normal lives, Machination forces successfully tail and capture [[Sunstreaker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]] and Hunter O'Nion while incapacitating [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} Prime, Jazz, and [[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] join Ironhide to search for the attackers. Meanwhile, the Decepticons proceed to phase two by activating numerous [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] sleeper agents within world governments to further destabilize human society. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}}

The Decepticons use their facsimiles to, among other things, escalate tension between [[Brasnya]] and [[Russia]]. The Autobots intervene, and Prime summons Hot Rod, [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to Earth. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} During the battle, Prime is nearly killed and encounters the form of [[Nova Prime]] within [[infraspace]] as he shunts his consciousness into his trailer. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Ironhide, Ratchet, Jimmy, and Verity continue to search for Sunstreaker's disappearance, but Ironhide is severely damaged in the process and left behind. Unbeknownst to them, Sunstreaker and Hunter are sent to surgical prep to test the Machination's [[binary bonding]] process. {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}}

Skywatch takes over the excavation of Shockwave and the Dinobots, while also reactivating and reprogramming Ravage and Laserbeak into loyal Skywatch operatives. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}}

[[File:SLOptimus prime vs monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Quickly, give him your face and he'll go away!]]
With Megatron's other forces busy, Ramjet initiates an ambitious plan to overthrow the Decepticon leader and sieze control of the Decepticons, involving, among other things, a group of jive-talking [[Mini-Constructicon]]s. His bungled plan ends when Megatron returns from Brasyna, beats him to death, and throws his parts across the globe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}

[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] is found drifting in space and returned to the Autobot fold. As he reintegrates into the Autobot command structure, he helps free [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] from Decepticon control. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

Optimus Prime briefly leaves Earth to meet with the ancient warrior [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], from whom he learns more about Nova Prime and the nature of Nova's original quest. Optimus winds up defeating and capturing Monstructor, and he sends the "Monstructor Six" into the care of [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] on [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} Around this time, Wheelie's original distress signal from LV-117 finally reaches Autobot space… only to be ignored due to more pressing concerns. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Galvatron briefly leaves the Dead Universe to travel to Cybertron to retrieve Thunderwing's body, defeating [[Hound (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hound]]'s unit on the way. He takes his trophy to [[Gorlam Prime]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}}

[[Banzai-Tron (G1)|Banzaitron]] initiates an attack on the Autobot prison facility at [[Garrus-9]] in an attempt to free the long-imprisoned Monstructor team. Realizing that they need another of Jhiaxus's creations to track down the unpredictable escapees, Fortress Maximus takes a gamble by releasing [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] and sending the warrior-bot after them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

His defeat at the hands of Optimus Prime turns Megatron's behavior increasingly erratic, and so the Earth-bound Decepticons reactivate Starscream to help deal with the problem. Hoping to get an edge over Optimus Prime, Megatron summons Sixshot to Earth, violating the infiltration protocol. Sixshot, though internally conflicted, follows orders and opens fire on the Autobot assets stationed on the planet, destroying the ''Ark-19''. He is, however, followed by the Reapers. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] and Hot Rod attempt to rescue Ironhide but are attacked by the Machination's army of mass-produced [[Sunstreaker clone]]s. With Hardhead's help, they defeat them and rescue Ironhide. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

[[File:Devastation03-HeadmasterHunter.jpg|thumb|left|250px|My hands! My horrible human hands!]]
Meanwhile, Hunter awakens at Machination headquarters and finds Sunstreaker's head. He undergoes the Headmaster process as [[Abraham Dante]] does the same with [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. Stealing a spare clone body, he links with Sunstreaker's mind to become a Headmaster and uses his new body to escape the facility. However, the Machination takes Sunstreaker's real head. The hybrid Sunstreaker/O'Nion entity agrees to search for Sunstreaker's real head in the hopes of undoing the process. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

From the [[Dead Universe]], Nova Prime orders Galvatron to Earth to deal with the Reapers, whom Sixshot has aligned with, before Starscream shuts him down using a failsafe trigger. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} The other Decepticons engage the Reapers, losing the [[Battlecharger]]s, before being covertly assisted by Galvatron. Triumphant in his mission, he returns to the Dead Universe with Sixshot's body. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

Learning of the breakout at Garrus-9, the majority of the Autobots prepare to leave Earth, though Hot Rod and Sunstreaker remain. Concurrently, Skywatch is notified of the battle and prepares to deploy their latest and most powerful asset: Grimlock. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} After he is awoken, he escapes from Skywatch and refuses an offer to join forces with Scorponok. {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}

On Cybertron, [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] arrives and attacks Hound's crew as revenge for the devastation wrought by the war. His attack is interrupted by Ultra Magnus, and he is forced to retreat to [[Corata-Vaz]]. After activating the [[Nega-Core]], Cyclonus is again set upon, and activates the Nega-core's reanimated guardian, Thunderwing. He is forced to return to the Dead Universe as his body has been in the "living" world too long. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

[[File:SpotlightCyclonus DeadUniversetransformers.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Death walks among you."]]
In the wake of the attack, Optimus and his crew arrive at Garrus-9. They meet with [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and head back to the ''Ark-32''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

The forces of the Dead Universe—including Jhiaxus, Galvatron, Straxus and Grindcore—leave the Dead Universe to begin the [[Expansion]]. Leading the charge is Nova Prime, now calling himself "Nemesis Prime". {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

Nightbeat and Hardhead travel to [[Gorlam Prime]] to investigate Nightbeat's missing memories, and they encounter a large group of [[Micromaster]]s trying to impede their progress. The pair makes it to the Dead Universe portal and Jhiaxus takes control of Nightbeat, forcing Hardhead to kill him, and dive into the portal himself. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Jetfire decides to use [[Pretender]] technology to enable [[Cloudburst]], [[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]], [[Groundbreaker]], and [[Waverider]] to survive the Benzuli Expanse. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}}

Optimus receives a transmission from Dealer, who says that he's been monitoring the current situation, and he thinks that all of the answers they seek lie in the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Hot Rod agrees and both travel to [[Ki-Aleta]], the planet where Hot Rod had hidden it earlier. Using the oracle, Hot Rod discovers that Dealer betrayed him, and sends the traitor to his death moments before he could do the same to him. The Magnificence later provides useful info to Ultra Magnus about the machinations of Nemesis Prime. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

On Earth, Straxus and Grindcore mine energon in [[China]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are prevented doing this by Hound's team, primarily Sideswipe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:IDWAutobotPretenders.jpg|thumb|left|250px|To infinity and beyond!]]
Galvatron and Cyclonus attack the ''[[Mirror-Manifold]]'', the ship of Cloudburst and crew. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are beamed out seconds before their ship explodes by the Technobots in the ''[[Nightbird (ship)|Nightbird]]'', who present them with their own personal Pretender carapaces. Using these, they battle Galvatron and Cyclonus, defeating one and allowing the other to escape. Using their shells as temporary shields, they cross into the Dead Universe and manage to seal the gate to the Dead Universe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Nemesis Prime arrives on Garrus-9, and is faced by Optimus Prime. Optimus is attacked, using the [[Darkness (G1)|Darkness]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} However, the Darkness reaches out to Optimus as a successor. Nemesis continues the attack but is blasted in the back by Galvatron and falls dead. The Darkness enters Optimus Prime. Galvatron offers Prime a choice: kill himself in the nearby Solar Pool, or willingly pass on the Darkness to him. Prime does both, passing on the Darkness ''and'' tossing Galvatron into the pool. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}} Meanwhile, Arcee manages to track down Jhiaxus beneath Gorlam Prime, and with some help from an undead Hardhead, defeats him. With Jhiaxus rendered functionally immortal due to the energies of the Dead Universe portal, Arcee gleefully kills him over, and over, and over, and over… {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Above ground, the residents of Gorlam Prime finally complete their evolution into wholly mechanical beings. In honor of their great leap forward, they rename their planet… ''Cybertron''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:GrimlockMaxDino01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Because "Skree-onk" was copyrighted.]]
Back on Earth, Grimlock and the other Dynobots end up fighting Sunstreaker clones in [[Fallon]], [[Nevada]] in an event orchestrated by Scorponok and the Machination. Hoping to repair their ship, the ''[[Skyfire (ship)|Skyfire]]'', Grimlock calls the [[Monsterbot]]s for help. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}}

Hot Rod takes on Scorponok and fails, while Sunstreaker and Hunter try to reclaim Sunstreaker's original head. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 2|Maximum Dinobots #2}} The Monsterbots arrive on Earth just in time to rescue the bedraggled Dynobots. The Dynobots begin to have misgivings about Grimlock's increasingly unstable leadership—feelings which come to a head when it appears [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] has died from a blast by Scorponok. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 3|Maximum Dinobots #3}}

Soundwave, Shockwave, Laserbeak, and Ravage plot together and free themselves from Skywatch's control; {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 4|Maximum Dinobots #4}} Shockwave involves himself in the battle with Scorponok, and both are ultimately are defeated by Grimlock and the Dynobots. Ultra Magnus arrives to arrest the group. Though Grimlock willingly goes with Ultra Magnus, the other four Dynobots walk free thanks to his sacrifice. Shockwave, Scorponok, and Grimlock are all sent to Garrus-9 after a trial, though Grimlock's sentence is shortened thanks to bringing in two wanted Decepticons. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 5|Maximum Dinobots #5}}

===2008===
[[File:Slowmotionmoviewalkahm5.jpg|thumb|left|250px|He's your huckleberry.]]
Hoping to bolster the Decepticon ranks, Megatron and [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] create the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s. The process is highly imperfect, however, and the thousands upon thousands of failed clones are abandoned on Cybertron to become the feral "[[Insecticon swarm|Swarm]]". {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

Shortly after their creation, scientist [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] completes Shockwave's project regarding Jhiaxus's combination technology. The end result is [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]: a mentally stable, combat-ready combiner using the like-minded [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Perceptor rebuilds Kup using [[Pretender]] technology, reversing the deleterious effects of Ore-8 on his mind. At Prowl's insistence, however, Perceptor also adds technology into Kup's new body that will allow Prowl to take control of the elderly Autobot. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Everything in Its Right Place}} With his new lease on life, Kup organizes a team to rescue captured Autobots. They receive assistance from former Decepticon Deadlock, now known as [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Drift}} On their first mission, they rescue Hot Rod from Bludgeon and the Monster Pretenders; Perceptor is injured and upgrades himself into a sniper. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}}

Sixshot, freed from the Dead Universe following the defeat of Nemesis Prime, attacks [[Orvus Base]] to recover secret Autobot scientific research, only for the [[Throttlebot]]s to escape to the nearby planet [[Salvvatan VIII]]. Though Sixshot pursues them, they are rescued by Metroplex, who transforms from the city mode he was hiding as on the planet and stomped the six changer, temporarily incapacitating him. However, Metroplex immediately takes off with the object that he was on the planet to protect, leaving the Throttlebots on Sakvvatan VIII. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}} Unfortunately, Sixshot soon recovers and damages the team's shuttle as they try to leave; though the remaining Throttlebots believe they manage to kill the Decepticon before taking off, they soon crash land on the planet [[Botanica (planet)|Botanica]]. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

On Earth, Ratchet succeeds in separating Sunstreaker and Hunter. Horrified and disgusted by what humans did to him, Sunstreaker makes a Faustian deal with [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] to help him take out Megatron in exchange for the Autobots permanently abandoning Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}} Ratchet returns Hunter to his house and leaves, unaware that Bombshell is preparing to abduct the young human to gain access to the Headmaster technology still implanted in his body. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-Overlord.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"I come in peace. Shoot to kill."]]

Using Autobot access codes acquired from Sunstreaker, Megatron launches "[[Surge (event)|The Surge]]": across the galaxy, Decepticons abandon infiltration protocol and launch an all-out attack on every major Autobot outpost. {{storylink|Bullets}} The Autobots on Earth are led into a Decepticon trap and are soundly defeated, leaving Optimus Prime in critical condition. Megatron takes the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] and exiles them back to Cybertron while he and his Decepticons run amok on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}}

During the Surge, [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]]'s [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s assault [[Garrus-9]]. Rogue former Decepticon [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] kills Skyquake and takes over the prison, turning it into an arena for his own amusement. Former warden Fortress Maximus is lobotomized and repeatedly tortured. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} As part of a deal, Overlord releases Shockwave and restores him operational status; in return, Shockwave removes the [[Achilles virus]] implanted in Overlord's body as a failsafe. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

Knowing that he is being targeted by the Decepticon Justice Division, Shockwave selects a crew consisting of ''other'' Decepticons on their "list", and offers them as a trade for his life when the DJD tracks him down; however, Tarn rejects his offer, intent on following the list in order despite its inefficiency. Unaware that the DJD is only there for Scorponok, three members of Shockwave's crew—Scorponok, Flame and Flywheels—eject themselves into space before Shockwave manages to shut off the transmission of Tarn's lethal voice. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Flywheels is found by the crew of the [[Weak Anthropic Principle]] (aka the "Foragers"), while Scorponok and Flame are found and claimed by the Grand Architect, manifesting as an enormous spacebound heiroglyph. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

[[File:AHM2Devastator.jpg|thumb|left|200px|YOU—ARE NOT—PREPARED.]]

On [[May 29]], 2008, the Earth-based Decepticons make their presence known to humankind. Their combined forces demolish [[New York City]] and easily defeat the US military. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Colonel Daniel Witwicky]] is brought to New York to aid in its defense, though his troops can do little to defeat the onslaught. The Decepticons rampage across America and annihilate major cities across the nation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} Within a matter of hours, [[Washington, D.C.]] falls. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} College student [[Marissa Faireborn]], in New York as part of the {{w|Occupy Wall Street}} movement, has her worldview shaken by the scope and horror of the invasion. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}}

Mercy Gale, head of intelligence for the [[Action Man Programme]]—and, in secret, the AMP's greatest nemesis [[Doctor X]]—makes her own arrangements that prevent the Decepticon invasion from touching the [[United Kingdom]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part One: Redcliffe Club|Redcliffe Club}}

Over the next few days, the Autobots and humans struggle to get back on their feet while the Decepticons continue to ravage cities across the globe. On Cybertron, Kup's team crash-lands on the planet and joins the stranded Autobots, who are fighting off the Swarm. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} On Earth, Colonel Witwicky appoints a team lead by his son [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Spike]] to take out Megatron. Spike's team is killed by Ratbat and Spike is the only survivor. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

Without the Autobots, the Decepticons quickly grow bored and start squabbling among themselves. The [[European Union]] decides to end the threat by deploying nuclear weapons against New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} Frustrated by Megatron's sudden listlessness, Starscream plots with the Insecticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

On Cybertron, the Autobots decide to use their remaining energon to repair Prime. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} The Autobots struggle to elude the Swarm, but Perceptor is injured. Guilt ridden, Sunstreaker makes the ultimate sacrifice and detonates a bomb to blow up a bridge (and himself) to keep the Swarm away from the other Autobots. Just before he does so, he reveals to Ironhide that it was he who brokered the deal with Starscream that betrayed the Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

Sarah and Bridge run into Spike, and are later joined by [[Charles (G1)|Charles]], seeking revenge against [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] for killing his son. With a weapon reverse-engineered from Shockwave, Spike brings Rumble down with the help of his new friends. On Cybertron, Optimus Prime is repaired, along with the remaining Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}}

Bombshell builds a [[space bridge]] and reveals that he helped hack into the Autobots' defenses using technology gained by dissecting Hunter O'Nion. Starscream teams up with the Insecticons and Constructicons to attack Megatron, but they are not successful. The Autobots on Cybertron are saved by the arrival of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and taken back to Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}}

===2009===
{{note|According to "[[Ride-Along]]", the events of ''All Hail Megatron'' spanned over a year, though it's unclear exactly when the transition to 2009 happened.}}

[[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|thumb|right|250px|One Shall...oh, you know the drill.]]
The Autobots arrive on Earth and battle the Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} Megatron gets the upper hand against Prime and orders a retreat, leaving the Autobots to be nuked by the humans… but Spike Witwicky, welding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Transformer technology, shoots Megatron in the face, allowing Prime to smash Megatron in the face with his own fusion cannon. With Megatron grievously wounded, Starscream takes command and orders a retreat.

The Decepticons do so, but [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] stays behind to dispose of the EU's bomb. He succeeds, but [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] blasts him out of the sky for his efforts.

Discovering that his brother's old Headmaster partner has been horrifically mutilated under Bombshell's custody, Sideswipe mercifully terminates the vegetative Hunter. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}} In the aftermath, Optimus Prime talks Ironhide out of retiring. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Believing the Matrix to be purely symbolic and now devoid of any power it might have once held, Starscream prepares to dump it into space. When [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] reminds him that the Autobots use it to choose their leaders, Starscream declares that with Megatron incapacitated, he will use the Matrix to lead the Decepticons to victory once more. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

Though the Decepticons have been defeated and mostly driven off-planet, Earth is largely in ruins. More than a billion people have died worldwide from the invasion, and most major cities are left utterly devastated by the Decepticons. Military assets begin hunting for Decepticon stragglers; as part of these early missions, Spike defeats Ravage, but is injured. Faced with a persistent Decepticon threat, Skywatch is heavily reorganized, going from a clandestine paramilitary organization into a international peacekeeping unit designed to hunt down and eliminate rogue Transformers on Earth, wielding reverse-engineered Cybertronian technology. Sparkplug is made head of Skywatch and recruits Spike to work for him. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|The Man of Steel}} This new incarnation of Skywatch does not differentiate between factions, and hunts both Autobots and Decepticons indiscriminately. Bumblebee briefly breaks cover to save some humans and is injured for his efforts. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|Hidden}}

[[File:SeasonsInFlight thundercracker discovers tv.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Eight years later and we still haven't gotten him off the couch.]]
Over the next two years, humans and Cybertronians alike struggle to recover from the Surge. With their infrastructure across the galaxy in shambles, many Autobots seek shelter on Earth. Humanity slowly repairs the damage caused by the invasion, but are enraged at the Cybertronians that remain on their planet. After witnessing a defenseless [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] executed by a group of police officers, Prowl decides that with their numbers so reduced by war, all Cybertronian life—even Decepticons—needs to be protected. {{storylink|Ride-Along|Spotlight: Prowl}}

Thundercracker survives his ordeal, but is badly damaged and unable to transform or fly. Stranded in the ruins of New York, Thundercracker takes refuge in an abandoned building and watches [[television]] to pass the time until he's rescued. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

[[File:Crashsuitsandtransports.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Geronimo!'']]
Skywatch continues its anti-Transformer operations, reverse-engineering Cybertronian technology to produce new weapons to safely combat rogue Transformers on Earth; this initiative culminating in the development of the unit's signature [[crash suit]]s. What Skywatch doesn't know is that this technology is secretly being provided to Skywatch via Spike Witwicky, whose disregard for the rules drives him to cut a deal with [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}} [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] are amongst those captured. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}}

[[Dominus Ambus]], now a mole within the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], reports that the Decepticons have lost contact with [[Garrus-9]] and DJD scouting parties do not return. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] authorizes [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] to assemble a new team of [[Wrecker]]s. Their mission is twofold—to rescue any Autobot prisoners and to download data from the [[Aequitas]] supercomputer. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} {{storylink|Bullets}} At some point after this, the other four members of the DJD discover the mole in their organization and subject Dominus to "[[domestication]]", reducing him to a feral "Pet". Another Decepticon thus steps up to become the next "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}}

Still marooned on LV-114, [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] discovers a Decepticon shipwreck with surviving crewmembers [[Spectro]] and [[Spyglass]] ([[Viewfinder]] alas, didn't make it.) He saves an [[Varta|alien]] from them and in the process blows them and his escape ship to pieces. And so, he waits... {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

At some point after Gorlam Prime's transformation, the malevolent Dead Universe entity known as the [[D-Void]] lures the entire population of the planet into his domain and devours their [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

===2010===
[[File:Ongoing Issue 1-Optimus Surrenders.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Botkind, well, that was another story.]]
Thundercracker is rescued by a rag-tag team of Decepticons led by [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. He discovers, however, that he has lost his taste for fighting, having come to respect humanity and its culture. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

Prowl is captured by Skywatch, and Hot Rod's rescue mission leads to Ironhide's death. Depressed, Optimus Prime resigns as Autobot leader and surrenders to Skywatch. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}} Frustrated by recent events, Hot Rod and a group of like-minded Autbots make preparations to leave Earth. They decide to join forces with Swindle's Decepticons, while the other Autobots chose to remain on Earth, and Bumblebee is elected the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 1: "New Arrivals, Old Encounters"|New Arrivals, Old Encounters}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-newrecruits.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cue the A-Team [[theme song|theme]].]]

Eight months after Dominus Ambus's report, the [[Wrecker]]s—bolstered by new recruits [[Verity Carlo]], [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]], [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]], [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]], ascended fanboy [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], and lead by a returned Impactor—arrive at Garrus-9 and begin their assault. Overlord retaliates by ordering the death of all Autobot prisoners upon the Wreckers' arrival save Grimlock, who has vanished. The Wreckers take heavy casualties over the course of their mission, but succeed in capturing Overlord and securing the data from [[Aequitas]]. Overlord is captured and the remaining Decepticons scatter, glad to be free of Overlord's oppression. The [[data slug]] that contains the various records from the Aequitas trials are entrusted to Prowl. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}}

After dropping off the Wreckers on Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus arrives on Earth to investigate the death of Ironhide and surrender of Optimus Prime. Afraid of being arrested by Magnus, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] and Blurr leave to join Hot Rod, but all except Blurr are captured by Skywatch and used as leverage by Spike for Optimus Prime to talk. Magnus leaves to find Hot Rod. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 2: "A Rude Awakening"|A Rude Awakening}}

Bumblebee's feelings of inadequacy, combined with the derision he faces from his fellow Autobots, pushes him into making a reckless deal with Colonel [[Gordon Horiuchi]]. Horiuchi promises the Autobots protection from Skywatch if they capture Decepticons, but at the price of being immobilized if they disobey. Skywatch quickly forces Bumblebee's troops to capture other ''Autobots'', starting with [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]]. After Bumblebee's immobilizing badge is damaged, he locates the [[Sanjay Bharwaney|creator]] of the badges and personally destroys them, defeating Skywarp and proving his worth as leader of the Autobots in the process. {{storylink|The Transformers: Bumblebee}}

Ultra Magnus shows up and tries to arrest Swindle, but Rodimus defends his ally. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}} Ultra Magnus takes several Autobots from Bumblebee's group with him to help him detain Swindle and the rebellious Rodimus. Swindle uses the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticon]]s to test some experimental [[combiner]] technology, and when Ultra Magnus arrives Swindle betrays Rodimus and unleashes [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] to kill the Autobots. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 4: "Enemies of the System"|Enemies of the System}}

Spike releases Optimus Prime to battle Menasor, but the combiner is undone after the Stunticons fail to unite their minds into a workable gestalt. The battle prompts Spike to realize that the Autobots are not part of the problem. Skywatch forges a new alliance with Bumblebee's Autobots, while Rodimus steals Ultra Magnus's spaceship and strikes off on his own. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 5: "Earthworks"|Earthworks}}

The space-bound Decepticons fare little better than their Earth-bound counterparts; Starscream's poor leadership, combined with dwindling fuel sources, leads to the collapse of the Decepticon faction. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} On a desolate asteroid, the Decepticons scrounge for fuel and cannibalize each other for Energon and parts, {{storylink|All His Engines‎}} a barbaric practice encouraged by [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] general [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]], who travels to space following a failed combiner experiment. {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} The other Predacons remain on Earth, where they eventually join the government of [[China]] as border guards. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawk Among the Sparrows}}

[[File:Ongoing Issue 13 - Megatron.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Well, I'm back, back Well, I'm back in black Yes, I'm back in black'']]

Tiring of Starscream's bungled leadership, Soundwave and Shockwave revive Megatron in a new body equipped with [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]-derived [[Space bridge|spacebridge]] technology. His old body is used to create replicas of his old gun mode, which contain small pieces of the Decepticon leader's consciousness. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Rodimus arrives at the Decepticons' asteroid base, intending to retrieve the Matrix. He succeeds in stealing it back from Starscream, but is confronted by the newly upgraded Megatron who blasts him and the Matrix into space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

In his new body, Megatron retakes leadership of the Decepticons {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} and sends the Megatron guns to Earth, where they quickly spread amongst unsuspecting humans with anti-Transformer sentiments. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Spike disobeys orders and goes rogue, hunting down and executing [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] in an attempt to prevent Devastator from ever being formed again. {{storylink|Scrapper (issue)|Scrapper}}

On Cybertron, Alpha Trion continues his project to clean the desolate world, though these efforts are threatened by the increasingly ravenous Insecticon swarm. Trion decides to resurrect a copy of the one Autobot most suited for the job: Ironhide. The confused duplicate lacks all of Ironhide's memories from the war, but does his job well. He also recovers Sunstreaker, having survived his sacrifice years earlier. Alpha Trion and Metroplex take off for parts unknown, leaving Ironhide and Sunstreaker on the planet to finish off the Swarm. Over the course of their campaign, Sunstreaker adopts one of the failed clones as a pet, which he nicknames "[[Bob (IDW)|Bob]]". {{storylink|The Transformers: Ironhide}}

As Rodimus floats through space, the Matrix bonds with him, saving his life. He crashes on the planet [[LV-118]], where he meets Wheelie. Together with him and the alien [[Garnak]], Rodimus steals a ship and heads to Cybertron. {{storylink|Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination|The Stars My Destination}}

[[File:TFInfestation2-BrittKup.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Alas, neither a pirate nor a ninja.]]

Galvatron frees himself from the solar pool, fully fused with the Darkness. He tracks down the Dead Universe Transformers trapped on Gorlam Prime, Cyclonus and Scourge. Using his new powers, he revives Scourge, using him to create a personal guard in the form of the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} They investigate the planet's missing inhabitants, {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 1|Heart of Darkness #1}} and upon learning about the D-Void's plans to destroy all Transformers, set out to raise an army to oppose it.<ref>The point at which Galvatron escapes the solar pool is never made explicit, but it can be inferred from several pieces of evidence: it occurs after ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' (per ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'''s epilogue), Autobot guards are present on Garrus-9, and it has been "years" since Galvatron's defeat.</ref> {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

Galvatron and his men discover a block of ice in space, unaware that it contains a [[zombie]] virus brought from another dimension by the extradimensional vampire-zombie [[Britt]]. Several of Galvatron's crew members are infected by the zombie virus, and his ship crash-lands on Earth in [[Las Vegas]], forcing the Autobots and Skywatch to pitch in and contain the infestation. Kup is infected by the virus and transformed into a zombie, but uses Prowl's mental link to thwart the swarm and warp Britt, her virus, and himself through time and space to the dawn of the Dead Universe. The Autobots refuse to join Galvatron's army. {{storylink|Infestation (IDW)|Infestation}}

Though physically unharmed by his experience, Kup is stranded within the Dead Universe and spends the next several billion years on a barren asteroid. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} He encounters the similarly stranded Nova Prime, who tries and fails to turn his body into a space bridge back into the living world. {{storylink| No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6|No Exit}}

Galvatron takes his new army to Cybertron, declaring it the first line of defense against the D-Void. Rodimus also arrives on the planet where he meets Ironhide and Sunstreaker and learns of Galvatron's presence. The assorted Autobots leave Cybertron to warn Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 4|Heart of Darkness #4}} {{storylink|Space Opera Act 2: Out of the Silent Planet|Out of the Silent Planet}}

Four months later, [[North Korea]]n leader [[Kim Jong Du]] strikes a deal with three of the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]], providing them with energon in exchange for their services. Under his orders, the Combaticons attack [[South Korea]], prompting the United States government to declare the employment of Cybertronians equivalent to the use of weapons of mass destruction. {{storylink|International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"|The Land Ironclads}} Skywatch and the Autobots move out to defeat the Combaticons. To keep the public from learning that the US also employs Cybertronians, the Autobots remain in their vehicle modes throughout the battle, and are easily defeated. {{storylink|International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"|Ranks of Bronze}}

[[File:TheDemolishedMan-BumblebeeGetsShot.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED. ''EVVVVER''."]]

Bumblebee meets with Thundercracker, who is now only interested in watching TV, and convinces him to help them. [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] hacks the spy satellites above Korea, allowing the Autobots to fight in [[robot mode]]. Backed up by these resources, the Autobots defeat the Combaticons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawks Among the Sparrows}} As the Autobots are attacked by the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], who have a similar contract with [[China]], Skywatch agent [[Sandra (G1)|Sandra]] breaks the encryption on one of the satellites. The secret alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots is revealed to the world, and [[Russia]] attempts to nuke the Transformers, though Cosmos saves them. The energon factories in North Korea and China are destroyed, ending the threat from the Combaticons and Predacons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}}

The incident turns into a PR nightmare for both Skywatch and the Autobots. Bumblebee holds a press conference, but fails to contain the unruly crowd and is grievously injured by [[Joe Gladki]]. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}} Megatron's Decepticons return to Earth, attacking the Autobot-Skywatch base and freeing the Decepticon captives within. The plane carrying Optimus Prime, Spike Witwicky and the rest of the Korea team is shot down over the Pacific Ocean. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}} Ultra Magnus takes charge and has the base evacuated. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} He and his troops attempt to regroup, but are defeated by Megatron himself. Meanwhile, Starscream tries and fails to convince Thundercracker to return to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}}

After two days, Optimus Prime's team emerge from the oceans alive. Prime confronts Megatron, who is holding Magnus hostage, and causes him to flee by injuring Soundwave. Jazz is forced to kill [[John Powell|a human]] in order to save his comrades, furthering Autobot distrust among human civilians. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} After another meeting with Prime, Megatron surrenders himself so that he can watch from the inside as the Autobots are crushed by the humans they protect. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}
{{-}}

===2011===
[[File:PoliceActionPrologue-Prowl.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Prowl discovered his "Summon Leggy Dame" spell had failed.]]
Six weeks later, Rodimus and his crew arrive on Earth and return the Matrix to Optimus Prime. Learning about Galvatron's invasion of Cybertron, Optimus takes most of the Autobots and Megatron with him, Prime leaves Earth on Omega Supreme. Bumblebee, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and several others remain behind to investigate Megatron's claims that Spike murdered Scrapper. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}}

Prowl investigates Spike by following him around. {{storylink|Police Action: Part 1}} While investigating the site of Scrapper's death, he is attacked by [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], but defeating and interrogating yields nothing about his motives. The Autobots bring in Sandra, who enlightens them on Spike's sociopathic past. {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Bumblebee and the other Autobots keep busy by tracking down rogue Decepticons, and Bumblebee singlehandedly takes down a Decepticon plot to activate a space bridge. {{storylink|The Question}} The defeat proves so humiliating that [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] quits the Stunticons forever. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}}

After four months of investigation, {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Spike shamelessly admits to killing Scrapper, but Prowl's fair share of questionable actions makes him unsure on what to do about it. During an attempted arrest of anti-Autobot pundit [[Ben Simpson]], the Autobots learn that he was a [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] created by Swindle. Under interrogation, Swindle reveals that he had been selling weapons to Skywatch via Spike for years. The alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots quickly dissolves and Spike becomes an international fugitive. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}}

En route to Cybertron, Optimus Prime must choose life imprisonment or execution for Megatron's punishment in anticipation of his future trial. He tries to talk to his nemesis, but is only goaded into torturing him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} When he asks Megatron what he would choose, Megatron chooses death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Cyclonus and the Sweeps take over [[Kimia Facility]]. The Autobots arrive on Cybertron, where Optimus Prime again declines to join Galvatron's army, causing Galvatron to responds with violence. {{storylink|Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} In order to reach Cybertron's core, Galvatron uses Kimia to fire on the planet's surface until the facility is destroyed from within. As the Autobots fight Galvatron's army, Megatron escapes from captivity and powers himself up using his Megatron-guns. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}}

[[File:Deceptigod Chaos part3 Kings.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Deceptigod?]]

Megatron uses the space bridge technology in his body to summon his Decepticon army to Cybertron. The D-Void, acting through Galvatron's [[Darkness (G1)|Heart of Darkness]], mind-controls them into combining with Galvatron's troops to form the "[[Deceptigod]]". {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} While Megatron fights and defeats the Deceptigod, Galvatron reaches [[Vector Sigma]] and inserts the Heart of Darkness into it, hoping this will stop the D-Void from entering the universe when in truth it does the opposite. Optimus Prime stops the D-Void from turning Cybertron into a portal to the Dead Universe by opening the Matrix of Leadership into the planet's core, emptying the artifact completely. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}
Galvatron and his forces are defeated, and the cleansing of Vector Sigma has the unexpected side effect of "resetting" Cybertron back to a living, primordial state. Though the planet is habitable once again, it is also wild and untamed, and all indications of Transformer civilization have been lost. Every Cybertronian in the universe receives a simple message, courtesy of Vector Sigma: "come home". With the Decepticons in shambles and Megatron missing, the Great War is considered over, though the Autobot victory proves pyrrhic. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Over the next three weeks, Bumblebee's team returns to Cybertron, taking care to remove every piece of Cybertronian technology they can find on Earth before they depart. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} Joining up with the other Autobots on Cybertron, they successfully inter the weakened and disoriented Decepticons within the wreckage of the Kimia satellite and plant them with [[Inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] to keep them docile. Before they can begin rebuilding society, however, they are joined by tens of thousands of neutrals, deserters, refugees, and other assorted noncombatants. Prowl dubs the hordes of civilians "[[NAIL]]s".

[[File:DoOP matrix bequeathed.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Remember to share, kids. Peace, I'm out.]]

Tensions between the three groups grow until Optimus Prime, having inadvertently time-jumped three weeks forward following his defeat of Galvatron, arrives in the shantytown that was once Iacon. The Autobots bring him up to speed, though ex-Autobot [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]], ''de facto'' speaker for the NAILs, makes it clear that his people want neither the Autobots nor Decepticons on "their" planet. When riots break out in the streets due to his presence, Prime departs the planet and entrusts the empty Matrix halves to Bumblebee and Rodimus, who are split on whether to stay and rebuild Cybertronian society, or go in search of the [[Knights of Cybertron]] in the hopes of starting anew on [[Cyberutopia]] . Prime leaves, and declares that, without the Matrix, he is "Orion Pax" once more—and that Optimus Prime is dead. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Though the Cybertronians have left Earth alone for the time being, the effect they have on the shellshocked planet is profound. Embroiled in controversy, Skywatch is considered defunct and is shut down by the United States government. Several operatives are shunted into its successor, the international [[Earth Defense Command]], headed by [[Marissa Faireborn]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} Determined not to let another invasion happen on her watch, Faireborne and the EDC reverse-engineer what technology they can find, producing new anti-Cybertronian weaponry such as [[mind bomb]]s and particle-based warheads. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} Around this time, eccentric tech industrialist [[G.B. Blackrock|Garrison Blackrock]] comes to prominence, head of the [[Onyx]] software and engineering firm. Unbeknownst to anyone on Earth—including ''himself''—Blackrock is a false identity constructed by [[Sovereign]]. As "Blackrock", Sovereign succeeds in collecting dozens of Transformer artifacts from their recent conflicts on Earth, including the corpses of [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] and [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] and the Enigma of Combination. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} From the former two artifacts, he creates an army of [[Seeker clone]]s for the EDC, which are augmented to combine through the energies of the Engima. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|I Dream of Wires}}

[[File:SecretRaiders-GIJoe.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."]]

Among their many anti-Transformer initiatives is "Project Spectrum", a series of experimental weapons designed to use the Transformers' chameleonic natures against them. Following the mysterious loss of Cornelius Trakker, Adventure Team alumni [[Miles Mayhem]] steps up and refines it into the "[[M.A.S.K.]]" program. {{storylink|O Ship of State|Matt Trakker profile in Revolution #3}}

The Transformer war is soon overshadowed by a new crisis on Earth: the threat of [[Cobra]], an omniscient human conspiracy centuries in the making. Joe Colton becomes the head of a [[G.I. Joe (team)|special missions team named in his honor]]. G.I. Joe's victory turns pyrrhic when their conflict leads to the nuclear devastation of [[Nanzhao]], remembered as second only to the destruction of New York in modern history. Though Cobra is no more, G.I. Joe is mothballed shortly afterwards, with some operatives like [[Ayana Jones]] transferred into the ranks of the EDC. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}
{{-}}

===2012-2013===
[[File:Mtmte-01-liarsatod-p19-panel345-boom.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wait for it...wait for it...]]
Rodimus gathers a crew of two hundred Autobots and purchases the ''Unitrex-1'' during the [[Festival of Lost Light]]. The event inspires him to rename the vessel the ''[[Lost Light]]''. Hoping to learn more about the secrets behind creating [[Phase Sixer]]s, Prowl manages to convince Rodimus to take Overlord with them in the hopes of using [[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]]'s [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] skills to probe the Decepticon's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} Before they depart, Chromedome, his [[Conjunx Endura]] [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], and Ratchet discover Tailgate and take him aboard. The ''Lost Light'' departs Cybertron shortly afterwards... but the quantum engines malfunction shortly after the ship launches due to a mishap involving Overlord's slow cell {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}, and the vessel vanishes in a fiery explosion. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:TheAutonomyLesson-spaceport.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."]]
The loss of the ''Lost Light'' causes ructions between the Autobots, Decepticons, and NAILs; the latter faction believing that the Autobots are now publically discouraging anyone from leaving their shantytown. Having made the difficult choice to release the Decepticons to help keep the peace, Bumblebee is forced to put down [[Horri-Bull]] when the Decepticon oversteps his authority. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}}

Around this time, war hero and all-around do-gooder [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] decides to strike out on his own search for the Knights of Cybertron aboard his own ship, the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]''. He discovers the lost colony of [[Caminus]] and recruits three of the inhabitants—[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], and [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]—to join him on his quest. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}}

An attempt on Bumblebee's life via [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] leads to the latter's death and prompts Starscream to start working with Bumblebee's Autobots in their efforts to rebuild a functioning government. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] secretly continues Shockwave's old combiner experiments, which results in Prowl, at the end of his tether and increasingly emotionally closed-off, seemingly executing him. {{storylink|Devisive}} Ironhide salvages the situation by petitioning to have the [[inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] installed in the Decepticons deactivated. {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}

After [[Barrel Roll]] dies, [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] and his crew of [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] leave Iacon to start anew in the wilderness beyond. {{storylink|Stick Together}} Ironhide then recruits the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] to try and find the missing fliers; they discover that the lands beyond Iacon have a disorienting effect on Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|Dinobot Hunt}}

[[File:Sparkeater rips The Chaos of Warm Things.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''HEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!'']]

Meanwhile in space, the ''Lost Light'' rematerializes, ''twice''; the peculiar quantum engines mean that the explosion creates a duplicate ''Lost Light'', one on-course and one off-course. The on-course ''Lost Light'' and its duplicate crew embark on a series of improbable adventures that ends when the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], on the trail of the traitorous Overlord and tipped off to his location by conflicted double agent [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]], kill everyone aboard save Rewind. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

The ''other'' ''Lost Light'', however, materializes near the edge of the galaxy, where the crew meets Skids and contends with the Sparkeater. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} The Sparkeater's rampage accidentally damages the [[slow cell]] containing Overlord, which alerts paranoid security director Red Alert to the stowaway. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

[[File:MTMTE ROE Grimlock.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Grimlock in stained glass.]]

On Cybertron, Wheeljack investigates a mysterious time machine brought to the planet by [[Turmoil]]. {{storylink|Interference Patterns}} This has repercussions across the galaxy; far away from Cybertron, Orion Pax, Hardhead, [[Garnak]], and Wheelie discover that Jhiaxus, Bludgeon, and Monstructor are carrying out a part of Shockwave's Regenesis program to alter the future using the chronologically-destabilized world of [[LV-117]], a plan involving Turmoil's time machine. Thought they thwart Jhiaxus's scheme, the planet is destroyed. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}}

On the planet [[Clemency]], a [[Scavenger (group)|band of misfit Decepticons]]—the former Foragers—stumble on [[Fulcrum]], a cowardly [[K-Class]] suicide bomber. Together, they investigate an anomalous [[Worldsweeper]] ship containing numerous strange experiments and a brain-damaged Grimlock, whom they reactivate to battle the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. The Scavengers reluctantly take him on. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Shortly afterwards, the ship chances on the planet [[Theophany]], former home of the now-missing [[Circle of Light]]. The crew discovers [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and help the struggling Titan return to Cybertron by using Brainstorm's [[mass-displacement gun]] to shrink him to a manageable size so he can safely teleport away. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

[[File:RID16 heavyisthehead.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Spoiler: this won't end well.]]

Metrotitan materializes within the ruins of [[Crystal City]], where his arrival interrupts the search for the missing Autobots. Starscream investigates, and the Titan proclaims him the "chosen one" before his destabilized molecules explode and teleport him away {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} to [[Monument Valley]] on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}} Before Starscream can use his new standing to tip upcoming elections in his favor, Iacon is thrown into chaos when Megatron returns. {{storylink|City on Fire}}

Having experimented with [[combiner]] technology in the wake of the D-Void's defeat, Megatron has secretly collaborated with several Decepticons to perfect the process and create a new, more powerful Devastator from the remaining Constructicons... and using Prowl, who has been under Bombshell's mind control all along, as a guinea pig. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

The new Devastator lays waste to Iacon, but is defeated by Ironhide, the Dinobots, and the Aerialbots, the latter group having accidentally combined into a new combiner named [[Superion (G1)|Superion]]. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} Wheeljack sacrifices himself to neutralize Megatron, while Superion helps defeat Devastator and return Prowl to his senses. Starscream kills Metalhawk to exploit the NAILs and uses the political leverage to declare himself as the sole ruler of the "[[Republic of Cybertron]]", casting both Autobots and Decepticons out into the wilderness. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}} Starscream recruits [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] as his second-in-command and finds a useful stooge in the religiously-inclined [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] {{storylink|Three Monologues}} after taking custody of the comatose Superion and secretly placing Wheeljack into stasis. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

A subsequent stopover on [[Hedonia]] {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} brings the ''Lost Light'' crew into contact with a group of [[Ammonite]]s, and a game of one-upmanship goes wrong when [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] annihilates [[Terradore]] commander [[Imperius Drax]]. With Drax's successor pushing the Terradores towards a dangerous conclusion, the Ammonites join forces with Shockwave. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Megatron's defeat pushes Shockwave into accelerating the development of his Regenesis program—having evolved into an ambitious plan to end the universe so Cybertron can live forever. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Not far away, Metroplex detects [[Ore-7]], and Shockwave dispatches his Ammonite army to reclaim the sample. The Ammonites prove incapable of bringing the Titan down, but ''are'' successful in incapacitating him with a sample of [[Ore-2]]. Having contracted an [[alchemical virus]] from exposure to the deadly ore, a grievously wounded Metroplex jettisons his thumb and the Ore-7 sample before splashing down beneath the oceans of [[Hydrophena]] to recuperate. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

Metroplex's thumb impacts the ''Lost Light'', leaving a reluctant [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] to fight off [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] and his crew of [[Titan Hunter]]s. {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}} Meanwhile, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] and a crew of Autobots cope with a leftover [[phobia shield]]. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

[[File:ThisCalamitousLife-legislatorfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|";"]]

When Rewind is grievously injured in a battle on [[Temptoria]], the possibility of losing his beloved sends Chromedome into a grief spiral that eventually sees him tapping Overlord's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Unfortunately, Chromedome accidentally allows Overlord to escape, and Rewind has to sacrifice himself to jettison the monster from the ship. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}} Not wanting to jeopardize a great destiny he has forseen for Rodimus, Drift volunteers to take the fall for the incident and is exiled from the ship. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} Overlord's drifting body is found and taken in by the [[Galactic Council]], who rebuild and recruit him into their service. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}}

Ultra Magnus is also fatally wounded in the battle, but his body disappears from the ship's Medibay. The crew track the Magnus Armor and discover lost moon of [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} where they discover Chief Justice Tyrest, who has gone rogue and constructed a [[universal killswitch]] designed to eliminate all Transformers who were constructed cold in an act of religious genocide, helped by mad doctor [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] and knight Templar [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. The crew discovers the secret of [[Minimus Ambus]] and eventually defeat Tyrest by using their half of the Matrix to overwrite the killswitch, sacrificing their map to Cyberutopia in the process. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} Tyrest escapes, managing to teleport himself to the other side of Luna 1, where he is found and repaired by the Grand Architect. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness}}

[[File:BurningBright-Windblade.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Windblade and the Brain One is a Titan, the other's a plane!'']]

Alpha Trion makes contact with Thunderclash and persuades him to send his Camien crew members to Hydrophena, where [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] uses her [[cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] talents to tend to Metroplex's many injuries. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}}

Believing that Shockwave's plans will involve the [[Enigma of Combination]], Alpha Trion correctly deduces it to be on Earth. He travels there to retrieve it, but his vessel is shot down by the [[Earth Defense Command]] and he is taken hostage to forward the development of the EDC's weaponry. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

With his pieces in place, Shockwave puts the final pieces of his plan into play. At the request of his old student, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] manipulates Orion Pax into awakening a Titan slumbering beneath [[Gorlam Prime]] and transports it to Cybertron, transforming it into a [[zombie|undead]] "[[Quintessa (IDW)|Necrotitan]]" that lays waste to Iacon by unleashing a "death plague" that brings the dead back to life, including Metalhawk. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:BlackPlanet-bigfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Good; then we will fight in the shade."]]

Shockwave creates a portal to the [[Dead Universe]] to summon Nova Prime and his ancient Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} Bumblebee makes an alliance with Soundwave to stop this, but their strike on Shockwave's base proves only partially successful, as Galvatron reemerges before they can close the gate. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}} Gorlam Prime collapses into a Dead Universe portal, and Orion and his crew are saved by the ''Lost Light''. Orion and Hardhead venture into the rift to stop Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} Though Hardhead perishes, Orion succeeds in rescuing both Nightbeat and Kup from the thrall of the Dead Universe. In the ensuing fight against Nova Prime, Prime finally kills his villainous predecessor and retakes the title of "Optimus Prime". {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

With the ''Lost Light'' on Jhiaxus's tail, the ship makes a detour to [[Hydrophena]], where they encounter Metroplex's body, {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} his Camien caretakers, {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} and an army of Ammonites. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The crew use their ship's engines to power up the Titan and return him to Cybertron. In the ravaged remains of Iacon, Bumblebee and Megatron form a strange alliance, {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} and the Decepticon leader uses his internal space bridge to teleport Metroplex's thumb back to its rightful owner, giving Metroplex the energy to kill the Necrotitan and counter the plague. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

Unfortunately, all of this plays right into Shockwave's metaphorical hands; having lured all of the elements in his final plan to Cybertron—and having eliminated Nova Prime's control over the Dead Universe—Shockwave begins his final endgame, using Jhiaxus's [[chronal drive]] and the power of all fourteen ores to collapse all of reality into a singularity that will feed Cybertron for all eternity. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|thumb|right|250px|WHAT.]]

Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron confront Shockwave beneath Crystal City {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} while Metalhawk sacrifices himself once again to destroy the Ammonite army. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Shockwave shoots Bumblebee {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} but the Autobot's sacrifice moves Megatron—having slowly realized the error of his ways—to announce that he is changing sides. Shockwave's incredulity breaks the shadowplay, and, horrified at what he has become, he allows Optimus Prime to put him down. Crystal City collapses into a singularity and drags Bumblebee's body with it. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Unbeknownst to anyone, however, Shockwave is not dead, instead having been sent [[#12 million BCE|twelve million years back in time]], to the dawn of Cybertronian civilisation. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Though the Transformers have saved reality, the events of the crisis have changed Cybertron forever. In the aftermath, Autobot Megatron allows himself to stand trial for his crimes against the species, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} while the three Camiens struggle to adjust to their new lives. With the Decepticons left betrayed and rudderless, a new warrior steps up to take command... [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}
{{-}}

===2014===
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cast in the name of Primus.]]
Megatron's trial in the [[Raskol Arena]] lasts for five months, and though Megatron initially pleads guilty, Starscream's blustering testimony convinces him to change his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} The ex-Decepticon escapes immediate sentencing on a technicality. Requesting to be judged by the Knights of Cybertron, he joins the crew of the ''Lost Light'' as co-captain alongside an annoyed Rodimus. Before leaving Cybertron, he announces that the Decepticon cause has failed and that all active Decepticons are to stand down. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}

[[File:DetonationBoulevard-galvatronandedc.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Awkward!'']]

Those Decepticons still loyal to the cause rally under Galvatron's new banner. Soundwave joins Galvatron's splinter group, announcing that they will follow the ''true'' Decepticon path and seek peace. Galvatron leads his new troops to [[Earth]], where they meet with [[Sparkplug Witwicky|General Witwicky]] and [[Marissa Faireborn|Director Faireborn]]. The neo-Decepticons convince the skeptical humans of their good intentions by telling them that Megatron has defected to the Autobots, though Galvatron openly chafes under the idea of working alongside humans. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} In exchange for aid against the Autobots, G.B. Blackrock sponsors the construction of [[Sanctuary Station]] in orbit around Jupiter, which will house the new Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

As the Autobots and their new allies settle in, Optimus Prime decides to lead a small crew of Autobots (and Prowl's Constructicon hangers-on) back to Earth aboard the ''[[Ark-7]]'' in search of Alpha Trion. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}

Metroplex transforms into his city mode and links up with the ruins of Iacon, providing housing, power, and infrastructure for any in need. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} In time, a "ghetto" of Decepticons springs up around his outskirts, while the Autobots and NAILs live inside the Titan. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} Though alive, Metroplex is barely functional, and over several months Windblade slowly nurses him back to health. {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} As Metroplex recovers, he begins searching for his Titan brethren, scattered throughout the galaxy. Eventually, he locates [[Navitas]] on [[Velocitron]], [[Chela]] on [[Eukaris]], the remains of the [[Devisiun (Titan)|dead Titan]] on [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} and [[Vigilem|Carcer]], disguised as Metroplex’s lost brother [[Tempo]]. {{storylink|Rubicon}} Though most of the colonies have survived their millennia of isolation unscathed, one world is not so lucky: [[Micronus Prime]]'s colony world of [[Mini-Con]]s is sterilized by the robophobic [[Black Block Consortia]]. The sole survivor, a young female named [[Nickel]], joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] when they happen on the planet days after the attack. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

[[File:ABotAndHerCity-metroplexsbrain.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Yes, Windblade and the Brain Their robotic campaign, is easy to explain'']]

[[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron is too dangerous for Windblade to stay, and engineers a public crisis that will allow her access to Metroplex's space bridge by surreptitiously bombing districts within Metroplex. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} Windblade investigates and repeatedly clashes with Starscream {{storylink|A Long Way Down}}, who has by this point established the [[Badgeless]] troopers as enforcers of his will. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} Windblade is horrified when she learns the truth, but strikes an uneasy deal with Starscream in the name of the greater good: in exchange for keeping Chromia's crimes hidden, Windblade will allow Starscream to contact the ''other'' lost colony worlds, help her impoverished home and rebuild the Cybertronian empire with himself at the helm. Though her friend walks free, Windblade is left conflicted by her friend's duplicity and her own moral compromise. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}}

[[File:Full Fathom Five Alpha Trion.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Old Primes never die, they just get to be lab rats.]]

Entering Earth's orbit, the ''[[Ark-7]]'' runs up against post-invasion humanity, who deploy sophisticated orbital defense systems derived from Cybertronian technology against them. Sneaking to Earth aboard Sky Lynx, Optimus, Kup, and Jazz encounter [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]], who has gone native on Earth and turned his love of television into a career as an aspiring screenwriter. Thundercracker and his new pet [[Buster (IDW)|Buster]] are bait, however, and the Earth Defence Command arrives to arrest the Autobots. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} The Autobots flee to the town of [[Poverty Flat]], where Prowl and the Constructicons deploy Devastator against their foes. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} The Autobots escape custody and return to their ship, where they trace the development of the "[[mind bomb]]" to an EDC base on [[Marshall Islands|Bikini Atoll]]. The Autobots manage to infiltrate the facility, where they discover and free Alpha Trion. In the conflict, Galvatron kills General Witwicky. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

Trion explains the sordid history behind the Enigma of Combination, prompting the Autobots under Prowl's command to search for it {{storylink|The Crucible}} while Optimus returns to Cybertron. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches|Signals, Calls, and Marches}}
A globetrotting chase across the world ensues as Prowl's Autobots race Galvatron's Decepticons to find the artifact before the Decepticon leader can destroy it. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|Vs.}} {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} As they close on the Enigma, Prowl and his Constructicons form an unlikely alliance with Spike Witwicky to infiltrate Blackrock's Onyx facility in [[China]]. Devastator's hatred of Spike jeopardizes the mission and causes him to lose control of the Enigma to the Decepticons… who in turn, lose it to Starscream's double-agent Scoop, who has been working within the Decepticons as a mole. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} {{storylink|The Onyx Interface Conclusion: The Obliterati|The Obliterati}}

[[File:TheRoadNotTaken-ChromedomeRewind.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''[Feels intensify]'']]

In deep space, Megatron continues to grapple with his legacy while dealing with the less-than-accepting crew of the ''Lost Light'', including his old nemesis [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} A freak transmission and a mysterious coffin causes the ''Lost Light'' and its crewmembers to start disappearing, a phenomenon caused by their approach to the quantum duplicate of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The ''Lost Light'' crew investigates the wreckage of the ship and discovers the "other" Rewind, who is reunited with his beloved Chromedome. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} {{storylink|Slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} Immediately afterwards, Brainstorm, who has been perfecting the development of a portable [[time case]], takes the ''Lost Light'' crew out of commission and escapes backwards through history with the intention of talking Megatron out of starting the war and saving [[Quark]] from his eventual fate. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} A team of Autobots chase Brainstorm across time to prevent a [[Functionist Universe|alternate timeline]] from overwriting reality entirely and succeed in preventing the increasingly desperate scientist from killing Megatron at the moment of his creation—but not without creating some critically important time loops along the way. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

[[File:ThePermanentRevolution-goingtowar.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Good god, y'all.]]

Ratchet decides, after some soul-searching, to leave the ''Lost Light'' and go off in search of his friend [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} He tracks the wayward Autobot to the outer rim of the [[galaxy]], and joins Drift in confronting his old commander [[Megatron (RID)|Gigatron]] and [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]] over an [[Stone Army|army of ancient automatons]]. Ratchet agrees to help Drift, but only if he promises to return to the ''Lost Light'' at the conclusion of their adventure. {{storylink|The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|Drift: Empire of Stone}}

Learning of Megatron's defection from a postwar edition of his [[Towards Peace|manifesto]], Tarn briefly despairs, but his grief hardens into a resolve to kill Megatron, whom he considers a traitor. He joins forces with [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s troops in preparation for all-out war against Megatron. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

With Windblade's repairs on Metroplex nearing completion, Optimus arrives on Cybertron and helps bring Autobot serial killer [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], who has been exerting vengeance on war criminals who went unpunished, to justice. {{storylink|The Transformers: Punishment|Punishment}}
{{-}}

===2015===
[[File:TheSumAndItsParts-OptimusMatrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Starring: Space Jesus, Space Peter, and Space Judas.]]
Starscream resuscitates Wheeljack to help repair Superion with the help of the Enigma and aid Windblade on Metroplex's space bridge. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}} Having established a stable link between the two worlds, Cybertron prepares to make official "first contact"with Caminus after millions of years of mutual isolation. Starscream uses both Menasor and Superion to stage a combiner attack on the planet to win them over, but discovers that the Camiens, like most colonists, consider Optimus Prime to be a divine being, and immediately fall behind him on learning of his existence. {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} Caminus's leader, the [[Mistress of Flame]], comes to believes that Optimus is the "Arisen", the legendary Thirteenth Prime, a belief not held by Pyra Magna or her Torchbearers. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}}

[[File:Optimusmaximus.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"You have failed. We will find another way."]]

Windblade and Optimus collaborate to undermine Starscream's imperialism from within, and manipulate him into announcing the formation of the "[[Council of Worlds]]", a democratic parliament where Cybertron and its colonies will all have an equal voice. {{storylink|The Possible Light}} Infuriated by news of Starscream's scheme, Prowl and the Constructicons arrive on Cybertron to forcibly cut the planet off from the rest of the galaxy, but Starscream stops them by creating [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] from the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], a group of ''Lost Light'' delegates. {{storylink|Mistakes and Mayhem}} Starscream takes custody of Devastator and rebuilds him to incorporate Scoop, forcing the combiner into obeying him. Rattrap, who is secretly a double agent working for Prowl, releases Prowl from prison and gives him the Enigma. {{storylink|You, Me, and the Universe}}

When Devastator and Menasor go berserk, Prowl uses the Enigma on himself, Prime, and several other Autobots to create [[Optimus Maximus (G1)|Optimus Maximus]], who battles Devastator in a fight that spans across the lost colonies. Swindle leads a riot at Metroplex's space bridge; he is shot and presumed dead,{{storylink|All That Remains}} but Rattrap and Wheeljack secretly hide the brain-damaged Cybertronian, knowing that he has incriminating information on Starscream. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} The rogue combiners are defeated, paving the way for the creation of the Council of Worlds. Across the other colonies, the inhabitants are alerted to the fact that Cybertron still exists, and prepare for their own first contacts with their ancestral homeworld. {{storylink|All That Remains}} Optimus visits Prowl to try and reconcile, but the increasingly unstable tactician rejects his attempts. Their disagreement escalates into a full-on fistfight, and Rattrap has no choice but to spirit Prowl's broken body to safety. On Earth, Galvatron and Arcee arrange a clandestine meeting, where Galvatron reveals the otherworldly source behind [[G.B. Blackrock]]'s Onyx operating code. {{storylink|Now and On Earth}}

[[File:TheWillOfTheFew-councilofworlds.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bots of the Square Table.]]

Arcee travels to Cybertron and steals the Enigma, hoping to ensure that nobody else can be changed against their will. Windblade and Chromia track her to the [[Rust Sea]], where they encounter Pyra Magna's group of Torchbearers. An accident leads to the creation of [[Victorion]], the first Camien combiner. The Enigma is returned to its proper place, with Starscream none the wiser, while the Torchbearers opt to remain in the Rust Sea. {{storylink|An Uneventful Night}} Starscream and Windblade race each other to try and recruit more colonies into the Council of Worlds; after some adventuring, they succeed in convincing the citizens of [[Velocitron]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Eukaris]], and "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]" to join. {{storylink|The Will of the Few}}

In space, a visit to the Vis Vitalis for Thunderclash's "pre-wake" sees the legendary Autobot, and the Camien medic [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]], join the Lost Light's crew after they save the other ship from an infestation of "[[personality tick]]s". {{storylink|The Frail Gaze}} A series of whimsical events leads to the ''Lost Light'' crew braving the holographic "[[Swearth]]" in search of Swerve {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}}, which, in turn, leads them to the [[Necroworld]], where they meet [[Mortilus|Censere]]. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} A discussion regarding the Necrobot's passivity inspires Censere to use one of Brainstorm's discarded [[time case]]s to start travelling back in time and rescuing the "Disappeared" before they can vanish from history, storing them in stasis pods before they can overcome their timesickness. Among those brought to the present are [[Anode]] and [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]]. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Come into my Noisemaze, said the spider to the bot.]]

At some point after this, Prowl is kidnapped by his old comrade [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]], who has escaped from the [[Noisemaze]] and recruited [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], a post-war terrorist group sporting experimental biomechanical [[beast mode]]s, to capture a terminally ill [[Verity Carlo]] and [[Stakeout (G1)|Stakeout]] for the Aequitas data they carry. Prowl's capture necessitates the return of the Wreckers, who assemble to rescue the disgraced strategist. Their mission takes them into the Noisemaze, where Prowl rejects Tarantulas's offer of an alliance. The Wreckers manage to free Prowl; Kup and Arcee finally sever ties with him and return to the ''Ark-7''. {{storylink|The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers|Sins of the Wreckers}}

Aboard the ''Lost Light'', crewmember [[Getaway]] decides that enough is enough and makes a move to incriminate Megatron by grooming Tailgate into performing a suicide mission. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}} In case this fails, he also plans a large-scale mutiny, taking advantage of the crew's resentment of Megatron's presence and Rodimus's increasingly erratic leadership; Getaway also convinces them that the captains plan to have him locked up on trumped-up charges, which results in the crew having doubts when he is imprisoned for his attempt to manipulate Tailgate into his death. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} A subsequent encounter with [[Froid]] and [[Sunder (G1)|Sunder]] results in a super-powered Tailgate, while Megatron decides to permanently lay down arms in the name of pacifism. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}
{{-}}

===2016===
[[File:AHO-earthannexed.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Got tired of whining A grander scheme with silver lining For every boy and girl'']]
The formation of the Council of Worlds brings great changes to Cybertron; Transformers from all five colonies start immigrating to Iacon, and the mix of cultures and traditions bolsters the rebuilding city. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Choose Me}} This new optimism has little effect on the increasingly frazzled Starscream, who starts experiencing recurring hallucinations of Bumblebee—who, unbeknownst to anyone, still lives within the Crystal City singularity. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Unsure of his place in this rapidly changing society, Optimus Prime finds a sympathetic ear in [[Aileron]], a young Camien who persuades him to seek out the Torchbearers. They do so, and Pyra Magna vows to build the agnostic Optimus into a worthy Prime. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} At the same time, Galvatron begins recruiting new Decepticons on Cybertron, intending to restart the war on Earth via the space bridge network. {{storylink|The Transgressors}}

The Dinobots accept a secret mission from Camien-turned-Decepticon sympathizer [[Swift (G1)|Swift]]: transporting a payload of Sparks into the Cybertronian wilderness. They contend with [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s latest wave of experiments and succeed in reigniting [[Alyon]]'s old hot spot, gaining [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] as the newest member of their team. {{storylink|The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption}}

[[File:RageRage-Megatronappears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The old man's back again.]]

The faith the colonists place in Optimus pushes him into making ever more reckless decisions, and when Galvatron launches a unilateral attack on Earth, Optimus responds by using his authority to annex Earth into the Council of Worlds, permanently placing it under Cybertronian protection {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} His actions throw both worlds into chaos; on Earth, the Earth Defense Command forms an alliance with the [[People's Liberation Army Mecha Force]] to prepare for total war against the Cybertronians, while on Cybertron, Starscream galvanizes the Council against Prime's actions. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}} Blackrock, his status as a mechanical imposter fully revealed, forges an alliance of convenience with Galvatron's Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 4: It's Beginning To And Back Again|It's Beginning To And Back Again}} Seeking a new advantage, Optimus travels to Sanctuary Station and blackmails Soundwave's Decepticons into joining him and taking down Galvatron. The Autobots battle the Decepticons underwater, where Galvatron uses the powers of the Enigma against his foes before Superion sacrifices himself by de-combining for good to neutralize Blackrock's Enigma code. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}}

On Earth, events come to a head in [[Monument Valley]], where Optimus, at Alpha Trion's urging, uses his control over Titans to summon Metrotitan. Optimus summoning a holy Titan convinces the colonists that Prime is, indeed, the Thirteenth Prime, and that Earth is a lost colony of Cybertron, which swings public opinion back his way. Prime, Arcee, and Soundwave subsequently pursue Galvatron to [[Jupiter]], where Prime finally kills the ancient warrior. Hoping to repair relations with humankind, Optimus orders Metrotitan to transform and dubs the Titan "[[Autobot City (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Autobot City]]", an embassy for Cybertronians on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

In space, the mutinous crew of the ''Lost Light'' make their move against Rodimus and his crew by luring them to the [[Necroworld]] under the guise of a psychic attack and stranding them there. What they ''don't'' know is that Getaway has made a deal with the [[Galactic Council]] to hand over Megatron—and even he is unaware that the Decepticon Justice Division has finally tracked down Megatron, and that the Decepticon forces have assembled to take out the traitor and his allies. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} The Galactic Council arrives and deploys their new asset Overlord against Megatron. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} With the help of the returned Ratchet and Drift—and through Skids's own self sacrifice—the crew manage to repel Deathsaurus's troops; Megatron renounces his pacifism and takes up arms once more to finally put down the DJD for good. In the aftermath, the crew discovers the fate of the time-hopping "Disappeared". Megatron is finally reunited with his old friend [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]... moments before a GC [[geobomb]] detonates inside the planet. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

On the Lost Light, the crew are shocked to learn both about Getaway's deal with the council and that he used his nudge gun to erase the memories of those who would not agree to the coup. Getaway pacifies them by lying that the council promised not to harm anyone but Megatron, but his subsequent efforts to alter the terms of the deal ends in failure. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

[[File:ModesOfProduction-tractorbeam.jpg|thumb|left|300px|They're heeeere!]]

The detonation of the geobomb shunts the entire Necroworld into an [[Functionist Universe|alternate reality]] created by Brainstorm's time-travel misadventures. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising|Bad Moon Rising}} Rodimus and a small crew of Autobots attempt to teleport back to Cybertron, only to find themselves on the wrong Cybertron! {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} The [[Functionism|Functionist]] Cybertron stands on the brink of extermination, and the arrival of the Autobots threatens to push the uneasy peace completely over the brink. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} The [[Functionist Council]] eventually deploy their [[Moonbase Two|ultimate weapon]] against Cybertron, and Megatron steps up to lead the counterattack and rallies the [[Anti-Vocationist League]]. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} Most of the Autobots return to their home universe, but Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron joins the League and begins again, this time basing his revolution on "peace through empathy". On Necroworld, Anode—having been hallucinating Lug still being alive thanks to her timesickness—manages to resurrect her using the widowed metal "snowflake" and traces of Lug's spark energy in Necroworld's flowers. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

On the "real" Cybertron, Windblade and the other Council members continue to keep the peace {{storylink|07:00:00}} while Starscream hires exiled [[Eukaris|Eukarian]] [[Fateweaver]] [[Airachnid (G1)|Airachnid]] to search for Swindle's body in the hopes of permanently silencing the loose end. {{storylink|The Price of You}} {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Increasing tensions between the [[Badgeless]] and the civilians prompt [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to step up and reform Cybertronian security. {{storylink|Applicable Skills}} Chromia and Windblade continue to search for Swindle's body as Airachnid surreptitiously racks up a mnemosurgical murder spree, while [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] joins the Badgeless to bring down their organization from within. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Their inquiry ends when Rattrap and Wheeljack reveal the location of Swindle's body. The Combaticons use the Enigma to probe Swindle's mind and merge into [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], who attacks Iacon. Ironhide's new recruits bring down the combiner, but in the aftermath Chromia confesses to her old crimes and is sent to jail. {{storylink|The Line Between Us}}

Prompted by Getaway, Perceptor manages to find "the [[Warren]]", a series of quantum tunnels that the Lost Light crew can use to reach Cyberutopia, but this "victory" is stymied by the Lost Light finally receiving the "last will and testament" of the crew, broadcast from Necroworld, which reveals their apparent imminent deaths at the hands of the Decepticon Justice Division. Despite Getaway's flustered insistence that the transmission is a fake, the crew is horrified and wants to go back for them, leading Getaway to use his nudge gun to memory-wipe Thunderclash and Riptide, though—unbeknownst to him—it fails on the latter. Getaway has Froid and Sunder released from the ship's brig so that Sunder can use his remote mnemosurgery abilities to trap Thunderclash in a memory loop and make the crew forget the transmission; though Getaway initially balks at Sunder's demand for twenty-five [[life cord]]s to feast on in exchange, he quickly comes around. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

The [[President of the United States]], furious at the EDC's recent failures, dissolves the organization in favor of [[Joe Colton (Dire Wraith)|Joe Colton]], leading a revitalized team of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] veterans. {{storylink|White Light}} What she doesn't know is that Joe Colton and several G.I. Joe troopers have been replaced by [[Dire Wraith]]s. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The real Colton, having survived the Dire Wraith attack, takes on the identity of Baron Ironblood and joins up with Garrison Kreiger, intending to solve the Cybertronian problem by other means. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[File:WhiteLight-bodyjackinginfinitus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"SHUT UP, DAMMIT!"]]

Metrotitan broadcasts a message to the galaxy at large... a message that reaches Cybertron and awakens [[Infinitus]] from his long slumber beneath [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Disgusted at what Cybertron has become, "Sentinel Prime" returns to life and rampages through Iacon before bridging to Earth. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}} There, he captures G.B. Blackrock and forcibly awakens his "Sovereign" persona {{storylink|White Light}} before leaving for Prion with Soundwave and Optimus. Claiming to be the herald of Onyx Prime's return, Sentinel attempts and fails to convince Optimus to stand with him. {{storylink|White Light}} Subsequently, Infinitus and Sovereign travel to [[Moonbase One|Luna One]], where Infinitus uses his powers to reactivate the Titan graveyard and send them to "cleanse" Cybertron. Infinitus perishes and Fortress Maximus, Red Alert, and Prowl manage to send his fleet of Titans off-course so that it will take months for them to reach Cybertron. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

On Necroworld, the stranded ''Lost Light''ers prepare to attempt re-contact with Cybertron using a [[Skip|convenient alt-mode]] they found amongst the dead Decepticons. Tailgate accepts treatment for his [[Outlier|hyperactive spark]], but a vengeful [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]] buries him for another six million years {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|After Megatron}} before taking control of Necroworld with his fellow Decepticon Disappeared, until Fortress Maximus and his team arrive in response to Team Rodimus's "last will and testament". {{storylink|Sardines}}

The "Rod Squad"'s first stop is [[Troja Major]], where they seek to obtain a new map to Cyberutopia from [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]'s contact [[Agonizer]]; however, Nautica has an ulterior motive for travelling to the planet, seeking to use the [[Carthasian]] [[Mengel]]'s Resus Cradle to resurrect Skids from his brain module. Meanwhile, Anode and Lug meet up with her old co-worker [[Wipe-Out]], but soon find themselves under attack from both the Black Block Consortia and the forces of the [[Adaptus|Grand Architect]], led by [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]. {{storylink|An Axe to Break the Ice}} Anode, Lug and Wipe-Out escape, and Flame's troops instead pursue their more important target—a newborn Transformer known as the "[[Infinite]]", capable of turning into anything—to Mengel's lab. Nautica manages to break out of Mengel's siphon and escape from the Grand Architect's men before losing her friendship with Velocity, which Mengel had demanded as payment for Skids's resurrection, but loses her emotional connection to her memories of Skids in the process. Flame and his men recover the Resus Cradle, which is actually the Magnificence, and deliver it to Scorponok. {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}} The Grand Architect moves his plans into their final phase, using the Black Block Consortia, which he has infiltrated and taken over, to clear the Benzene cluster of life so that he can use its threadbare space to banish the threat he had seen so long before. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}}

Around three weeks into Skip's journey, tensions start to flare during a prank war between the bored Swerve and Anode; things come to a head when the crew recieve news from Fortress Maximus on Necroworld that Tailgate has apparently spontaneously combusted, leading a grief-stricken Cyclonus to inadvertently wound Rewind with his Great Sword. As fighting breaks out aboard the ship, Skip's [[Size changing|mass-shifting]] begins wearing off, causing the dead Decepticon to shrink, threatening to crush the crew. {{storylink|Sardines}} Ten, having apparently gained the ability to speak—in reality, the Omega Guardians manipulating the crew by speaking through him—attempts to rally the other Autobots to save the de-materializing Ratchet by plotting a course through the Warren to Mederi.<ref name="LLTimeline">The Lost Light timeline relative to the rest of the universe takes... a lot of {{w|No-Prize|No-Prizing}} to figure out. Despite [https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1062091397271089152 ''Crucible'' taking place simultaneously to ''Unicron''], the characters indicate that from their perspective it was only four weeks between ''Dissolution'' and ''Crucible'', rather than ''two years''. This can be fixed by assuming that the characters' various trips through the Warren took them through time as well as space... but we're also going to assume that Scorponok's transmat portal had similar time-bending consequences, as otherwise, timeline crossover means we'd have to conclude that it took years for Mirage and the Protectobots to catch up with the ''Lost Light''. James Roberts encourages us not to try and do the mathematics.</ref> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

[[File:TheNewColossus-thisendsnow.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Behold the power of brand synergy*! (* [[Synergy]] not included.)]]

Several months pass, and humanity and Cybertronians uneasily coexist on Earth in spite of the Autobot's continued humanitarian efforts. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} All this changes when extradimensional warlord [[Baron Karza]], hailing from [[Micronus Prime]]'s dying dimension of [[Microspace]], sets his sights on Earth's ample supplies of [[Ore-13]], which he can use to save his universe. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} He cuts a deal with the [[Dire Wraith]]s and [[Miles Mayhem]] and begins transporting supplies of the ore into his dimension, which has the side effect of destabilizing the ore on Earth and threatening the planet with nuclear annihilation. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} Believing the Cybertronians at fault, “Colton” seeks out Miles Mayhem, who gears up to deploy [[M.A.S.K.]] in the field by using his captive [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] as a source of scientific development. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

Colton deploys G.I. Joe in [[Portland]] against Jazz and Arcee; during the battle, [[Rom]] arrives and immediately kills the false Colton. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The Autobots pursue Rom while [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] relocates to Earth to deal with the malfunctioning Metrotitan, and a [[Cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] session catapults her into Microspace. {{storylink|Informed}} Thundercracker defends the President from a Dire Wraith incursion {{storylink|Thundercracker & Buster Save the World}} while [[Action Man]] leads a daring heist to rescue Kup from MASK captivity. {{storylink|The Modern World}} The heroic [[Micronaut]]s cut a deal with their nemesis Karza and travel to our dimension. {{storylink|The New Colossus}}

[[File:ValleyForge-MonsterKarza.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"''Enerchange''."]]
The Scavengers briefly stop by Earth, where they befriend washed-up G.I. Joe recruit [[MP3]] and Crankcase's [[CONS4EVA|online boyfriend]]—in reality a pacifistic Dire Wraith—as part of a mystical "[[Crossover]]". {{storylink|Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!}} Abandoned by Galvatron's Decepticons, Skywarp throws his lot in with the newest incarnation of G.I. Joe, a grudging alliance until the humans can repair the Seeker's onboard teleportation systems. {{storylink|D.T.A.}}

Miles Mayhem, M.A.S.K., and the Dire Wraiths launch an assault on Autobot City, which turns into a free-for-all when Baron Karza arrives. Only by teaming up do the heroes manage to force the villain back into Microspace and neutralize Earth's remaining stores of Ore-13. In the aftermath, Optimus Prime and his new allies realize that they will have to defend Earth together, as equals. {{storylink|Valley Forge}}

[[File:Desperate Times - Depth Of My Pettiness.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Nothing more need be said.]]

Windblade returns to Cybertron just in time for Sentinel Prime's fleet of [[zombie|undead]] titans to make planetfall on Cybertron. The Republic of Cybertron musters its defenses and prepares to fight back… {{storylink|Ping}} but their efforts aren't enough, and as a result Starscream orders his troops to storm [[Vigilem|Carcer]] against the wishes of its commander [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] and force the Titan to transform. {{storylink|Desperate Times}} Windblade joins the infiltration team, but is horrified when she learns she has awoken Vigilem after years of slumber. {{storylink|Desperate Measures (Till All Are One)|Desperate Measures}} Vigilem destroys the zombie Titans, but proves too much for Windblade to control. Metroplex releases Chromia to help her, and Elita One manages to kill the Titan… but not before Vigilem disgorges Liege Maximo, the Prime teleporting away to places unknown. {{storylink|Rubicon}}

Baron Karza, having built a new army after being sent back to Microspace, invades Earth to create a new home for his people; Enerchanging with Micronus Prime's body, Karza uses its power to defeat and capture Optimus Prime, Arcee and Jazz, while his forces neutralise M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 1|Wrath of Karza #1}} Though his armies almost manage to conquer the planet, he is stopped by the Micronauts, who release the Autobots from Karza's orbital prison to fight him. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 4|Wrath of Karza #4}} Karza is forced to team up with the Autobots when his wife, [[Shazraella]], starts using the power of the Entropy Cloud that has consumed Microspace, but they are unable to defeat her. Shazraella is eventually stopped when the Micronauts' leader, [[Oziron Rael]], ascends to become one of the Time Travelers and separates her from the source of her power; the Time Travelers arrange to have spacebridges created between Microspace and Earth, with Optimus pledging to help welcome any ambassadors of Microspace to the planet. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 5|Wrath of Karza #5}}
{{-}}

===2017===
[[File:ToWalkAmongTheChosen-NewAutobots.jpg|thumb|right|250px|They'll let anyone be 'chosen' these days.]]
Optimus Prime's adventures prove inspirational enough to recruit a whole new generation of idealistic Autobots, recruited from the colonies and religiously devoted to their leader. With his new recruits, Prime and the Autobots continue their mission of global peacekeeping while preparing Earth to join the Council. This uneasy status quo is thrown into doubt when the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s arrive on Earth, hoping to rebuild their world using Earth's supplies of Ore-13. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} A series of mutual misunderstandings caused by Prime's increasing ruthlessness escalate the crisis to the point of all-out war between the Transformers and Junkions, as Soundwave uses Megatron's ''original'' words to turn the Junkions' servant [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] against their masters, {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} but Optimus salvages the situation at the last moment by convincing his troops to lay down arms. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

The Junkions relocate to an abandoned EDC base to start the construction of "[[Little Cybertron]]", but [[Slide]], who has lost her brother [[Oiler]] in the hostilities, is unable to forgive the Junkions and finds herself being groomed by an increasingly ambitious Pyra Magna, who has grown tired of Prime's leadership, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} even as Optimus and Pyra tentatively bury their hatchet...for now. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Jazz, in an effort to increase understanding between humans and Cybertronians, agrees to an interview with [[Hector Ramirez]], but the interview is used as a trap by G.I. Joe, who seek to apprehend him for his killing of John Powell years before. Jazz escapes thanks to a tip-off from Optimus Prime. {{storylink|What It's Really Like}}

[[File:LostLight12 smite the abomination.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Who would win? a) A powerful gestalt being formed of six Autobots through mystical and ancient technology b) One sword-wielding boi]]
After months in space, the Protectobots and [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] finally catch up with the ''Lost Light'' where they are all, First Aid in particular, caught off guard by the change in command and the resulting changes aboard ship as well the myriad of suspicious activities and attitudes. At a private meeting, they are approached by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] who confesses the truth behind the mutiny against Rodimus and his role therein. Simultaneously however, Getaway and his loyalists corner them forcing the Protectobots into a running firefight to try and escape the ship only to be subdued and placed within a memory loop, {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 1): Full Circle|Full Circle}} while Riptide is forced into the ship's oil reservoir, which has been filled with [[scraplet]]s. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} To secure his control of the ship, Getaway contacts Star Saber, hiring him as an enforcer.

As the ''Lost Light'' makes multiple trips through the Warren, in order to deal with his co-conspirator [[Atomizer]]'s growing doubts, Getaway forces him to execute the comatose [[Rook (Generations)|Rook]] to prevent the Protectobots from forming Defensor; however, Riptide, who survived his dip in the oil reservoir, awakens the comatose Autobots to help them escape. The Protectobots retrieve the corpse of Ambulon from the ship's morgue to use as the combiner's leg, but even the combined might of Thunderclash, Mirage and Defensor is no match for Star Saber, who cuts them down where they stand. Thunderclash, Riptide and First Aid are able to escape the ship thanks to Atomizer turning on Getaway, but the captain murders Atomizer with his bare hands in response before the ship emerges from the Warren at its destination.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}}

During a misadventure on the planet [[Frayus]], the Scavengers are caught in a three-way fight between the Galactic Council, the Black Block Consortia, and Deathsaurus and Nickel's Decepticons. They are rescued by Agonizer, who uses a portal to bring them to Troja Major, with Nickel inadvertently being brought with them. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} Agonizer hires the Scavengers to retrieve the Magnificence from Flame on the planet [[Confluence]], but after they arrive they are captured by Flame's master Scorponok; {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} however, the group is able to escape after Nickel and Spinister manage to treat the symptoms of Grimlock's brain damage, restoring the Dinobot to his "old self". Discovering that Scorponok has created an organic baby called the [[Firstborn]], the first of a race of "organic Decepticons" containing Cybertronian sparks, the Scavengers take the baby and the Magnificence and flee; Grimlock takes the Firstborn and fights his way out, while the other Scavengers and the Magnificence are sent through Scorponok's transmat portal.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} Grimlock is picked up by First Aid and crew, who drop the Firstborn off at Troja Major and repair Thunderclash before setting off in search of the Lost Light on a ship chartered from [[Wipe-Out]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 1): A Dance Before Dying|A Dance Before Dying}}
[[File:Salvation - Trypticon.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, he pulls the spitting high-tension wires down.]]
On Cybertron, Starscream—increasingly "haunted" by the "ghost" of Bumblebee {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}—picks up the pieces from the leftover Titan crisis; as part of a deal between himself and the Mistress of Flame, he releases Chromia into the Mistress's custody so that she can hunt down and kill Liege Maximo. {{storylink|Heavy}} He subsequently has Airachnid alter the memories of the Combaticons and turn them into loyal bodyguards for his own purposes. {{storylink|The Price of You}} Meanwhile Bludgeon reawakens Trypticon, intending to lay waste to the galaxy in the name of Cybertron; the Dinobots, Sandstorm, and Trypticon defeat him, sparks Bludgeon had harvested from the Alyon hotspot subsequently developing into a wave of newborn protoforms within the belly of the beastial Titan. Starscream takes Bludgeon into custody, and manages to revive Slug—who was killed by Sandstorm while hunting Bludgeon—using a corrupted Sweep spark. {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionMeetsTheAutobots.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Remember me, from two-thirds up the page? I still exist!]]

In the country of [[Schleteva]], G.B. Blackrock investigates the Talisman and provokes a crisis aboveground when his recklessness transforms civilians into Dire Wraiths. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} He, [[Action Man]], [[Ayana Jones]], and Kup team up to chase the Talisman across the globe and beyond in the hopes of returning Ayana's G.I. Joe comrades to normal, encountering a villainous alliance—the [[Iron Ring]]—of foes such as [[Joe Colton|Baron Ironblood]], the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]]s, {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} and [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]], the last of the living Maximal Autobots... even as the frozen corpse of Domitius Major is examined by the forces of Ironblood and [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]]. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} The Revolutionaries break into Kreiger's [[Project Ice Man]] compound and capture Kreiger while also reuniting with the time lost [[Sgt. Savage]]. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Before they can transfer the Talisman and Kreiger over to G.I. Joe however, Baron Ironblood attacks with Savage unmasking him as Joe Colton. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Blackrock proves able to use his connection to the Talisman and his Titan Master powers to heal the infected the mutates Verenyans via Metrotitan's Space Bridge, a wave that somehow releases the consciousness of the deceased [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] into the body of Centurion. Nonetheless, Colton's alliance proves able to escape with the Talisman with it sending another mutagenic wave that the new Centurion shields Action Man from before returning to life and explaining his recovery. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[Windblade's doctor]] informs Starscream of his discovery that Vigilem downloaded his mind into Windblade's before his death, and that it is slowly killing her. After some deliberation, Starscream has Airachnid connect his mind to Windblade's so that he can save her, despite the risk to his own life. {{storylink|If I Know You}} Entering Windblade's mind, he intervenes to stop Vigilem from killing her, but Vigilem begins to take control of Starscream's body. However, on looking into Starscream's memories, Windblade sees his creation through cold construction; in response, she "forges" Starscream's spark to create a projection of his"true form"—the form he would have taken had he been forged, rather constructed cold. With Starscream forcing Vigilem back into Windblade's mind, she destroys the Titan within her spark, allowing the two to awaken. {{storylink|Your First Mistake}}

With Sideswipe's health increasingly deteriorating, the Autobots humanely shut down his CR chamber. {{storylink|The Life of Sideswipe}} Soon afterwards, Alpha Trion recounts the origin of the Autobot symbol to Optimus Prime, Starscream and Pyra Magna before the President calls to announce that [[Marissa Faireborn]] has been chosen to represent Earth on the Council of Worlds. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

[[File:FirstStrike6-Merklynn.jpg|thumb|right|270px|"I turned myself into an alien wizard, Colton! Boom! Big reveal!"]]
At the official induction ceremony, Colton's alliance attacks {{storylink|First Strike issue 1|First Strike #1}} before heading into the depths of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] to deploy the Talisman, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} leaving behind their army of [[Iron Grenadier]]s, [[Dreadnok]]s and [[Red Shadows]], with [[Doctor Mindbender]] in the Baron Ironblood costume as a distraction. {{storylink|First Strike issue 3|First Strike #3}} During the attack, the mercenary [[Colditz]] and a trio of Red Shadows are sent to retrieve the Centurion/Mike Power hybrid, who apparently willingly rejoins his side, kidnapping Blackrock in the process. Arcee and the remaining "[[Revolutionaries (team)|Revolutionaries]]" head into the Cybertronian wilderness after them. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dawn}} Centurion actually intends to take revenge on Kreiger, but Colditz has actually been ordered to take him into the wilderness to ensure that he doesn't interfere with the villain's plans with his connection to the Talisman. The Revolutionaries manage to talk the overloading Centurion down, but he is left in [[stasis lock]] and unable to help them against the Iron Ring. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dusk}}

Meanwhile on Earth, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] and [[M.A.S.K.]] contact [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] to reach Cybertron and stop Colton, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} only to be thrown in jail under charges of suspicion by Starscream. Sunstreaker and Ironhide head underground to try and kill Colton but the human general manages to outmaneuver them and escape Metroplex. {{storylink|First Strike issue 4|First Strike #4}} Optimus Prime breaks the Joes out of prison, to Windblade's disappointment, and—along with Soundwave and a returning Arcee—head to the core of Cybertron, managing to beat the villains there. {{storylink|First Strike issue 5|First Strike #5}} Despite the intervention of Starscream, Elita One and Obsidian, who attempt to arrest or kill everyone present, Colton's alliance is prevented from reaching the core; however, Kreiger—actually the alien wizard Merklynn—activates the device where they are, using it to magically alter the whole planet's energon and transform a portion of Cybertron into [[New Prysmos|a replica]] of his lost homeworld [[Prysmos]], from which he intends to conquer the galaxy. A broken, defeated Colton and his allies are taken into custody on Cybertron. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|First Strike #6}}

In response to Merklynn's actions, Cybertron uses almost half its energy to beam a signal—"Welcome. Death."—into space, where it finds its target in the orbit of a black hole: [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|The Signal}}

[[File:OP13 prowl and the gang.jpg|thumb|left|150px|There's a war going on! And it's time that you knew Every lad in this land has his duty to do.]]
While G.I. Joe and the Cybertronians deal with Colton's attack, [[Aileron]] leads a team of colonists to search for the missing Jazz on Earth, eventually finding him under attack by humans in [[Oaxaca]]. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 1}} Though Jazz and the colonists succeed in tracking the Cybertronian weapons the humans were using to their source ([[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]], posing as humans via [[holomatter]] avatars), Jazz is angry and upset that Optimus Prime didn't attempt to find him or deal with the weapons, and heads off on his own once more. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 2}} Meanwhile, other villains take advantage of the absence of G.I. Joe and Autobot City's leadership, such as [[V.E.N.O.M.]] (now under the employ of Cobra) {{storylink|G.I. Joe: First Strike}} and the Dire Wraiths. {{istorylink|Micronauts: First Strike}}

Discovering from Centurion that protoforms once again exist on Cybertron, Optimus and his allies confront Starscream over his knowledge of the active hot spot. Starscream takes Prime to see the resurrected Slug, who agrees to help track down the Dinobots and the protoforms; however, when Optimus's team finds Centurion, the Dinobots and Sandstorm in the wilderness, Bludgeon uses his [[Void Scepter]] from afar to drive Slug into a murderous rage over his teammates working with his killer. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}} After Slug is calmed down, Trypticon, wishing to protect the protoforms, emerges from the ground to demand an end to the fighting; this prompts Optimus to declare Trypticon to be the Earth embassy on Cybertron, preventing him from having to turn the protoforms over to Starscream's government. Meanwhile, Prowl and his allies rescue the surviving Throttlebots on Regalis V from Onyx Prime's beast army in the ''[[Peaceful Revolution]]'', acting on intelligence provided by Pyra Magna. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 2 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}}

{{-}}

===2018===
Thundercracker's attempts to write a biopic of G.I. Joe agent [[Chuckles]] are interrupted by Starscream, who asks Thundercracker to make a film about his life. Thundercracker eagerly sets to the task, though he is stymied by the seemingly impossible task of portraying Starscream both positively and honestly. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:TheChosenOne-imsorry.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Spoiler: this didn't end well.]]
On returning to her seat on the Council of Worlds, Windblade is outraged to learn that the council have not yet told the public about Liege Maximo's escape, and informs the planet of the truth herself. Though she is expelled from the council, when Starscream calls free elections as demanded by Elita One, she agrees to run for office. Starscream, meanwhile, is haunted by his experience within Windblade's mind and the vision of what he could have been, and when the electoral debate comes, he confesses to his crimes in full for all to hear. Starscream, along with his co-conspirators Airachnid, Rattrap and the Combaticons, are all arrested, and Windblade goes on to win the election and be declared the "first delegate", the new ruler of Cybertron. {{storylink|The Chosen One}}

Thundercracker, on learning of Starscream's arrest, is not dissuaded from his filmmaking, seeing it as the perfect ending to the movie. Not wanting the fairly-accurate-but-kind-of-terrible film released, the imprisoned Starscream has a message sent to two Badgeless, who attempt to kill Thundercracker to prevent the film's release. Thundercracker manages to kill his two attackers, and returns to Earth... where he finds out that all interest in the film is dead in the water. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:OP17 Everything is Shockwave's fault.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|"IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, OPTIMUS! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT—HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER! EVEN [[Liege Maximo|MY FAMILY]]—EVEN [[The Fallen|MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY]] BOUGHT IT!"]]
Optimus Prime, Marissa Faireborn and the President of the United States inaugurate an Ore-13 mine in Kentucky, staffed by human, Cybertronian, and Junkion alike; the ore is refined into energon and shipped to Cybertron, compensating for Merklynn's magical tainting of their fuel supply. However, the arrival of the first shipment is overshadowed—quite literally—by the arrival of Onyx Prime's enormous eyeball-shaped ship [[Nemesis (BWII)|''Nemesis'']] in the skies above Iacon. Onyx Prime, with a chained Liege Maximo at his feet, demands to speak to Optimus Prime, who he calls "the Arisen". {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} While Soundwave attempts and fails to read the mind of Liege Maximo, arguing breaks out between Onyx, the Council of Worlds, and Optimus; things reach a head when Soundwave enters the council chambers, and is enraged to see Optimus defending Onyx. Just as Alpha Trion realises the truth of Onyx's identity, an explosion rips through the [[Spire]] and kills Trion, which Onyx blames on Soundwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}} Liege Maximo vanishes from captivity in the chaos, while Onyx stokes dissent and confusion by impugning Optimus's allies, revealing the truth that Soundwave killed Horri-Bull to the furious Decepticons.

With fighting breaking out in the city streets, Onyx boards his skiff to return to the ''Nemesis''; meanwhile, Devastator forms to forcibly "rescue" Starscream from prison, while Metrotitan travels from Earth to Cybertron and submits to the command of the "chosen one", firing on Onyx's vessel. As the situation gets further out of control, Metrotitan refuses to obey Optimus's orders to stand down and fires on him and Windblade, sending Optimus falling to the ground; Onyx catches him aboard the skiff and has the ''Nemesis'' return fire, knocking Metrotitan to the ground. After subduing the furious Optimus, Onyx tears his "face" off, revealing his true identity as Shockwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|The Ground}}

Explaining what happened to him and how he became "Onyx" to Optimus, Shockwave has the ''Nemesis'' take them to the Crystal City singularity and throws Optimus in so that he may share Shockwave's enlightenment. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} With the discovery of his "true self" and the prophecies surrounding him seemingly adding up into a chance to become the savior Cybertron needs, Starscream has Devastator carry him to the fallen Metrotitan, where for one moment he believes he really ''does'' have some grand destiny... only for Shockwave to show up and mock him with the revelation that the entire prophecy was the result of his manipulations to place a fool like Starscream on the throne of Cybertron, before murdering Metrotitan. Within the singularity, Optimus — now finding himself in [[infraspace]] once more — reunites with Bumblebee, whose ghostly form is dragged away from Starscream to meet with his old leader. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}}

[[File:Schismatic-KupDies.jpg|thumb|Or: How Not To Sell Fans On A Crossover.]]
With Shockwave's machinations having sowed chaos across Iacon, Scoop's religious faith drives him and the other Constructicons on as Devastator, taking on Victorion out of a sheer single-minded intent to prove that Starscream is a reincarnation of the treacherous [[The Fallen|Megatronus]]. In the meantime, Optimus devises a means of escaping from Infraspace, using the Matrix as a means of generating an escape back to the real world. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}} Ultimately, Arcee succeeds in killing Liege Maximo, Victorion triumphs over Devastator, and the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee come to inhabit Pyra Magna's body; Shockwave is taken prisoner, and Pyra is treated to disentangle the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee from her own. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

During Optimus's convalescence, Ironhide and Kup are sent to attempt diplomatic negotiations with the [[Prysmosian]] inhabitants of [[New Prysmos]]. While Wheeljack discovers that the Talisman is tunnelling towards Cybertron's core and threatening to finish what Merklynn started, a faction of Visionaries called the [[Darkling Lord]]s—covertly urged on by Merklynn—attempt to conquer Cybertron for themselves, their leader [[Virulina]] murdering Kup with magic. [[Leoric]] and his [[Spectral Knight]]s oppose Virulina's plan, and ally with Ironhide's team to stop them; though they succeed in preventing the Darkling Lords' conquest, a reaction between [[Galadria]]'s magics and Wheeljack's bomb rockets New Prysmos to the surface of Cybertron and surrounds it with a swathe of organic grass. Merklynn is imprisoned for his misdeeds, and is left dejected and fatalistic by his realisation that all he did was for naught, as his actions have summoned Unicron. {{storylink|Transformers vs. Visionaries}}

Learning of Kup's death, Springer and Verity Carlo attempt to meet up with Impactor, but are embroiled in Mayhem's anti-faction scheme in the process — which, in turn, causes Verity's kidnapping by Overlord, who has been working on Earth with Tarantulas on the [[Timemaze]], a gateway allowing access to other times and alternate timelines. Though Impactor sacrifices himself to save Springer and Verity, Overlord is dealt with by sending the two halves of his body into different time periods, and Tarantulas dies in the arms of his "son". Leaving a message to the surviving Wreckers and their allies asking that they make sure nobody has to do what the Wreckers did again, Springer departs into the Timemaze in the hope of changing history for the better by preventing the war. {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}}

The Lost Light's final Warren jump brings them to what they believe to be Cyberutopia; {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} however, the paradise world is actually [[Mederi]], an ancient medical facility designed to allow terminally ill patients to die happy through an telepathic "happy ending". {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Due to a lack of a cohesive idea of what Cyberutopia "should" be, however, the crew finds the planet empty; when they are subsequently attacked by the Grand Architect's fleet, Getaway strikes a deal, allowing Scorponok to transform the crew into sparkeaters in exchange for a position among the Grand Architect's followers. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} Scorponok's transmat portal also brings the Scavengers to Mederi, the illusion causing them to perceive the facility as Grimlock's cell in Garrus-9. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}
[[File:LL20 Rodimus saves Getaway.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|After the [[Contrivance Engine]], Brainstorm's next invention was an Incredibly On-The-Nose Symbolism Engine.]]
Skip's travel through the Warren to Mederi is interrupted when the mass-displacement fails and the Autobots are exposed to the [[compressed space]] outside, causing them to crash on the artificial moon; because of Cyclonus's desire to see Tailgate again, the facility presents itself to them as the [[Transformer afterlife|Afterspark]], complete with illusory versions of their dead friends to welcome them. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (1): Metastasis|Metastasis}}

However, the Mederi illusion is imperfect; Nautica's loss of her connection to Skids allows her to walk into the Scavengers (causing the illusion to fail when they see conflicting environments), while Ratchet's scepticism leads him, Rodimus, Drift and Ultra Magnus to the device controlling the illusion, which they destroy. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Realizing where they are, Rodimus's group figures out what happened, and Rodimus comes to the conclusion that Mederi ''is'' Cyberutopia, the dying Knights having been fooled by the illusion into believing that they had found a new, perfect Cybertron. Ultra Magnus manages to inform the crew of the truth in time to prevent all of them except for Nightbeat and Ten from being killed by "ascension", causing all of the "ghosts" to fade away — except Tailgate, who had been secretly teleported to Mederi from Necroworld by the Omega Guardians — but as soon as the three groups reunite with the intention of returning to Cybertron, they are set upon by the Sparkeater army transformed from the ''Lost Light'' crew. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

Joined by Grimlock, First Aid and their team, the combined group comes flees the Sparkeaters, only to be attacked by the ''Lost Light'' itself, under the command of the Grand Architect's forces; under Rodimus's direction, the majority of the crew barricades themselves in Mederi's Ward Zero to find a cure for the Sparkeaters, while he and a small team board the ''Lost Light'' aboard Wipe-Out's ship. Rodimus and Cyclonus confront Star Saber and Getaway, killing the former and preventing the latter from committing suicide by destroying the ship in a [[nucleon (fuel)|nucleon]] explosion; Getaway instead tries to stab Rodimus in the back, but is killed by the oil reservoir scraplets, under the control of the scraplet colony that Whirl had previously bonded with.
[[File:LL22 Functionist Primus.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Oooh, 'e's a big 'un!]]
Though the medics on the ground manage to cure the sparkeaters through "concussive medicine", as everything else is going on, a giant rift is formed in space, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} pulling Mederi and the ''Lost Light'' through to the Benzene Cluster, now home to the five false Cybertrons created by the Grand Architect. Rodimus persuades the Grand Architect to let his entire team come aboard the Architect's Worldsweeper, angering Scorponok, who has Sunder attempt to probe the Architect's mind; however, the Grand Architect is able to force Sunder out, and kills Scorponok in response. The God Gun is activated with the intent to form an interdimensional portal to banish the Architect's foreseen threat through, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} but in fact, the false Primus that the Architect had seen so long ago was the Cybertron of the Functionist Universe, transformed and controlled by the Functionist Council, which used the portal to enter the mainline universe — with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fleeing ahead of it.
[[File:LL24 Matrix Opening Pt2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Now, light our second-darkest hour!]]
Split up between the Worldsweeper and Megatron's ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the ''Lost Light''ers have both the Functionists' plan and the true history of the Guiding Hand revealed to each other; {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}} the latter prompts the enraged Solomus to kill Adaptus, though he is fatally wounded himself. The crews of the ''Lost Light'' and ''Last Light'' reunite on the former ship to plan a way to stop the Functionist Primus, currently laying waste to the replica Cybertrons; the Magnificence proposes having Rung create three Matrices as bombs to destroy the planet, but instead, the crew propose using ''twelve'' Matrices to destroy Vector Sigma and the Functionist Council while leaving the planet unharmed. The Magnificence, angered, reveals its "wisdom" to actually be the voices of the Omega Guardians, who want Primus destroyed to blow the Benzene rift open wide enough for them to return and "eat everything"... so Nickel smashes the Magnificence, stopping their plans short. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Rung uses his alternate mode to create twelve Matrix replicas, but the effort kills him in the process. To forcibly transform "Primus" back to planet mode, Fortress Maximus and Red Alert — on the instructions of a future Rodimus — pilot Luna 1 through the Warren, back in time and into the back of the robot's neck, forcing transformation and ensuring the crew can use the planet's hot spots to channel the Matrix energy. The crew land on the hot spots, but thanks to the [[morality lock]], are unable to open the Matrices until an encouraging speech from Rodimus gives them the self-belief they need to do so — though Megatron remains unable to do it, forcing Rodimus to open his Matrix instead. The released energy obliterates the Functionist Council for good before radiating back out, igniting the Luna 1 hot spot and giving life to a new generation of sparks; together, they form the shape of a message from Rung: "DON'T FORGET ME". {{storylink|Crucible (Part 6): A Spark Among Embers|A Spark Among Embers}} Tragically, within a matter of days, the crew give into information creep and lose all their memories of Rung. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
[[File:Unicron4 Unicron Arrives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Yes, ma'am, Earth is literally under siege by planet fragging Jupiter."]]
On Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are revived to help against Unicron, now in the process of consuming Cybertron's colony worlds. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} Though Prime and his allies are able to save much of the populations of Elonia {{storylink|Our Darkest}} and Caminus, they are unable to find a way to stop Unicron within the monster-planet, and are forced to retreat. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}} Starscream's plan, to have Bludgeon's "[[Decepticon Vengeance Division]]" trap Unicron in a [[stasis web]], proves a miscalculation; Bludgeon has changed loyalties to Unicron, and allows his fleet to be corrupted and transformed by the chaos-bringer. Meanwhile, Bumblebee seeks out Omega Supreme, who was part of the original invasion of Antilla, for answers; the comatose Omega Sentinel projects a vision of Unicron's origins into Bumblebee's mind before dying, just in time for Unicron to appear over Cybertron, transforming into a robot mode in the image of Cybertron's mythical Uncreator, gained from the integration of the Titan Nemesis and its transformation cog. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}
[[File:Unicron6 Spirits of the Dead.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Press F to pay respects.]]
The fleet rallies to defend Cybertron while its leaders debate what to do; Victorion attempts to break into Unicron's interior and kill the planet-eater from the inside, but is stopped by Monstructor, who — under Bludgeon's command — tears [[Stormclash]] in half and breaks the Torchbearer combiner apart. Starscream advocates having Metroplex space bridge to Earth so that a ''portion'' of the population can survive, but is convinced to allow Windblade to execute an alternative plan: {{storylink|Our Finest}} appealing to the Visionaries and their magic for help. Using the Talisman, the Visionaries use a wave of magic to teleport the Cybertronians and refugees to Earth, though only the sacrifice of Blurr and a suicide attack on Unicron by Elita One lets everyone get to safety. The Transformers and Elonians are teleported to Earth, moments before Unicron tears Cybertron in two and consumes it, {{storylink|Road's End}} while the Visionaries themselves are sent back in time to the earliest days of Prysmos. {{istorylink|A World and a Future}} Meanwhile, a confrontation between Slide's colonists and the Dinobots at Mount Rushmore ends in the death of Gimlet and G.I. Joe agent Mainframe. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}}

Shockwave — teleported to [[Toronto]] to begin his conquest — is horrified to realise Unicron has survived the destruction of Cybertron, and contacts Bludgeon to initiate his backup plan, unaware that his agent and the Maximal army have switched their loyalties from Shockwave to Unicron himself. Sanctuary Station is evacuated in light of the approaching Maximals, with a small number of its residents laying down their lives to buy time. {{storylink|Road's End}} Putting aside their history and enimities, all of Earth's heroes and villains join together to hold the attackers back, with Destro's M.A.S.S. device allowing Trypticon, Metroplex and a full army of Cybertronians to teleport into the midst of Bludgeon's fleet. {{storylink|Unicron issue 5|Unicron #5}} Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker carry Optimus Prime, Arcee and the Talisman down to Unicron's surface, but Skywarp and Thundercracker are waylaid by Maximals, preventing Skywarp from teleporting them into the planet-eater's interior; instead, Starscream chooses to give up his life to activate the Talisman, which burns its way down into Unicron. Optimus and Arcee follow it into the interior where it enters the black hole at Unicron's core, with Optimus jumping in after it.
[[File:Unicron6 The Last Hug.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The power of love might just save your life.]]
On Earth, Shockwave is betrayed by his follower [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], but is "rescued" by Prowl, who has Stardrive use her Dire Wraith powers to link with Shockwave's mind; in turn, Jetfire connects her to Soundwave, wielding the Enigma of Combination in conjunction with Superion and the Earth Enigma. Victorion, who uses the Enigma energies to combine with Slide as a replacement limb, kills Monstructor while the Dinobots sacrifice themselves to kill Bludgeon and destroy his Worldsweeper; but Soundwave's true intent is to unite the spirits of those who have fallen with Shockwave's memories and send them through to Optimus to give him the strength he needs, though Soundwave crumbles to dust as he uses its power. In Infraspace, Optimus encounters the spirit of Unicron's creator, whose rage and grief animates the superweapon; rather than fight him, however, Optimus owns up to the legacy of Cybertron and the Primes, and offers the Antillan peace and compassion instead. Remembering his daughter who was killed so long ago, the scientist allows the Talisman to consume Unicron; the giant collapses into its own singularity, which settles in as a second, dark sun for Earth.

{{anchor|QuantumJump}}
[[File:Unicron6 Peace At Last.jpg|thumb|left|And they all lived happily ever after.]]
In the aftermath, the survivors take stock. Arcee celebrates with her love on Earth's moon, while Thundercracker carries Skywarp back to Earth and reunites with Marissa Faireborn and Buster. Windblade and the President of the United States begin making plans for a future for Cybertronian and human alike; the surviving Dinobots are rescued from the ruins of the White House; and Pyra Magna takes up the mantle of the deceased Mistress of Flame, inviting the remorseful Slide to serve as one of her new Torchbearers. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Prowl makes contact with the ''Lost Light'' crew on "New Cybertron", where he insists that Megatron face trial once more, with the Galactic Council presiding in lieu of the long-dead Knights of Cybertron. In order to increase the planet's energon reserves and bring the new generation of sparks online, he also requisitions the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> quantum generators; Rodimus reluctantly agrees, on the condition that he and the crew are allowed one last trip aboard the ship before it's decommissioned. After a one-day "victory lap", the crew returns to Cybertron, but not before the scientists propose attempting to recreate the quantum accident that duplicated the ''Lost Light'' at the beginning of their quest, shunting the "duplicate" ship into another universe so that they can continue their quest on their own terms. With the agreement of the crew, they do so — and though the version of the crew that returns to Cybertron is unaware, they are successful in the attempt, their duplicates setting out on a new adventure.

The "main universe" Megatron is tried by the Galactic Council, and — despite Rodimus lying on his behalf by claiming that Megatron was able to open the Matrix — he is sentenced to either death or permanent solitary confinement. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}} The trial marks the start of a better working relationship between Cybertronians and the Council: Bumblebee is selected as the Transformers' ambassador, accompanied — unbeknownst to anyone but him — by the spirit of Starscream, who has traded roles with Bumblebee to become a "ghost" only he can see.

Life goes on. A funeral is held for Optimus Prime, with Windblade reflecting on his flaws and virtues alike, and opining that the most important thing about him was his willingness to challenge himself. Transformers, Elonians and humans alike help to rebuild on Earth. Pyra makes an effort to settle into her new role as a spiritual leader. Buzzsaw hunts down human poachers in Soundwave's name. Thundercracker's film, ''[[Last Laugh: The Life and Death of Chuckles]]'', is nominated for "Best Original Screenplay" at an awards show. Shockwave is imprisoned in ''Lemuria'', left immobile to reflect how his lack of faith led to his failure. Aileron and her colonist allies take to the stars to explore. And Arcee becomes a mentor and teacher to a new generation of three races on Earth, using the story of Optimus Prime and his life to inspire them to build a better future. {{storylink|Post}}
{{-}}
[[File:LL25 - Ratchet's funeral.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|"I was here at the start of it all, Miss Carlo. I'm not going to miss the end."]]

===Many years later===
Years pass. Minimus Ambus, having destroyed the Magnus Armor at Megatron's urging, helps with resettle the new "[[Lunarian]]" 'bots born from Luna-1, unaware that they all resemble Rung. Swerve's becomes a franchise, but eventually its owner is forced to close all but one location. Rewind's quest to learn all he can about the Functionist Universe causes him to contract [[Delta's Malady]] and becomes stuck as a mass-shifted data stick, though he and Chromedome continue to live happily together. Brainstorm, injured in a lab accident, adapts his briefcase as a mobile life support system. Whirl, directionless, ends up in and out of prison for various crimes. Rodimus signs onto the crew of Thunderclash's new ship, the ''[[Exitus]]''. Nautica writes a memoir of the crew's travels. Ratchet and Drift become conjunx endurae, and share many years together.

Eventually, Ratchet dies of age-related burnout; his components are sent to medical centers across the planet, and a funeral is held for him on the Rivets Field of the Functionist Cybertron. The crew reunites after many years, catching each other up on what has become of them. Cyclonus and Tailgate, concerned by what has become of Whirl, invite him to live with them when he is released; and, when Whirl is offered Ratchet's hands by Drift to replace his own lost ones, refuses, as he doesn't consider himself broken. Drift and Rodimus reflect on whether their attempt to duplicate the ship so long ago worked before going their separate ways, promising to keep in touch. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Alternate timelines==
===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage prime stabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Megatron's greatest mistake was in ever allowing you to ''live'', Prime!"]]
The [[Decepticon]] [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] tracks the ailing Autobots to the [[Pegasus Star Cluster]], where he briefly succeeds in taking Optimus Prime hostage before perishing. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}

{{note|The issue is vague on whether this sequence of events is merely a dream by the "real" Mirage or a supernatural glimpse into a true alternate timeline. [[Mistakes and Mayhem|A later issue]] would go on to explain Mirage’s hallucination as a side-effect from a long-running medical condition. However, in that same issue, he experiences several accurate premonitions of future events, which leaves the original question up in the air.}}
{{-}}

===Hail and Farwell===
====2008====
Two years after becoming a Headmaster, [[Hunter O'Nion]] continues to have adventures with his partner Sunstreaker, their minds permanently fusing into a new, singular entity. {{storylink|Hail and Farewell}}

{{note|"Hail and Farewell" was declared canonical when it was first published online. However, the subsequent truncation of author [[Simon Furman]]'s intended story arcs and the subsequent ''All Hail Megatron'' storyline, which among other things, saw Hunter horribly tortured and killed, means that this sequence of events is incompatible with the mainstream timeline.}}
{{-}}

===Pax Cybertronia===
====15 million CE====
[[File:PaxCybertronia-IronhideAndKids.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And stay off his lawn.]]
In a far-distant future, the Great War is over and the Decepticons have perished. An ancient [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]], the last surviving veteran of the Great War, tells war stories to a [[Autobot youth|new generation]] of Cybertronians on [[Gorlam Prime]] alongside [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}}

{{note|This sequence of events was later established to be a vision that both Ironhide and Jhiaxus experienced during the reformation of Cybertron following the events of the ''Chaos'' miniseries, calling into question if it was a definite glimpse of the future or merely a vision of what might be. The apparent destruction of Gorlam Prime in the main timeline suggests that this particular future may not ever come to pass.}}
{{-}}

===Functionist timeline===
{{main|Functionist Universe}}
====5 million BCE====
[[File:AWorldMisplaced-TheTakeover.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause."]]
Megatron perishes on the date of his cold construction. Without Megatron's writings to upheave Cybertronian society, the Senate grows increasingly controlling, and eventually clashes with the Functionist Council regarding the use of Nova Prime's spark stockpiles. When the Senate seals [[Vector Sigma]] behind a wall of impenetrable [[ununtrium]], the Council overthrows the Senate, kills Nominus Prime, and institutes hardline Functionism across Cybertron, {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} periodically altering the [[Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy]] to declare "[[mass recall]]s" of "obsolete" Transformers. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2014====
Following the dissolution of the [[Primal Vanguard]], Minimus Ambus returns to Cybertron to find [[Dominus Ambus|his brother]] an [[empurata]] victim. Rewind dies in a mass recall. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2016====
[[File:ThisMachineKillsFascists-GiantRung.jpg|thumb|left|Rung digs giant robots.]]
A [[geobomb]] accident sends the crew of the ''Lost Light'' to Functionist Cybertron. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} They battle the forces of the Council with the [[Anti-Vocationist League]] in their quest to return home, as the Council deploys [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]] to "harvest" Cybertronians for reforging into [[M.T.O.|crusaders]] to cleanse the universe of everything not having a role in the eyes of Primus. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} The crew manages to return to the main timeline victorious, but the Functionist Universe Rung is killed and Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron takes command of the League and prepares to start his revolution anew, as it always ''should'' have been. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

Despite the loss of Luna 2, the Council continues their plans, instead turning Cybertron itself into their weapon of genocide, augmenting it with a robot mode in the image of Primus after Megatron thwarts their plans one time too many. Over centuries, the Council — now merged with Vector Sigma — carry out their campaign of "sterilization", with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fighting them at every turn. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

====2833====
After centuries, the Council pursue the ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the AVL's ship, through a rift in space; this brings them to the present-day Benzene of Megatron's native universe, which [[Twelve-of-Twelve]] declares to be a gift from Primus in the form of a new universe to purify. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}
{{-}}

===Quantum jump universe===
[[File:LL25 It Never Ends.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And to all, a good night.]]
====2018====
Having pulled the "magic trick" of [[#QuantumJump|duplicating themselves into another universe]], the ''Lost Light'' crew finds themselves in completely uncharted space, further than they've ever been. Jubilant, the crew sets out to chart the new universe, an adventure that could well take forever. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Chronologies]]
[[Category:Generation 1 history]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1| ]]

2005 IDW timeline

2018-12-05T03:15:05Z

Prowl245: /* 5 million BCE */

{{featured}}
[[File:ChaosTheory1 montage.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Let's see how far we've come.]]

Beginning as a simple reimagining of the traditional [[Generation 1 continuity family]] under the pen of [[Simon Furman]], the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]] has evolved over the course of thirteen years into the single longest-running continuity in the history of the brand, spanning numerous ongoings, miniseries, and one-shots. Almost every work ties into the overarcing '''timeline''', telling a single unified story that starts at the dawn of time, moves through to the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] and eventually into a new era of post-war reconstruction. Naturally, such a long-running work of fiction is bound to contain occasional storytelling and artistic inconsistencies, though [[John Barber|certain writers]] have actively sought to correct these mistakes over the course of their careers.

In 2016, [[IDW Publishing]] announced the formation of the [[Hasbro Universe]], a shared comic continuity retroactively encompassing the Transformers, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]], other Hasbro properties such as [[Rom|Rom the Space Knight]], and, in a stranger development, the events of the largely forgotten ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' miniseries. This chronology focuses largely on the adventures of the Transformers as they relate to the timeframe of the larger Hasbro Universe, with characters from other properties only dealt with in passing.

{{quote|The story never ends, Ironhide. It just changes into something else.|[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], having a nice [[Furmanism]]|[[Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia]]}}

==1,000,000+ years ago==
===5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] is formed around this time; later religions will hold that the creation of the planet was divinely ordained by the Transformer god [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===4.5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Earth]] forms. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===16 million BCE===
The [[Stentarian]] civil war begins, pitting the heroic [[Terradore]]s against the villainous [[Ammonite]]s. {{storylink|Little Victories}} Their war precipitates the disastrous [[Shattering]], necessitating the creation of the [[Galactic Council]] to stabilize the galaxy and govern the planets who join its ranks. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

===12 million BCE===
[[File:GodWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Name Brand vs. great value.]]

According to legend, the very first Cybertronian, in the land that will one day become [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], realizes that he can [[Transformation|transform]]. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} This first Transformer is Primus; though later religions will remember him as an omnipotent warrior-god, the "true" Primus is a humble robot much like any other, distinguished solely by his ability to generate the [[photonic crystal]]s capable of storing [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} At some point after his creation, he is joined by four others like him: [[Mortilus]], [[Adaptus]], [[Solomus]], and [[Epistemus]]. The five are present for the first activation of Cybertron's twelve [[hot spot]]s, which birth the first true generation of Transformers. The five become known as the "[[Guiding Hand]]." Primus is able to use his alternate mode to compress multiple photonic crystals together, creating the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:TheUnremembering-informationcreep.jpg|thumb|right|300px|When Moons Attack.]]

The creation and subsequent proliferation of the Transformer race leads to the planet's first golden age. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} Primus supposedly delivers the [[Prime Pastoral]] at the future site of [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} The peace lasts until the ambitious Adaptus—worried that their perfect society will only lead to stagnation—encourages Cybertron to wage war against the rest of the galaxy, to encourage growth; when the other four members of the pantheon refuse, the conflict leads to the "[[God War]]," pitting the four allies against their treacherous brother. Epistemus is killed in the conflict, and Adaptus—routed but not defeated—flees to [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], where he blasts the planet with an [[electromagnetic pulse]] designed to erase the memories of Cybertron's inhabitants and leave them disoriented while he makes his escape. Primus attempts to ''absorb'' this same blast, but is only partially successful; he and the other surviving members of the Guiding Hand forget their true identities, with Primus being rendered "compulsively forgettable", and the fallout gives rise to the neurological condition known as "[[information creep]]." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Adaptus escapes Cybertron by installing thrusters on Luna-1 and leaving the planet through the [[Warren]]. In the meantime, the Cybertronian race, left with only hazy memories of their origins, create new myths based on half-remembered truths; in these stories, ''Mortilus,'' supposedly the "god of death," is cast as the treacherous member of the Guiding Hand, whose "death" at the hands of "Primus" rendered the Cybertronian race immortal while giving rise to the Matrix, the [[brain module]] and [[transformation cog]], and [[Vector Sigma]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

The first generation of Cybertronians present to witness these supernatural feats supposedly go on to become the mythical [[Knights of Cybertron]], {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} who go on to turn the planet into a paradise. Among their many feats involve defeating the monstrous [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], rumored to be a creation of Mortilus, {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} alongside [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], the First [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]. Trypticon's body is sealed away beneath the [[Toraxxis Plains]]. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}}

[[File:MtMtEAnn2012-Metrotitans.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Fleeing the Great Kirby Krakle Scourge of Cybertron.]]

Eventually, after turning Cybertron into a utopian haven for both the mind and spirit, the Knights leave Cybertron to spread enlightenment aboard a fleet of [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]s, taking the Matrix of Leadership with them. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} They never return, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} though some later evidence suggests that the Knights split into different clans during their voyage across the galaxy. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} Most successive generations of Cybertronians do not believe in the Knights as concrete beings, instead viewing them as mythological folk heroes. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

Having fled Cybertron, Adaptus exploits the strange properties of the Warren to travel many millions of years into the future; there he witnesses a terrible sight of a gigantic, false effigy to Primus ravaging the galaxy. In order to prevent this fate from coming to pass, he returns to his own era of history, setting up Luna One as a new base of operations for himself and his clan of followers while building a new network of contacts designed to prevent this terrible future from coming to pass. In this new role, he dubs himself the "Grand Architect," and adopting the motto "prepare, confront, [and] repel." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusOrigins.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Everything from this image that follows is [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|his]] fault.]]

Deprived of the benevolent leadership of the Knights of Cybertron, Cybertron regresses into a primitive state of barbarism, reverting to a new dark age as early Cybertronian civilization splinters into a multitude of competing tribes and societies. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} As a result of the destruction of his [[chronal drive]], the [[Decepticon]] [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] is flung twelve million years into the past from the moment of his defeat in the year [[#2012-2013|2013]]. Grievously injured, he spends years wandering the barbarian land until he is found by a peaceful "shepherd" named [[Onyx Prime|Onyx]], who Shockwave recognises as the Cybertronian who will one day be known as Onyx Prime. Shockwave murders Onyx and takes on his identity; he also takes control of Onyx's "flock" of mostly [[beast mode|beast-mode Cybertronians]], taking one particularly fearless individual under his wing as a student and naming him "[[The Fallen|Megatronus]]".

Inspired by [[#10,000 BCE|a previous encounter]] in his youth, Shockwave uses his knowledge of future events to manipulate history on a grand scale, guiding it along the course he learned in his youth, while simultaneously manipulating those around him in the hopes of analyzing why his species falls to civil war; {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} eventually, Shockwave determines that the only hope for his race's future is to destroy its past, and sets about creating every facet of its culture and religion so that he can, in time, reveal it as a falsehood and build a new civilization on a blank slate. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

Prominent tribal leaders soon arise, chief among them the [[Prime (rank)|Primes]]. Five of these Primes—[[Solus Prime|Solus]], [[Nexus Prime|Nexus]], [[Alchemist Prime|Alchemist]], [[Vector Prime|Vector]], [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and their followers—join forces to commemorate Primus by founding the small village of Crystal City. Around the same time, Megatronus—now a powerful warlord in his own right—aims to expand his territory of the [[Darklands]], and after invading and annexing [[Protihex|Protohex]] he recruits the twin gladiators [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]], who slay their capricious master [[Septimus Prime]] and pledge allegiance to Megatronus. His legions conquer the [[Forgotten Plains]], but when Megatronus marches on the Crystal City, he is met by the armies of the Primes, bolstered by the [[Liege Maximo]] and Onyx Prime's bestial legions. Their fighting awakens the original three Titans before Onyx "realizes" that their enemy is his "old friend" Megatronus, leading to ceasefire and a truce—all of which Onyx planned, having unleashed Megatronus on Cybertron to force an alliance between the tribes that would build Cybertronian society. To celebrate the new alliance, Onyx Prime creates a new flag for Cybertron, supposedly based on the visage of Primus himself, but actually based on his foreknowledge of the symbol of the [[Autobot]]s. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:Heavy-TheThirteen.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Cybertron League Unlimited.]]

The alliance is joined by five more Primes, and together they become known as the [[Thirteen]], {{storylink|The Crucible}} each ruling a group of followers that come to be known as the [[Thirteen Tribes]] and commanding the loyalty of gigantic Titans and diminutive [[Titan Master]]s. {{storylink|White Light}} The Primes become the archetypes for future Cybertronians to pattern themselves after, {{storylink|Heavy}} but it doesn't take long before the Thirteen grow drunk on their own arrogance and begin to think themselves above other Cybertronians: indeed, it soon becomes common belief that the Primes are so powerful that only a Prime can kill another Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Origin Myths}}
{{-}}

===10 million BCE===
After leaving Cybertron, the Knights of Cybertron travel the galaxy for many years, "changing and being changed by" the many new [[alien]] races they encounter. However, their adventure takes an unfortunate turn when the Knights contract the degenerative disease [[atrophosia]] through prolonged contact with organic species; around the same time, their fleet lands on the planet [[Mederi]], a planetary euthanasia clinic. The telepathic aliens who control the planet's illusions reconcile the Knights' homesickness with their desire to explore new worlds by creating a "perfect" Cybertron for them to inhabit, a "[[Cyberutopia]]." The Knights, believing they'd found paradise at last, inscribe a map to "Cyberutopia" in the Matrix and send it back to Cybertron before they pass away. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

===8 million BCE===
[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-AntillanWar.jpg|thumb|left|300px|How come Midnight Oil never wrote a song about ''[[Antillan|them]]''?]]

As the Primes govern their planet peacefully, Shockwave, in the guise of Onyx, advises [[Prima]] to spread Cybertron's "enlightenment" to other worlds via colonization. Megatronus, Alpha Trion, Arcee, and Galvatron join [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and the [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinels]] on this mission, the first since the days of the Knights of Cybertron. Their effort to colonize the planet [[Antilla]] leads into a brutal war against the native [[Antillan]]s, which only ends when a desperate Antillan scientist constructs and activates a [[Talisman (G1)|doomsday weapon]] that annihilates ''all'' life on Antilla, its energies wreaking havoc across the galaxy. In the process, the device reaches out across time and space, drawing on the [[magic]] of [[Prysmos]] and creating the [[Dire Wraith]]s and their dark sorcery from it. The resulting dead world is transformed into the dormant [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

Inspired by Onyx Prime's rhetoric of galactic expansion, twelve Titans leave Cybertron at or around the same time, each one the former servant of a Prime. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} They embark on millennia-long deep space voyages, intending to find and colonize distant worlds in an attempt at spreading [[Pax Cybertronia]] across the cosmos. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} These planets include [[Caminus]], [[Velocitron]], [[Eukaris]], {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} and [[Arduria]]. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Some of these planets, such as [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], are aggressively [[Cyberforming|cyberformed]], crushing the native civilizations in the process. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}} Eventually, thirteen planets become closely associated with the Cybertronian species, and history will remember them as the "thirteen colonies," each connected to one of the Primes. <ref> The thirteen colonies are [[LV-117]], [[Gorlam Prime]], [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Caminus]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Arduria]], [[Antilla]], [[Tsiehshi]], [[Velocitron]], [[Carcer]], [[Eukaris]], [[Elonia]], and [[Earth]]. Not all of these planets were shown to have been officially colonized by Cybertronians; in some cases, they are only called colonies due to their close ''association'' with the history of Cybertron, though it's possible that at least some of them hosted true colonies that simply failed. </ref> {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusKillsSolus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Look, Hasbro, we'll give you anything to not have this plot point come up again.]]

After the Antillan mission fails, however, Prima blames Megatronus for the expedition's failure; acting on Onyx's orders, Liege Maximo stokes Megatronus's resentment, leading him to turn on Prima. Solus Prime intervenes in the fight to save Prima's life, but is killed by Megatronus with the Star Saber. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} The betrayal ignites tensions between the thirteen tribes and escalates into the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Heavy}} Megatronus flees the planet, while Liege Maximo is captured by the Primes and imprisoned within his titan, [[Vigilem]], whom the other Titans deem unworthy of remembrance and exile into space. A repentant splinter of Liege Maximo's old tribe agree to keep their former leader and his Titan permanently interred, renaming their dormant Titan "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]". {{storylink|Rubicon}} {{storylink|Heavy}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Onyx Prime allies first with [[Micronus Prime]], {{storylink|White Heat}} and later, [[Nexus Prime]]. Onyx and Nexus utilize the [[Enigma of Combination]] to create an army of [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]: [[combiner]]s between beast-bots and humanoid Transformers. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} The joint faction proves powerful, and the Headmasters see action on distant worlds such as [[Spindrift]]. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 3|Heart of Darkness #3}}

Onyx Prime and Prima hunt down Megatronus aboard Prima's Titan [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]], finding him on the planet [[Tsiehshi]]; Megatronus kills Prima before being slain by Onyx, his usefulness to Shockwave's machinations at an end. Emissary carries Prima's body to the stars, but Onyx ensures that he will crash on [[Elonia|a faraway planet]]. On returning, Onyx tells Alpha Trion that Megatronus and Prima slew each other in final battle. Megatronus's name is soon forgotten by history, and he becomes known only as "the Fallen". {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:TheMindBomb-GalvatronKillsHeadmasters.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Off with his Headmaster.]]

Disgusted by this fusion between beast-bots and his own kind, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] deserts his post in Megatronus's army to begin his own campaign against the Headmasters—a campaign that ends with him killing Nexus Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Disgusted by the idea of combination, Galvatron conceals the Enigma to prevent any future combiners from coming into being. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} {{storylink|The Crucible}} The realization that they are not as invulnerable as they thought provokes many of the Primes to flee Cybertron, with the exception of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Nexus Prime's most devoted servant, a diminutive Titan Master named [[Infinitus]], vows revenge for his master's death and swears allegiance to Onyx Prime before going into hiding. {{storylink|White Light}}

With the war over and the Primes gone, Trion brings together Galvatron and [[Prima]]'s follower [[Nova Prime|Nova Major]] in hopes of reuniting Cybertron. Nova Major agrees, noting that under the principles of [[functionism]], everyone will "know their place". {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:Windblade1 Caminus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The lack of tail fins was a dissapointment.]]

Over time, the surviving members of the Guiding Hand re-emerge under new identities: Solomus as the judge [[Solomus|Tyrest]], Mortilus as the forensic pathologist [[Mortilus|Censere]], and Primus as the unassuming psychiatrist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} Censere is inspired by the death of an [[Tusk|an old friend of his]] to begin a lifelong mission to chronicle the deaths of every Cybertronian; after losing his hometown in the war, he relocates to a [[Necroworld|distant planet]] where he sets up a base of operations, equipped with a [[teleport chamber]] to allow him to record every fatality. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} He is unaware that this "planet," is in fact, a hollow "mould" used to forge multiple copies of Cybertron, utilized by his former brother Adaptus to create a weapon known as the "[[God Gun]]" as part of his ongoing goals. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} Elsewhere, the decapitated head of Epistemus ends up under the care of the [[Omega Guardian]]s and becomes known as "the Magnificence", an artifact able to immediately and accurately answer any question posed to it. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Eventually, however, the [[space bridge]] network between the Titans fails and the colonies are permanently cut off from Cybertron and each other. In their absence, the colonists begin developing their own societies that invariably venerate the Thirteen—and, by extension, all Primes—as deities. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}
{{-}}

===7 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-NovaPrimeAndFriends.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Pastel Age was a soothing time.]]
Alpha Trion and Metroplex work together to explore the surface of Cybertron, {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} until the Titan eventually goes dormant beneath the city of [[Nyon]]. {{storylink|Ruins}}

Nova Major declares himself "Nova Prime". Accompanied by Galvatron, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]], [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], he embarks on a quest into the planet's lowermost reaches. There, they discover the ancient [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], who allies himself with the Prime in the hopes of returning their wartorn planet to its former glory. With Omega Supreme's aid, Nova Prime ushers in Cybertron's "Golden Age". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Under his direction, the Cybertronian empire expands into space, with the [[Primal Vanguard]] serving as offworld peacekeepers. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}}

At some point following the departure of the colony Titans, [[female Transformer]]s disappear from Cybertron under unknown circumstances. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} Arcee, feeling that her "forged male" status has never been true to her spark, approaches Jhiaxus for help; but though the scientist's experiments in reintroducing female Transformers to the now "genderless" Cybertronian species are broadly successful, the invasive process of altering Arcee's CNA gives her her a "maelstrom of contradictory sensory input", and Jhiaxus abandons his now disoriented and homicidal follower. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}} {{storylink|Post}}

===6.7 million BCE===
[[File:Tyrest and the matrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It consisted of our Top Bots."]]

Nova Prime aims to further expand the reach of the Cybertronian race and, inspired by the legends of the Knights of Cybertron, begins planning what he calls the "[[Expansion]]", a massive wave of interplanetary colonization and conquest aimed at establishing "[[Pax Cybertronia]]" across the known galaxy. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} To do so, he requires a fresh generation of new Cybertronians, but, around this time, the life-giving, [[hot spot]]-igniting pulse waves of Vector Sigma slow down. Nova tasks a team of scientists, led by Tyrest, with extracting new sparks from the [[Matrix of Leadership]], exponentially boosting the Cybertronian population and dividing Cybertronians along [[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|"forged" or "cold constructed"]] lines. A "first wave" of new Transformers is created; additional Sparks are stored until bodies can be created for them.

The process ends after a scientist has a crisis of conscience, steals the Matrix, and replaces it with a forgery while hiding the real one underground. The team simply assumes that they have bled the Matrix dry and the project is abandoned. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

Hoping to rediscover the lost art of combination, Nova Prime conspires with Jhiaxus in an attempt to replicate combiner technology, seeking a process that allows sentient minds to be merged into one in the pursuit of peace—eliminating all free will save his own, a society where "all are one". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Galvatron, still opposed to the existence of combiners, secretly launches Nexus's [[Enigma of Combination]] into space to put it beyond Jhiaxus's reach. It lands on [[Earth]], in the region that will one day be known as [[Mesopotamia]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

In deep space, Onyx Prime and his Titan [[Chela]] make planetfall on [[Eukaris]], an uninhabited jungle world. Using the [[hot spot]] within his Titan, Onyx oversees the development of a new civilization of [[beast mode]] Transformers, free to live without the stigma surrounding beast modes. He eventually departs, but instructs Chela to guard his colony from any intruding "standard-formers". {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}}

Aware of Galvatron's gambit from his past experiences as Shockwave, Onyx correctly deduces that Nexus's artifact has landed on Earth and dispatches a Titan Master named [[Sovereign]] to find the artifact and summon the Prime when he had found it. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Abandoning his colony Titan, [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Micronus Prime]] creates and then retreats into the sub-atomic realm of [[Microspace]]. {{storylink|White Heat}} {{storylink|O Ship of State}} {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===6.5 million BCE===
With the Cybertronian population growing exponentially under [[Nova Prime]]'s program of expansion, Jhiaxus's student [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] begins planning for an inevitable energon shortage by developing a [[Ore-14|self-regenerating energy source]]. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

===6 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-Monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|They did, in fact, ask for this.]]
After a long period of experimentation, Jhiaxus creates [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] from six volunteers. Though physically powerful, Monstructor is also violently insane as a result of the crude combination process, and Nova Prime's enthusiasm for the creature prompts Omega Supreme and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]] to turn on him. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}}

While Omega Supreme is occupied battling the beast, Nova Prime and Jhiaxus depart Cybertron in the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' to begin their work, with notable crew members Galvatron, {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]], [[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]], {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}} and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} A young 'bot named [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], born only two weeks previously, is part of the crew responsible for cleaning out the craft's coolant tubes before take-off. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} He runs late and tries taking a shortcut across the fragile [[Mitteous Plateau]], which results in him falling into stasis underground for several million years. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:DarkCybertron01-setcoursefortheanomaly.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"We'll simply set a new course, for that empty region over there, near that blackish, hole-ish thing."]]

After a prolonged battle, Omega defeats Monstructor and locks him away in an inter-dimensional prison {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} and entrusts [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], one of two remaining Titans on Cybetrtron, to Dai Atlas. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things}} The [[Crystal City]] is destroyed, but not before Shockwave plants a seed of [[Ore-14]] within. The defeat of Monstructor allows Shockwave to realize that his old teacher had flaws of his own; Shockwave takes up the mantle of his teacher, striving to study and better his erstwhile master's works. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Around this time he begins to investigate the history of ancient Cybertron. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Nova Prime's ''Ark'' is subsequently lost in the [[Benzuli Expanse]], transported to the [[Dead Universe]]. All aboard perish and are resurrected as undead creatures to serve the will of the [[D-Void]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

With Nova Prime gone, Cybertron enters a brief period known as the [[Interregnum]]. Unaware that it's a fake, [[Delta Magnus]] of the Primal Vanguard safeguard the Matrix of Leadership until a new bearer can be found. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Cybertron suffers from a lack of energy in the wake of Nova's expansion program, and tensions emerge.

Those who were constructed cold face institutionalized apartheid; {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} although this eventually ends due to mounting public pressure, including mass protests and marches. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} However, intrinsic prejudice against constructed cold Transformers persists in among a sizable percentage of the population. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

After a period of unrest, [[Nominus Prime]] becomes the next Matrix-bearer, though by this point the office of "Prime" is largely subordinate to the new, but increasingly corrupt, [[Senate]]. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} At some point around this time, Cybertronian datekeeping switches to a [[New Calendar]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} [[Functionism|Functionist]] sentiment becomes an institution of society overseen by the [[Functionist Council]], with robots expected to stick to a single job determined by their [[alternate mode]]. [[Militant Monoform Movement|Monoformers]], those without alt mode, face shape-hate. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Unable to determine what [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] does, the Council classifies him as an "[[Ornament class|ornament]]"... {{storylink|Little Victories}} unaware that the unassuming psychiatrist, is, in fact, Primus. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:RID17 senator shockwave.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You can tell it's advanced because it's glowing.]]
The Senate use the sinister network of secret facilities known as the [[Institute]] root out and quash dissent through [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] techniques like [[shadowplay]]. The Functionist Council becomes fond of subjecting criminals to a barbaric head-and-hand replacement ritual known as [[empurata]]. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Shockwave joins the Senate in the hopes of precipitating real change on Cybertron and founds the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]] in memory of his old teacher. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

As a result of their increasingly stagnant and moribund society, neighboring alien races start calling the Cybertronians "Autobots": an insult, meaning "automatons". {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

At an unknown point, the Omega Guardians "ascend" to the "[[Higher Realms]]", becoming four-dimensional beings. They leave the Magnificence on [[Ki-Aleta]], protected by statue-like automatons. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Eventually, one of them seeks to return to three-dimensional space through a rift in the [[Benzene Cluster]], but is killed in the attempt, with their four-dimensional corpse becoming the knot of quantum tunnels known as the [[Warren]], spanning all of space and time. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering}}
{{-}}

===5 million BCE===
[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Would you kill baby Megatron?]]
The experimental ship ''[[Lost Light|Unitrex-1]]'' is commissioned and constructed in the city of [[Unitrex]], designed to house a prototype [[quantum generator]]. Before it can launch, [[time travel]]ling [[Autobot]]s from the future infiltrate the vessel, searching for a way to recharge their [[time case|time machine]]. Hoping to use the ship’s engine to provide the necessary jump-start, [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] uses [[Perceptor (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Perceptor]]'s knowledge of future quantum science to upgrade the ''Unitrex-1''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s generator so that it can perform the task, and retroactively creates the very first quantum generator. A reaction between the case and generator causes the vessel to quantum jump away through time and space. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

A watchmaker named [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] attempts to leave the [[Aerial Corps]] and follow his true passion as a watchmaker. Though initially successful due to a moderate functionary pemitting the change, the Council catches word of his blasphemy and engineer his downfall via a local criminal syndicate. In the aftermath, he is subjected to [[empurata]], leaving him destitute, and, eventually, he is convinced to join the Senate's security forces. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}}
[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] is constructed cold in [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], intended to house a spark from the Matrix of Leadership. The same Autobots from the future interfere with his development, extinguishing the original spark. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

The time travel misadventure creates a [[Functionist Universe|divergent timeline]] where Megatron was never constructed at all. Before this alternate universe can overwrite reality, the future Whirl replaces Megatron's spark with a forged [[Point One Percenter]] spark harvested from the future. This action returns history to its proper course and gives rise to the first and only "hybrid" Transformer. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} Megatron spends his early life hoping to become a medic, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} but the tenets of Functionism means that he instead becomes a miner, working at [[Nova Point]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] is brought online from a sparkfield in Iacon; the [[blacksmith]], impressed with his size, invites Alpha Trion to bear witness to his birth. With many options available to him thanks to his truck alternate mode, Orion joins the Iacon police force, but is disturbed by the violence and cynicism inherent in the system. {{storylink|Post}}

Sickened by the caste-based brutality of Nominus Prime's Cybertron, Megatron writes a [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|treatise]] arguing in favor of non-violent dissent and the peaceful exchange of ideas. His ideas prove popular among Cybertron's menial classes, attracting a growing movement that threatens the sovereignty of the Senate. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

While discussing his ideas with his friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] at [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]], the two are caught in a bar brawl {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} accidentally caused by the same time-hopping Autobots from the future. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} The fight sees both Megatron and Impactor arrested; hoping to use the event to silence Megatron, the Senate send Whirl to visit Megatron's cell to permanently silence him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

[[File:ChaosTheory2 orion addresses senate.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lend me your audio receptors.]]
Orion Pax, now a police captain, manages to arrange for Megatron's release before Whirl can finish him off, saving his life. Orion discovers Megatron's readings, and, moved by them, decides to confront the Senate, deciding to 'reclaim' the slur Autobot as short for "autonomous robot". Orion's diatribe inspires Shockwave, who has been searching for promising young Cybertronians, to befriend the police captain in the hopes of nudging him into bearing the Matrix of Leadership. Shockwave arranges for his release and repair, adding a new Matrix chamber to his chest in the repair process. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Megatron, however, comes to the realization that peaceful dissent will not be enough to unseat the Senate—and that violence makes a more powerful statement. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Shortly afterwards, several Senators make a grab for more power by ordering an attack on Nominus Prime, using it as an excuse to obtain the Matrix of Leadership and enforce more control over an increasingly unruly Cybertronian populace. During the [[Primal Procession]], Nominus is attacked by a suicide bomber and rendered comatose. The public is told that Nominus is merely in hiding while the Senate investigate the comatose Prime, hoping to use their head of security [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel]] to tap into the power of the Matrix. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} Unbeknownst to all, "Sentinel" is, in reality, a false identity constructed by [[Infinitus]], using his [[Titan Master]] powers to disguise himself as a normal Cybertronian. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Sentinel's attempts prove fruitless, but expose an ancient secret: Nominus Prime's "Matrix" is a fake holdover from the days of Nova Prime's reign. Realizing this, the Senate sees no use keeping the Prime around and kill him, releasing a cover story that he passed away from a [[rust]] infection.
Thus bolstered, the Senate impose the [[Clampdown (event)|Clampdown]], limiting the rights and social mobilities of all Cybertronians. Ostensibly, this is to root out terrorists and tighten security, in reality, it is an opportunity for Senators to track down and silence those who contest their rule. The injustice proves useful for the growing "[[Decepticon]]" movement, basing themselves off Megatron's [[w:Samizdat|samizdat]] writings.

[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."]]
As part of attempts to limit any future Decepticon uprisings, the Senate has Megatron transferred to an offworld mine on [[Messatine]] to limit his influence. {{storylink| Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} There, he meets [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly miner who encourages him to keep writing. Terminus helps smuggle each new work back to Cybertron, continuing the spread of the Decepticon movement. The Senate eventually tries to cut the problem off at the source, deploying [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] to try and rewire Megatron's mind through shadowplay. Megatron escapes the procedure due to a nearby explosion and subsequent evacuation—in reality, the explosion is caused by [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] jumping backwards through time. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}} Afterwards Megatron publishes his magnum opus, ''[[Towards Peace]]'', which will eventually become the Decepticon manifesto. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[File:Shadowplay3-SenatorWho.jpg|thumb|right|250px|We can rebuild him. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. More logical.]]
As part of a complicated plan to eliminate the threat the Decepticons pose to their social order, Senator [[Proteus]] promises to recognize the Decepticons as a legitimate political entity if 10,000 of them register as such, actually a method of gathering names for future shadowplay. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} To discredit the growing movement, the Senate intends to stage a bombing that will be pinned on the Decepticons. The scheme is foiled by Orion Pax, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], and a trio of [[outlier]]s comprising [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Tarn (DJD)|Damus]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]. They succeed, but as a repercussion, his friend Senator Shockwave is brainwashed and subjected to empurata and shadowplay by the Institute. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Realizing that he has been "liberated" from the constraints of emotions, Shockwave continues his [[Regenesis|energy research]] in secret. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Thanks to the influence of the Senate, Sentinel is installed as the new Matrix-bearer and becomes “Sentinel Prime”. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Sentinel reorganizes the Senate's security forces into the [[Elite Guard#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Elite Guard]], a collection of thuggish bruisers. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} Infinitus quietly uses his Titan Master talents to assemble a legion of sleeper agents that will join his side should the need arise, including [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]]. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] joins his security services and eventually becomes Sentinel's second-in-command. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Hoping to take out the bot responsible for the heist, Sentinel Prime's forces try to track down Orion Pax and his friends, forcing them to go on the run. While on the lam, he meets the ambitious [[Zeta Prime|Zeta]], another of Shockwave's handpicked wunderkind. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}
{{-}}

===4.2 million BCE===
On [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]], [[Thymesis Energon mining facility]] workers [[Frak]] and [[Rushcut]] uncover a [[Point One Percenter]] [[spark]] beneath the moon's surface, the first in ten generations. The spark will become [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

===4 million BCE===
[[File:BirthsDeathsAndInterventions-OutlawPax.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You seem familiar. Ain't I killed you before?"]]
By this time, Cybertronian society is growing increasingly secular, and as a result the role of the Functionist Council in society has greatly diminished. When the Senate catches wind of a new hand-shaped [[hot spot]] in [[Alyon]] that seemingly proves the existence of the supernatural Guiding Hand, they send the Elite Guard to secure the site, cover its existence from prying Functionist eyes, and use the newborn sparks within for experimentation. Orion Pax and his fugitives clash with the Senate for control of the hot spot, and with the help of some time-travelling Autobots they are successful in defending the location. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

With Messatine abandoned, Megatron is transferred to [[Mining Outpost C-12]] on [[Croteus 12]]. Growing increasingly frustrated with his life, he works there for a period of time until Senator [[Decimus]] automates the mine, leaving the miners unemployed. When Decimus and his thuggish police force arrives to announce the closure of the facility, the reaction sparks a riot—and in the chaos, Megatron takes his first life. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}} Megatron and his fellow miners escape in a shuttle to join the illegal [[Gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial games]] beneath the city of [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Megatron takes over the games and is approached by [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]], an emissary of Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], to cause terror throughout Cybertron. Thousands of new Decepticons join the cause, including the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s, who help rebuild the motley collection of gladiators into full-on warriors. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}}

During this period, Shockwave is approached by Starscream, who brings him before Megatron. Realizing that Shockwave has a goal of his own, but with no interest in what it actually ''is'', Megatron offers the former senator the freedom and resources that the Senate cannot provide. In exchange, Shockwave will use his scientific talents to study and improve on Jhiaxus's technology in the hopes of creating a functioning [[combiner]] for the Decepticons. Shockwave accepts the offer, though he notes that it will take a very long time. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|thumb|right|250px|"I could make a giant purple griffin out of stolen automobiles..."]]
Megatron unites his gladiators under the Decepticon banner and arranges their "capture" by Sentinel Prime's forces. Once captured, [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] and Soundwave's forces massacre the Senate, and release the Decepticons from prison so they can overrun the security force's HQ. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} News of the Decepticon uprising reaches Sentinel Prime, and the Prime dons his [[Apex Armor (G1)|Apex Armor]] to make a final stand against the Decepticons in Kaon. He loses the ensuing duel with Megatron, and the Decepticon leader fashions his defeated enemy's armor into a throne. With Kaon now a Decepticon stronghold, the security forces withdraw to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

Sentinel Prime's body is laid to rest within the [[Primal Basilica]]... but while "Sentinel Prime" has publicly perished, ''Infinitus'' lives on, and the tiny head-bot abandons his old body and goes into hiding underneath Kaon. Neither the Senate nor the Decepticons are able to explain the mysterious loss of the corpse's head. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

Zeta subsequently steps up as the next Prime. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} His leadership—relying heavily on pageantry and theatrical displays of force—restores a semblance of order to Cybertron, forcing the Decepticons back underground for the time being. Orion Pax returns to the force, helping to keep the peace in these troubled times; {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} he asks [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to teach him how to be a ''soldier'' and not just a cop. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Orion Pax and Zeta help to reshape Cybertron's disorganized security forces into a counter-terrorism army dubbed the "[[Autobot]]s". {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Zeta begins reorganizing Cybertron in ways large and small, "pushing Cybertronian society as fast as it can go". {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} Among other things, he gives more rights to members of the [[disposable class]], a political move spurred in part by the writings and campaigning of noted adventurer and rhetorician [[Dominus Ambus]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} Under his leadership, Zeta brings back the Senate as the "New Senate", but he also secretly resuscitates the [[Institute]] and turns it into "The New Institute" for his own uses. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

With the Decepticon movement now publicly recognized as a terrorist movement, Zeta takes numerous actions to root out illegal activity, which eventually leads to shutting down popular venues like racetracks. This temporarily puts star racer [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]] out of the spotlight. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Orion Pax later oversees a hostage exchange with the Decepticons. This is a trick to capture the wise [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], so the Decepticons can use him to find a Titan and gain spacebridge technology. Pax prevents this. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum|Spotlight: Orion Pax}}

[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] is stranded in the [[Rust Sea|Rust Spot]] and develops a fear of solitude. {{storylink|The Waiting Game|Spotlight: Hoist}} Blurr gets caught in Autobot/Decepticon crossfire, but Orion convinces him to turn his self-confidence to the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}}

[[File:DanceAmongTheShadows-zetaprime.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ah, I could just look at myself all day.]]
On the Decepticon side of things, growing tension causes ideological rifts among the community. a sizeable portion of Decepticons maintain that their movement should be one of pacifism, but others—bolstered by Megatron's recent actions—begin preparing for all-out war by amassing weapons from offworld. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 3: Behind My Bleeding Back|Behind My Bleeding Back}} Decepticon gunrunner [[Hefter]] finds himself on the wrong side of the law when Zeta's forces crack down on the Decepticons, and his death in police custody sparks a larger inquiry that involves Orion Pax. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} With the help of [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] and conflicted Decepticon pacifist [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]], Orion succeeds in uncovering exposing [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]] and [[Horri-Bull]]'s Decepticon cell, but his experiences leave him embittered and ready to go to war against the Decepticons. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

A young Cybertronian named [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] joins the Autobots after the Decepticons trick him into delivering explosives through his dreams. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}

With war looming on the horizon, Prowl forms an alliance with the neutral scientist [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Together, they create many weapons and devices that will see use in the upcoming conflict, but Prowl eventually has a crisis of conscience and recruits Impactor to dispose of his increasingly depraved comrade. Impactor does so in exchange for having [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] released, but finds himself unable to kill "Ostaros", an artificial Cybertronian created in the lab. Instead, he inducts the young "Transformer" into the Autobots as "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

Megatron holds [[Declaration Day]], officially announcing the commencement of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Zeta and Orion work to fight back against the Decepticons, but Zeta Prime's ruthlessness pushes him to create the [[vamparc ribbon]], which drains energon from his own citizens and other insurgents. Horrified by his leader, Orion Pax turns on him and forges an alliance with Megatron to overthrow the tyrannical Prime. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[File:Autocracy9 pax becomes prime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|He's getting The Touch.]]
They succeed, and Megatron kills Zeta in an action later remembered as "the gunshot that killed a civilization". {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Megatron immediately betrays Orion, casts him into the depths of Cybertron, and declares himself ruler of the planet. Lost underground, Orion discovers the long-lost true Matrix and is turned into [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Optimus uses his new connection with the Matrix to awaken the dormant Metroplex and rally a new army against Megatron's dictatorship. The new army of Autobots drive the Decepticons out of Iacon, setting the stage for all-out war. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] is finally (reluctantly) accepted for a scouting mission and crashlands on [[LV-117]]. He spends a period of time getting beaten up by giant spiders, picking his arm out of giant lizard dung, and sending a distress signal.<ref>In "[[Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination]]", Rodimus claims that Wheelie disappeared shortly after Rodimus joined the Autobots, which he did in ''Autocracy''.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Megatron is overthrown and exiled to [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who destroys Cybertron's last major source of energon and awakens the ancient monster [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. Aided by the [[Quintesson]] [[Pentius]], Megatron is able to return and defeat the beast alongside [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity}}

[[File:Drift2-somewhereinconspicuous.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Are you ''sure'' this is the Heleus Cluster?]]
Alarmed by the energon crisis and escalating hostilities, numerous Cybertronians began evacuating the planet in the [[Exodus (G1)|Exodus]], a mass diaspora of neutrals, conscientious objectors, and other non-participants in the war. Dai Atlas and Tyrest oversee the safe evacuation of approximately 10-20 million refugees. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} Among the evacuees are the [[Circle of Light]], who secretly depart Cybertron aboard [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]] and establish a hidden city on the planet of [[Theophany]]. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} A group of [[Mortilus]]-worshiping neutrals discover the drifting ''Unitrex-1'' near [[Vela Pulsar]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} They take custody of the abandoned ship for the duration of the war, keeping a mutated [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] aboard docile by feeding it [[turbofox]]es. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

Megatron revives Trypticon using Pentius's spark and gathers the scattered Decepticon forces for a full-scale assault on the Autobots, but Optimus Prime cleanses him of the Quintesson's influence and captures him, {{storylink|The Transformers: Primacy|Primacy}} though he is soon freed by a Decepticon raid. {{storylink|Post}}

At some point after this, the original [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] dies under mysterious circumstances. Hoping to keep the legend of the immortal lawman alive, Tyrest creates the [[Magnus Armor]] and recruits [[Point One Percenter|load-bearer]] Autobots to wear it, effectively becoming Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

With both sides searching for a way to bolster their numbers, Cybertronians discover reserves of cryogenically frozen [[Spark]]s created via Nova Prime's Matrix bleeding. These new sparks are used to create new Transformers which become known as "[[M.T.O.|Made to Order]]" soldiers for specific campaigns in what is later termed the "Silver Harvest". {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

The Decepticons move to conquer several nearby cities, and their string of major victories is remembered as the [[Fall of the First Five Cities]] —the conquests of [[Vos (polity)|Vos]], [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], [[Helex (polity)|Helex]], Kaon, and [[Tesarus (polity)|Tesarus]]. {{Storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} These cities become the inspiration for the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], who name their five operatives after the cities. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

Optimus Prime and Megatron repeatedly clash over the course of the war; their very first showdown at the Battle of [[Sherma Bridge]] (2nd Cycle 087) becomes legendary. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} Early into the war, Optimus Prime turns down Megatron's first and only invitation for an Autobot surrender. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] is injured saving Optimus Prime from an [[Axer (G1)|assassin]]. {{storylink|The Iron Age}}
Tyrest attempts to broker peace between the two sides. His efforts ultimately fail, but do result in the creation of the [[Tyrest Accord]], limiting the spread of Transformer technology to other races. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

[[File:ALonelyPillarOnThePlain-BattleOfJunkion.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You weren't there, man. You don't know.]]

The Autobot-Decepticon war expands beyond Cybertron and encompasses many other worlds, and thousands of battles occur both on and off Cybertron over a period of time. During this period, Shockwave leads a detachment back to Junkion in order to recruit the natives. They are opposed by Prowl; the struggle goes on, neither side able to gain an advantage over the other, until one faction decides to detonate the planet entirely to keep it out of the other's hands. The surviving Junkions, led by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and [[Rum-Maj]], flee the destruction of their home aboard a [[Quintesson Cruiser|gigantic vessel]] and become galactic nomads. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}}
{{-}}

===3 million BCE===
A battle takes place on the planet [[Clemency]] for control of the [[Nightmare Engine]], and a flight of [[K-Class]] Decepticons succeed in killing a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

The early phases of the war culminate in the destructive [[Simanzi Massacre]], a cataclysmic battle over the [[Crucible]]. Details are unclear, but the fallout from the conflict irradiates a sizeable percentage of the planet whiele cutting the Cybertronian population in half. Among the casualties is a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} The Simizani Massacre leads to the [[Forced Flood]] and the [[Endless Retaliation]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

[[File:Omniglobes.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Electrohamster balls were a popular accessory for the well-equipped commanding officer.]]
Bolstered by their victories, the Decepticons form the [[Constellate]], marking the peak of Decepticon power. In this brief period, the Decepticons conquer and colonize many worlds, using grandiose weapons of war like the gigantic [[Worldsweeper]]-class warships. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}} The devastation visited on other races is enough to prompt the [[Galactic Council]] to permanently blacklist the Cybertronian race, {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} and develop anti-Cybertronian weapons to safeguard their member worlds from future destruction. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

With both sides now defending on-planet and offworld footings, the conflict enters a state of total war as both sides pour all available resources into defeating the other. Optimus and Megatron seal themselves inside [[omniglobe]]s to direct the war effort. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Eventually, the Constellate collapses, marking the decline of the Decepticon's imperial phase. Imperial assets are recalled to Cybertron to fight on the home front. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Mtmte 48 grindcore.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Comes with its own cheerful [[The Empyrean Suite|theme tune]]!]]
Skids joins the Autobots as a "bomb negotiator", disabling [[anti-personal mine]]s. One negotiation session goes wrong and lands him in the notorious [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]]. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} There, he befriends [[Quark]] and catches the attention of Decepticon Damus—Skids's old friend, now a Decepticon. Damus plays a sadistic game where the Autobot repairs the camp's "teleporter", in reality a smelting chamber, and then kills the fifty Autobots he promised to send away, including Quark. The experience proves traumatic enough for Skids to suppress the memory. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} At some point after this, Damus is promoted and joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] as "Tarn". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

Skids eventually escapes prison and joins the Autobot [[Diplomatic Corps]], working to persuade other races to support the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

After several other Magnus Armor wearers succumb to battlefield injuries or ailments, [[Minimus Ambus]] becomes the latest and longest-serving bearer of the Armor. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}
{{--}}

==100,000+ years ago==
===650,000 BCE===
Shockwave realises Cybertron will soon die and fully launches [[Regenesis]]; using [[energon]] as a catalyst, he launches thirteen specific ores at thirteen distant planets.<ref>"Six Hundred Thousand Meta-Cycles Ago"</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Unbeknownst to the younger Shockwave, these planets are the thirteen colonies of Cybertronian legend, an ontological paradox set up years beforehand by his future self in the guise of "Onyx Prime." {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing}}

===500,000 BCE===
Shockwave leaves Cybertron to begin examining the fruits of Regenesis. Over the ensuing thousands of years, he discovers that the ores that have formed on the different planets have taken on wildly different attributes, and begins formulating a scheme to use them in conjunction to achieve his dream of fuelling Cybertron forever. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} Alpha Trion takes Metroplex off Cybertron to keep him out of Megatron's hands and investigate Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

Still searching for usable Titan technology, Megatron has a team of Decepticons led by [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] search outer space for Metroplex. Crew member [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] finds the Titan, but has a crisis of conscience and ends up letting him go. {{storylink|The Hunting Party (IDW)|The Hunting Party}} Another member, [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], is able to find and injure [[Quintessa (IDW)|another Titan]], causing it to teleport to [[Gorlam Prime]] where it goes dormant. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}}

===18,000 BCE===
Returning to Antilla aboard the titan [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]], Onyx Prime and his [[Maximal]]s uncover the core of the Unicron device, which he dubs the "[[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]]". {{storylink|Our Finest}} Knowing its destructive potential, Onyx entrusts the device to the Maximal crew of the ''[[Axalon]]'', sending them on a deep-space mission to locate the [[Enigma of Combination]] in the knowledge that their quest would take them to Earth; {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Centurion's profile}} Onyx's ultimate goal for the Talisman is for it to poison Cybertron and act as bait to draw in and destroy Unicron, leaving the Transformers freed of their past and able to begin again on Earth. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}} {{storylink|Our Finest}}

===10,000 BCE===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-IceAgeWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''All this has happened before All this shall happen again'']]
The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] attack a Decepticon-held Energon silo in [[Sub-Sector-Nine]]. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1}} Later, they depart Cybertron to hunt down Shockwave in pursuit of revenge for a past defeat. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

The ''Axalon'', needing to refuel, stops by prehistoric Earth after tracking the energon surges from Shockwave's experiments. Shockwave, present to check on his work, shoots them down, and the crash scrambles their memories. As an experiment, he brainwashes and retrofits the crew to think they are prominent Autobots and Decepticons so he can run the "[[Ice Age Wars]]", a control experiment of the Great War while he studies the Talisman.<ref>A caption says [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] hasn't been on the ''Axalon'' for "twenty thousand years", which clashes with ''Spotlight: Shockwave'' but does put this nicely in the Ice Age.</ref> {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===8390 BCE===
[[File:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"A six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the the middle toe. He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say... no no. He slashes at you here, or here..."]]
The Ice Age has ended<ref>The real Ice Age ended several thousand years earlier.</ref> and Ore-13 has started to grow unstable. Shockwave abandons his miniature Great War to stabilize Ore-13 but the Dynobots—seeking revenge and sporting energon-shielded beast modes—have finally tracked him down, and they engage him in combat. While he defeats them, he is deactivated by a failsafe set by Grimlock, as the Dynobots' ship triggers a volcanic eruption which buries all six in what would later become [[Eureka]], [[Nevada]].<ref>Shockwave specifies in [[Maximum Dinobots issue 5|''Maximum Dinobots'' #5]] that he has been waiting for "ten thousand, three hundred and ninety-six years, two months and three days".</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} The abandoned ''Axalon'' crew fight on for a time, but low energon levels eventually force them all into hibernation in secluded regions. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Megatron assigns Bludgeon to investigate Shockwave's projects {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}—and Soundwave to watch over Bludgeon. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] is rescued from the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] by an [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|unknown Autobot]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Jazz}}

[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] crashlands on an unnamed planet and spends a period of time there watching over young aliens named [[Kita]] and [[Coll]] until Kita dies when Cliffjumper is discovered by Decepticons. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cliffjumper}}

A Decepticon named [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] leaves [[Turmoil]]'s command when he feels disillusioned by what the civil war had become, and he stumbles across the Circle of Light. {{storylink|Drift issue 1}} His coming prompts the Circle to raise their hidden city above ground. {{storylink|Drift issue 4}}

===3000 BCE===
At some point before this period of time, ancient humans discover the Enigma of Combination. The influence of the Enigma "combines" their thoughts and ideas, allowing them to to work together and found the city of [[Uruk (Earth)|Uruk]].<ref> Issue 37 of ''The Transformers'' claims that this only happened 2000 years ago, which contradicts historical events alluded to in later issues ''and'' real life; Uruk existed as far back as 4000 years ago, and was far from the first civilization. </ref> {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}}

Sumerians develop an early civilization. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===2560 BCE===
The [[Pyramid]]s are constructed. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}} Around this time, the Talisman somehow winds up underneath the [[Tomb of Altomec]] in [[Dahshur]], [[Egypt]]. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

==100+ years ago==
[[File:GhostStories-onyxprime.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Tirac|Tirek]] got a big makeover for his ''[[My Little Pony|Friendship is Magic]]'' appearance.]]
Over time, the colony world of Caminus runs low on resources and energon, becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the galaxy. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} At an indeterminate point in time, while Caminus still has functioning interstellar ships, the inhabitants detect an emergency beacon from the planet [[Antilla]]; however, the explorers find the planet dead and rusted, and inhabited only by Onyx Prime and his army. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} The surviving explorers flee back to Caminus, but after some years are followed back there by Onyx, who attacks the village [[Parvus Oppidum]] and claims the life of [[Praesidia Magna]], leader of the [[Torchbearer]]s and one of the explorers. Her subordinate [[Pyra Magna|Pyra]] steps up as leader, {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} while the [[Mistress of Flame]] covers up the attack. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}}

===603 BCE===
The [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s put down local resistance in the [[Skomiloch Territories]]. They remain while [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]] rules a mini-empire there. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Snare's personnel evaluation}}

===27 BCE===
Octavian establishes the Roman Empire as {{w|Emperor Augustus}}. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===220===
The Han Dynasty in Ancient [[China]] ends. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1320===
[[Dante Alighieri]] publishes ''{{w|The Divine Comedy}}''—in reality, an allegorical exploration of the ideals and long-term goals oft the ancient conspiracy [[Cobra]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1408===
Fortress Maximus is instated as warden of [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

===1516===
Runaway [[blacksmith]] turned adventurer-archeologist [[Anode]] and her conjunx endura [[Lug (IDW)|Lug]] travel to [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]] at the behest of their employer, the mysterious "[[Adaptus|Grand Architect]]", in search of a rare piece of "[[Living metal #IDW Generation 1 continuity|widowed metal]]". They run afoul of a Decepticon [[Cybernought]], but Censere, as the "Necrobot", intervenes. He spirits Anode away through time and space, but Lug is left behind and perishes. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}}

Arcee, who Anode had offered to help with her trauma from Jhiaxus's experiments, is left even more unstable by her sudden disappearance, {{storylink|Post}} and ends up on a violent rampage trying to track down Jhiaxus and destroy everything he created; she is eventually stopped by Ultra Magnus, who has her spark extracted and imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

===1550===
[[File:Thunderwingwhathaveyoudone.jpg|thumb|250px|{{w|Pod People}}.]]
Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron—between ever-dwindling supplies of energon and the fallout caused by millennia of warfare—will soon be entirely uninhabitable. Believing that the Transformers must find a way to adapt to changing planetary conditions, he develops an upgrade based off of "[[Pretender|polydermal grafting]]" procedures. Unfortunately, he uses himself as a test subject for the process and, driven mad, he ends up destroying the planet even faster before perishing.<ref>700 stellar-cycles ago, so if a stellar cycle is ~7.5 months, then presumptively ~437 years ago.</ref> {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Shortly after Thunderwing's rampage, Soundwave uses [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] to take control of [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]]. Beachcomber attempts to assassinate [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], leaving him adrift in space. The Decepticons began a massive offensive against the demoralized Autobots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}} It's all for naught anyway as the planet is soon abandoned, a lifeless, radiation-saturated wreck. With Cybertron now completely uninhabitable, the war does not abate, but moves permanently off-planet. {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Following the loss of Cybertron, the nature of the war changes, becoming a series of cloak-and-dagger operations on alien worlds. The Decepticon war machine reorganizes around the [[infiltration protocol]], a step-by-step process by which Decepticons covertly infiltrate a planet's society and manipulate events to bring it down from within. As part of this process, three of the [[Warriors Elite]] are promoted to [[Phase Sixer]]s, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—who promptly deserts from the Decepticon army. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}
{{-}}

===1586===
[[United Kingdom|England]] creates the original [[Action Man]] Programme. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1610===
{{w|Galileo Galilei|Galileo}} charts the moons of [[Jupiter]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1700s===
Incumbent Magnus Armor wearer Minimus Ambus is critically injured in the line of duty, requiring him to step down as Ultra Magnus for a prolonged period. He is replaced as the armor's wearer by [[Convoy (G1)|Convoy]], a hot-headed Autobot with a disdain for organic life. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

Around this time, the [[Prysmos]]ian sorcerer [[Merklynn]], disgusted by his home planet's technological advancements, plots to reverse their technological development and does so by casting a spell that brings the system's three suns into alignment with one another, shutting down machinery across the planet. {{storylink|Cybertron No More}} In the ensuing "Age of Magic", he and his "[[Visionaries]]" keep the peace until catastrophe strikes: as the suns move back out of alignment, the gravitational forces unleashed tear the world apart, and only a handful of Prysmosians escape its destruction. Merklynn goes out into the galaxy in the hopes of finding a new world to colonize: a quest that, eventually, leads him to [[Earth]]. {{storylink|Schismatic}} Though Merklynn believes the de-alignment to have been the fault of his own miscalculations, the true cause was the creation of Unicron, which had harnessed the [[Magic|arcana vast]] from across time and space, destroying Prysmos in the process. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

===1800===
Following the destruction of his homeworld [[Elonia]] at the hands of the evil [[Dire Wraith]]s, [[Rom|Rom K'atsema]] joins the [[Solstar Order]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

Shortly afterwards, the Dire Wraiths discover Earth, drawn to Shockwave's supplies of [[Ore-13]] to amplify their powerful dark magic. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} Using their shapeshifting talents, Dire Wraith scouts begin infiltrating the worlds' governments and militaries, preparing for an eventual encounter with the Space Knight. {{istorylink|Earthfall: Part Three}}

===1830s===
[[File:Shining Armor 4 - Ultra Vekktral vs Starscream.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"]]
A Galactic Council ship destroys a Camien vessel in the [[Gray Area]]. One protoform survives, recovered by [[Rom]] and taken to the Solstar Order, where the protoform matures into [[Stardrive]]. After some years the Cybertronian joins the Order's Space Knights as a cadet, though she is often excluded and made to feel unwanted thanks to anti-Cybertronian prejudice.

The [[energon synthesizer]] the Order have developed for Stardrive draws the attention of [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], whose Decepticons ally with the Dire Wraith [[Vekktral]] and attack the attack the [[Orchid Crossing]] space station in order. The battle draws the attention of an Autobot ship commanded by Convoy's Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 1|Shining Armor #1}} The ensuing fight sees the Autobots team up with the Solstar Knights to counter the Decepticon/Dire Wraith alliance as both parties battle it out on the frozen world of [[Xetaxxis]], Wraith leader [[Vekktral]] using his [[magic]] to create monstrous Wraith-Cybertronian hybrids. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 3|Shining Armor #3}} The battle ends with Starscream destroying the energon synthesizer and sterilizing half of the planet in the process, forcing the heroes to retreat and wiping out Vekktral and his Dire Wraiths. The experience leaves Stardrive unwilling to continue fighting in the Space Knights' war; abandoning her allies, she takes up residence on a distant planet... unaware that she has been infected by a fragment of Wraith biomatter.

Bumblebee returns with the Magnus Armor to the Autobot fleet, where Minimus Ambus—recovered from his injuries—takes up the mantle once more. The Galactic Council and the Solstar Order formally decide to keep to their own sectors of space rather than getting caught up in each others' wars, while Starscream determines that the Dire Wraiths are too dangerous to risk allying with—and the Wraiths themselves decide to rely on their magic rather than turning to technology in future. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

===1867===
[[File:BeeandJohnHenry-HOS2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''John Henry was a man just six feet high Nearly two feet and a half across his breast He'd hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day And never get tired and want to rest'']]
Still believing themselves to be the Autobots and Decepticons, the lost Maximals are roused from their slumber by [[human]] activity sometime in the late 19th century.<ref>The ''Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook'' would lay down that the events of ''Hearts of Steel'' took place 150 years before the present date. This date contradicts real-world historical information; In the story, Mark Twain lives in San Francisco, as he did from 1864 to 1866, but refers to a daughter in [[Hearts of Steel issue 4|issue #4]], who would not be born in the real world until 1872.</ref> [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] (believing himself Bumblebee) awakens to the sound of [[John Henry]] laying railroad track. While Centurion takes the form of a steam locomotive and makes contact with John Henry and his friends, the brainwashed "Shockwave" fools disgraced scientist [[Tobias Muldoon]] into helping him create a "Golden Age" of progress. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 2|Hearts of Steel #2}}

Muldoon realizes he's been tricked in time and manages to alert mankind by reaching [[Mark Twain]], helped by "Ravage" following him and Twain defeating him. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 3|Hearts of Steel #3}} Human industrialists [[Vanflint]] and [[Jacob Lee Bonaventure]] collaborate with the Decepticons in Muldoon's place, while John Henry and his friends join the Autobots in heading out to stop the Decepticon's "[[Astrotrain (G1)#Hearts of Steel|Astrotrain]]" reaching [[New York City]] (running through [[United States Army]] blockades). The Autobots fight a running battle down the railroad tracks before knocking the Astrotrain, and the human collaborators riding it, off a cliff. With the threat over, the "Autobots" return to their slumber. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 4|Hearts of Steel #4}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1887===
Dormant Maximals are found by the [[fish people|Deep Ones]] that lurk in our oceans and taken to their unearthly city to join the forces of a slumbering [[Elder God]]. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}}

===1888===
[[File:TFInfestation2.2 Optimus Prime vs Elder God.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Iä! Iä! Optimus primhagn!]]
Shipping is being sunk by the fishy foes and their "Seacon" slaves, and "Ironhide" (riding the [[USS Miskatonic|USS ''Miskatonic'']] identifies the threat. The steam-powered "Autobots" are rallied again and seek 1,000,000 volts to power up "Optimus Prime" (actually Domitius Major) with the help of Muldoon and [[Nikola Tesla]], but [[Port Cenotaph]], [[Canada]] is overrun before they reach it. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}} Domitius Major is awoken just as a combined naval fleet of the world's powers reaches Port Cenotaph and runs into the Elder God. Domitius Major joins the battle and wounds the Elder God badly enough to provoke a retreat, leaving the Royal Navy bemused and questioning Tesla and Muldoon. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 2|Infestation 2: The Transformers #2}}
{{--}}

==1900s==
[[File:SpotlightHotRod rush.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Wheeeeeee!]]
Over the course of his travels, [[Sixshot]] is challenged by the alien [[Reaper]]s. He refuses to join them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sixshot}}
[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] leads a team to secure the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. [[Doubledealer]], posing as an Autobot, sabotages the raid. Hot Rod hides the Magnificence. He later infiltrates the Decepticon penal colony [[Styx]] to rescue "Dealer", who befriends him. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Meanwhile, [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]] and [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] crash-land on the planet [[Tsiehshi]], one of Shockwave's Regenesis test planets. The barren, uncharted planet is covered with radioactive crystals of [[Ore-8]]. Outback is killed in the crash, and Kup is slowly driven insane by the radiation. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

The massacre at [[Babu Yar]] takes place, which sees the deployment of the controversial bioweapon [[Gideon's Glue]] against [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]'s Autobots. {{storylink|Bullets}}

===1914-1919===
The Maximal Autobots are, by this time, slowly dying off, though several beginning to shake off their reconditioning and realizing that they are not who they believed themselves to be. Several of the Maximals try to find the Talisman and perish in the attempt. [[World War I]] breaks out on Earth, and Domitius Major and Centurion stumble on a battleground. Seeing real conflict causes their artificial memories of the Great War to unravel; Domitius perishes, but Centurion, confused and enraged, dedicates the remainder of his life to hunting down and killing the remaining Maximals on Earth. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1941===
[[Merklynn]]—who has arrived on Earth at some point before this time—has forged a [[human]] disguise and a new alter-ego as "Garrison Kreiger". Hoping to plot a new course, he joins the [[United States Army|US army]] at the beginning of [[World War II]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part Five: One Unholy Machine|One Unholy Machine}}

[[Sgt. Savage|Robert Steven Savage]] also joins the military; after going above and beyond the call of duty in [[Galibi]], he receives a crack team of his own to command: the elite [[Screaming Eagles]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Sgt. Savage profile}}

===1943===
With Garrison "Blitz" Kreiger now serving as an officer on the Screaming Eagles, the unit is deployed to fight in [[Kalistan]]. They are startled to find [[IRON Trooper|robot drones]]—in reality, creations of the Talisman—fighting for the Axis. [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]], recognizing them as the work of alien magic, becomes fascinated by them. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

===1944===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionVsFakeShockwave.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''We're leaving together, but still it's farewell'']]

In the winter of 1944, Centurion tracks the last of the ''Axalon'' crew—"[[Maximal Shockwave|Shockwave]]"—to his hiding place in [[France]]. The two battle one another, and are witnessed by the Screaming Eagles, who have arrived in France to help out the local resistance. Centurion defeats his foe and takes his gun as a trophy. Centurion asks for their help in tracking down his old starship so that he can die in peace, and although Kreiger is horrified at the prospect of the "mechanical hell" the Maximals embody, he convinces Savage to assist the alien... and so that he can learn more about the IRON Troopers.

The trio eventually locate the ''Axalon''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s frozen remains in [[Brasnya]], but are unprepared for an IRON Trooper ambush, or the sight of the robots puppeteering Domitius's corpse to attack the group. Though Centurion defeats his reanimated commander, energies unleashed by the Talisman caused the ship to vanish, with taking [[Sgt. Savage]] with it. A confused and upset Centurion agreed to assist Kreiger, who spends the next several decades grooming him as he begins a decades-long search for the Talisman. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===1960s===
Disabled amateur sleuth [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] accidentally stumbles on a ring of Brasnyan spies smuggling alien technology into the United States. Their plan is foiled by British super-spy [[Action Man]], who offers Power some words of encouragement. Bolstered by this praise, he goes on to study some of the technology he surreptitiously recovers from their base and eventually builds himself a new set of prostheses. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

===1982===
[[File:Adventure Team Revolution.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb."]]
After serving with the [[Green Berets]], [[Joe Colton|Joseph B. "Joe" Colton]] is selected to join the [[Adventure Team]], an crack team of American operatives. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1}} He serves alongside elite military assets such as [[Stalker (G.I. Joe)|Stalker]] and [[Miles Mayhem|Miles "Mayhem" Manheim]]. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} They are eventually joined by superpowered operatives including [[Bulletman]] and Mike Power, now calling himself the "[[Atomic Man]]". {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}} {{storylink|Power and Glory}} As "G.I. Joe", Colton and the Adventure Team enjoy numerous globetrotting escapades, on one occasion meeting Action Man. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

===1984===
Soundwave is sent to investigate Bludgeon's activities on Earth {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} but first makes a detour to Egypt to investigate unusual energy readings.

Kreiger, having spent decades scouring the Earth for alien artifacts, finally tracks the Talisman to its resting place in the [[Tomb of Amtoltec]] and goes to retrieve it, disposing of his [[Elliot Marsh|guide]] along the way. A few days later, the Adventure Team is deployed to rescue him. The team battles IRON Troopers and runs afoul of Soundwave before before discovering Kreiger and the Talisman. The Talisman upgrades Mike Power's cybernetic limbs; thus empowered, the team is able to see the Decepticon off and recover the Talisman, entrusting it to British intelligence. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

Soundwave returns to his main mission on Earth, but is deactivated when Bludgeon, after some of Shockwave's Regenesis ore—which he calls "ultra-energon"—triggers the eruption of [[Mount St. Helens]].<ref> In real life, the volcano erupted four years earlier.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1985===
[[File:SpotlightSoundwave infoispower.jpg|thumb|left|Decepticonism killed the radio star.]]
Soundwave, [[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] are excavated by [[Skywatch]]. Interest is taken in the cassettes, found in "[[robot mode]]", but Soundwave, in cassette player mode, is apparently discarded. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1988===
[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] lands on the backwater planet [[Nebulos]]. The latest in a series of flagrant violation of the Tyrest Accords, he develops a working relationship with [[Zarak (G1)|Mo Zarak]] and the [[Zarak Consortium]] as part of his ''modus operandi''. The duo develop a variation of the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] process involving hybridizing [[Nebulan]]s and Cybertronians. Ultra Magnus tracks Scorponok to [[Nebulos]], but despite taking severe damage, the Decepticon escapes.<ref>29 stellar cycles ago, or 18 years</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Ultra Magnus}}

[[Solomus|Tyrest]] constructs the supercomputer/judging machine [[Aequitas]], based off of [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]' old designs. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} The [[Aequitas trials]] begin, a catalog of Autobot atrocities. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}} What nobody but Tyrest knows is that every Autobot on trial is "[[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|constructed cold]]", a process he'd help develop. The revelation is enough to gnaw at his conscience, and eventually Tyrest vanishes from the public eye. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

Skids eventually moves to Prowl's covert [[Special Operations]], necessitating faking his own death. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} Partnered with [[Getaway]], he is sent to "assassinate" the rogue Tyrest by using a [[nudge gun]] to implant the impulse to resign in the Chief Justice's increasingly disturbed mind. The plan fails, and Skids barely manages to escape. Aboard his escape craft, he uses the gun to erase his own memory before setting the shuttle to hone in on the coordinates of his handlers, the [[Duobot]]s. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}}

===1990===
Obsessed with defeating [[Squadron X]], the [[Wrecker]]s track them down to the planet [[Pova]]. After capturing them, [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] is ordered to release them due to a technicality. Instead, he executes the prisoners, and as a consequence is himself imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. Springer subsequently takes over leadership of the Wreckers. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}} {{storylink|Bullets}}

After a disastrous mission, a despairing Mike Power turns to Kreiger to further upgrade his limbs. Power disappears from the public eye as Kreiger, hoping to use Power for his own ends, experiments on him further. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Though deprived of their most powerful member, Joe Colton reorganizes the team into the totally radical "Adventure Force". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1994===
Kreiger eventually manage to upgrade Power's physiology to the point where he can interface with the Talisman; in doing so, he accidentally returns the ''Axalon'' to the timestream, along with a temporally displaced Sgt. Savage. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Adventure Force storms the base, and in the crossfire, Mike Power is assumed dead. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

Thrust fifty years into the future, Sgt. Savage joins up with that era's Action Man, forming "Team Extreme". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1997===
[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and Metroplex return to Cybertron. Hoping to return the planet to habitability, Alpha Trion slowly begins cleaning Cybertron's polluted atmosphere.<ref>12 meta-cycles ago, or 13 years</ref> {{storylink|Any Old Iron}}

==2000s==
===2001===
[[File:What Its Really Like - Jazz likes jazz.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"The music was ''dope''."]]
The current era of Transformer activity on Earth begins. Starscream heads a unit on Earth as part of the now-standardized infiltration protocol, and the Autobots retaliate by deploying an Autobot cell led by Prowl. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Advance scout [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jazz]] is the first Autobot to make planetfall, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} and is eventually joined by the rest of Prowl's team aboard the ''[[Ark-19]]''. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

Conspiracy theorists like [[Hunter O'Nion]] begin searching for evidence of extraterrestrials after the anomalous "Buchanan crop manifestations" in [[Iowa]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

The Cybertronians discover that Earth is not as unaware of their presence as they might have thought—the Decepticons become aware of the [[Machination]]. In reality, this is merely a front for Scorponok's latest operation, intending to build off his Headmaster research on Nebulos in the hopes of supplying himself, by this point reduced to little more than a ruined head, with a new body. {{storylink|The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation}}

===2006-7===
[[File:Infiltration6 starscream on ultraenergon.jpg|thumb|left|200px|This is your Starscream on drugs.]]

Shockwave's hand is discovered in an excavation in Nevada. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} News of the dig reaches the conspiracy theorists but is considered a fringe theory, the "paleo-purists". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] is founded by General [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} Skywatch discovers Bludgeon's volcano base and investigate the Transformers within, successfully reactivating [[Bugly (G1)|Bugly]]. As part of [[Project Hot House]], they retrofit the Cybertronian bunker into a Skywatch research lab. Joe Colton joins forces with Joshua Red to investigate the Talisman and whether it can be weaponized. Lured to Oregon by a false distress beacon, Savage encounters G.I. Joe, Bugly, and Centurion, who lead him into Skywatch's base. As part of Colton's experiments, Savage is saturated with more Talisman energy and thrust into the future once again. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

From the Dead Universe, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] lures [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to the rapidly-evolving world of [[Gorlam Prime]] and implants a device in his brain. {{storylink|Spotlight: Nightbeat}}

On Earth, Starscream's infiltration unit discover ripe samples of Shockwave's Regenesis ore, dubbing it "Ore-13". In [[Arizona]], wandering drifter [[Verity Carlo]] steals a [[SM-40|palm computer]] from a travelling businessman, unaware that her victim is really an agent of the Machination. Possessing a record of Cybertronian activity on Earth makes her, Hunter, and [[Jimmy Pink]] targets of the Decepticons, prompting Ratchet to intervene. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 0|Infiltration #0}} {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Ratchet brings them back to the Autobot base, and, learning that the Decepticons have preemptively initiated "siege mode", brings the humans along to investigate their abandoned base in [[Nebraska]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}}

[[File:Thunderwing stormbringer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The thunder of guns Tore me apart You've been Thunderstruck!'']]

The humans discover that Megatron has come to Earth; Megatron learns from the base's old files that Starscream plans on overthrowing his leader using Ore-13. Disgusted by the power games—and infuriated when [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] accidentally bomb their old base with him inside—Megatron sets off to the new command bunker in [[Oregon]] to retake command. Megatron quickly puts down Starscream's insurrection and announces the beginning of "phase 2". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Orbiting the dead husk of Cybertron, the crew of the ''[[Calabi-Yau]]'' pick up an anomalous energy burst. Jetfire and several [[Technobot (G1)|Technobot]]s investigate the strange readings and discover that Bludgeon has used his "ultra-energon" to reanimate Thunderwing's corpse. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Thunderwing lays waste to Nebulos and overruns the Decepticon cell already located on the planet before returning to Cybertron. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Optimus Prime calls in the Wreckers to combat the threat, and bringing their full firepower to bear the Autobots blast Thunderwing until he runs out of energon. Jetfire analyzes Bludgeon's files and discovers information related to Earth and the Regenesis project. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The news prompts Optimus to set course for Earth, and he arrives shortly after Megatron removes Starscream from command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Meanwhile, Soundwave, still trapped in his alternate mode, is purchased from a pawn shop. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}
Springer orders a costly mission to rescue the stranded and demented [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]], whose Spark is beginning a fatal meltdown. They eventually succeed, but not without taking significant losses at the hands of the elderly Autobot, who mistakes his rescuers for [[zombie]]s. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Later, he died off-panel.]]
Shortly after Megatron arrives on Earth, [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] joins the Decepticon's Earth unit. Megatron initiates a plan to increase political unrest on Earth using [[Psycho-Prism|technology]] stolen from [[Doctor Doom]]. Facing resistance from the Autobots and [[Avengers]], the Decepticons initiate [[mirror response mode]] and boost their powers by tapping into [[Spider-Man]]'s superhuman abilities. Megatron's plan is thwarted by the Autobots and Avengers, helped in part by Ramjet's increasing disloyalty to Megatron. {{storylink|New Avengers/Transformers|Man and Machine}}

While returning the humans to their normal lives, Machination forces successfully tail and capture [[Sunstreaker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]] and Hunter O'Nion while incapacitating [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} Prime, Jazz, and [[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] join Ironhide to search for the attackers. Meanwhile, the Decepticons proceed to phase two by activating numerous [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] sleeper agents within world governments to further destabilize human society. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}}

The Decepticons use their facsimiles to, among other things, escalate tension between [[Brasnya]] and [[Russia]]. The Autobots intervene, and Prime summons Hot Rod, [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to Earth. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} During the battle, Prime is nearly killed and encounters the form of [[Nova Prime]] within [[infraspace]] as he shunts his consciousness into his trailer. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Ironhide, Ratchet, Jimmy, and Verity continue to search for Sunstreaker's disappearance, but Ironhide is severely damaged in the process and left behind. Unbeknownst to them, Sunstreaker and Hunter are sent to surgical prep to test the Machination's [[binary bonding]] process. {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}}

Skywatch takes over the excavation of Shockwave and the Dinobots, while also reactivating and reprogramming Ravage and Laserbeak into loyal Skywatch operatives. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}}

[[File:SLOptimus prime vs monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Quickly, give him your face and he'll go away!]]
With Megatron's other forces busy, Ramjet initiates an ambitious plan to overthrow the Decepticon leader and sieze control of the Decepticons, involving, among other things, a group of jive-talking [[Mini-Constructicon]]s. His bungled plan ends when Megatron returns from Brasyna, beats him to death, and throws his parts across the globe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}

[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] is found drifting in space and returned to the Autobot fold. As he reintegrates into the Autobot command structure, he helps free [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] from Decepticon control. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

Optimus Prime briefly leaves Earth to meet with the ancient warrior [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], from whom he learns more about Nova Prime and the nature of Nova's original quest. Optimus winds up defeating and capturing Monstructor, and he sends the "Monstructor Six" into the care of [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] on [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} Around this time, Wheelie's original distress signal from LV-117 finally reaches Autobot space… only to be ignored due to more pressing concerns. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Galvatron briefly leaves the Dead Universe to travel to Cybertron to retrieve Thunderwing's body, defeating [[Hound (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hound]]'s unit on the way. He takes his trophy to [[Gorlam Prime]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}}

[[Banzai-Tron (G1)|Banzaitron]] initiates an attack on the Autobot prison facility at [[Garrus-9]] in an attempt to free the long-imprisoned Monstructor team. Realizing that they need another of Jhiaxus's creations to track down the unpredictable escapees, Fortress Maximus takes a gamble by releasing [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] and sending the warrior-bot after them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

His defeat at the hands of Optimus Prime turns Megatron's behavior increasingly erratic, and so the Earth-bound Decepticons reactivate Starscream to help deal with the problem. Hoping to get an edge over Optimus Prime, Megatron summons Sixshot to Earth, violating the infiltration protocol. Sixshot, though internally conflicted, follows orders and opens fire on the Autobot assets stationed on the planet, destroying the ''Ark-19''. He is, however, followed by the Reapers. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] and Hot Rod attempt to rescue Ironhide but are attacked by the Machination's army of mass-produced [[Sunstreaker clone]]s. With Hardhead's help, they defeat them and rescue Ironhide. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

[[File:Devastation03-HeadmasterHunter.jpg|thumb|left|250px|My hands! My horrible human hands!]]
Meanwhile, Hunter awakens at Machination headquarters and finds Sunstreaker's head. He undergoes the Headmaster process as [[Abraham Dante]] does the same with [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. Stealing a spare clone body, he links with Sunstreaker's mind to become a Headmaster and uses his new body to escape the facility. However, the Machination takes Sunstreaker's real head. The hybrid Sunstreaker/O'Nion entity agrees to search for Sunstreaker's real head in the hopes of undoing the process. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

From the [[Dead Universe]], Nova Prime orders Galvatron to Earth to deal with the Reapers, whom Sixshot has aligned with, before Starscream shuts him down using a failsafe trigger. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} The other Decepticons engage the Reapers, losing the [[Battlecharger]]s, before being covertly assisted by Galvatron. Triumphant in his mission, he returns to the Dead Universe with Sixshot's body. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

Learning of the breakout at Garrus-9, the majority of the Autobots prepare to leave Earth, though Hot Rod and Sunstreaker remain. Concurrently, Skywatch is notified of the battle and prepares to deploy their latest and most powerful asset: Grimlock. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} After he is awoken, he escapes from Skywatch and refuses an offer to join forces with Scorponok. {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}

On Cybertron, [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] arrives and attacks Hound's crew as revenge for the devastation wrought by the war. His attack is interrupted by Ultra Magnus, and he is forced to retreat to [[Corata-Vaz]]. After activating the [[Nega-Core]], Cyclonus is again set upon, and activates the Nega-core's reanimated guardian, Thunderwing. He is forced to return to the Dead Universe as his body has been in the "living" world too long. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

[[File:SpotlightCyclonus DeadUniversetransformers.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Death walks among you."]]
In the wake of the attack, Optimus and his crew arrive at Garrus-9. They meet with [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and head back to the ''Ark-32''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

The forces of the Dead Universe—including Jhiaxus, Galvatron, Straxus and Grindcore—leave the Dead Universe to begin the [[Expansion]]. Leading the charge is Nova Prime, now calling himself "Nemesis Prime". {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

Nightbeat and Hardhead travel to [[Gorlam Prime]] to investigate Nightbeat's missing memories, and they encounter a large group of [[Micromaster]]s trying to impede their progress. The pair makes it to the Dead Universe portal and Jhiaxus takes control of Nightbeat, forcing Hardhead to kill him, and dive into the portal himself. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Jetfire decides to use [[Pretender]] technology to enable [[Cloudburst]], [[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]], [[Groundbreaker]], and [[Waverider]] to survive the Benzuli Expanse. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}}

Optimus receives a transmission from Dealer, who says that he's been monitoring the current situation, and he thinks that all of the answers they seek lie in the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Hot Rod agrees and both travel to [[Ki-Aleta]], the planet where Hot Rod had hidden it earlier. Using the oracle, Hot Rod discovers that Dealer betrayed him, and sends the traitor to his death moments before he could do the same to him. The Magnificence later provides useful info to Ultra Magnus about the machinations of Nemesis Prime. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

On Earth, Straxus and Grindcore mine energon in [[China]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are prevented doing this by Hound's team, primarily Sideswipe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:IDWAutobotPretenders.jpg|thumb|left|250px|To infinity and beyond!]]
Galvatron and Cyclonus attack the ''[[Mirror-Manifold]]'', the ship of Cloudburst and crew. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are beamed out seconds before their ship explodes by the Technobots in the ''[[Nightbird (ship)|Nightbird]]'', who present them with their own personal Pretender carapaces. Using these, they battle Galvatron and Cyclonus, defeating one and allowing the other to escape. Using their shells as temporary shields, they cross into the Dead Universe and manage to seal the gate to the Dead Universe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Nemesis Prime arrives on Garrus-9, and is faced by Optimus Prime. Optimus is attacked, using the [[Darkness (G1)|Darkness]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} However, the Darkness reaches out to Optimus as a successor. Nemesis continues the attack but is blasted in the back by Galvatron and falls dead. The Darkness enters Optimus Prime. Galvatron offers Prime a choice: kill himself in the nearby Solar Pool, or willingly pass on the Darkness to him. Prime does both, passing on the Darkness ''and'' tossing Galvatron into the pool. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}} Meanwhile, Arcee manages to track down Jhiaxus beneath Gorlam Prime, and with some help from an undead Hardhead, defeats him. With Jhiaxus rendered functionally immortal due to the energies of the Dead Universe portal, Arcee gleefully kills him over, and over, and over, and over… {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Above ground, the residents of Gorlam Prime finally complete their evolution into wholly mechanical beings. In honor of their great leap forward, they rename their planet… ''Cybertron''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:GrimlockMaxDino01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Because "Skree-onk" was copyrighted.]]
Back on Earth, Grimlock and the other Dynobots end up fighting Sunstreaker clones in [[Fallon]], [[Nevada]] in an event orchestrated by Scorponok and the Machination. Hoping to repair their ship, the ''[[Skyfire (ship)|Skyfire]]'', Grimlock calls the [[Monsterbot]]s for help. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}}

Hot Rod takes on Scorponok and fails, while Sunstreaker and Hunter try to reclaim Sunstreaker's original head. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 2|Maximum Dinobots #2}} The Monsterbots arrive on Earth just in time to rescue the bedraggled Dynobots. The Dynobots begin to have misgivings about Grimlock's increasingly unstable leadership—feelings which come to a head when it appears [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] has died from a blast by Scorponok. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 3|Maximum Dinobots #3}}

Soundwave, Shockwave, Laserbeak, and Ravage plot together and free themselves from Skywatch's control; {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 4|Maximum Dinobots #4}} Shockwave involves himself in the battle with Scorponok, and both are ultimately are defeated by Grimlock and the Dynobots. Ultra Magnus arrives to arrest the group. Though Grimlock willingly goes with Ultra Magnus, the other four Dynobots walk free thanks to his sacrifice. Shockwave, Scorponok, and Grimlock are all sent to Garrus-9 after a trial, though Grimlock's sentence is shortened thanks to bringing in two wanted Decepticons. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 5|Maximum Dinobots #5}}

===2008===
[[File:Slowmotionmoviewalkahm5.jpg|thumb|left|250px|He's your huckleberry.]]
Hoping to bolster the Decepticon ranks, Megatron and [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] create the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s. The process is highly imperfect, however, and the thousands upon thousands of failed clones are abandoned on Cybertron to become the feral "[[Insecticon swarm|Swarm]]". {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

Shortly after their creation, scientist [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] completes Shockwave's project regarding Jhiaxus's combination technology. The end result is [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]: a mentally stable, combat-ready combiner using the like-minded [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Perceptor rebuilds Kup using [[Pretender]] technology, reversing the deleterious effects of Ore-8 on his mind. At Prowl's insistence, however, Perceptor also adds technology into Kup's new body that will allow Prowl to take control of the elderly Autobot. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Everything in Its Right Place}} With his new lease on life, Kup organizes a team to rescue captured Autobots. They receive assistance from former Decepticon Deadlock, now known as [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Drift}} On their first mission, they rescue Hot Rod from Bludgeon and the Monster Pretenders; Perceptor is injured and upgrades himself into a sniper. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}}

Sixshot, freed from the Dead Universe following the defeat of Nemesis Prime, attacks [[Orvus Base]] to recover secret Autobot scientific research, only for the [[Throttlebot]]s to escape to the nearby planet [[Salvvatan VIII]]. Though Sixshot pursues them, they are rescued by Metroplex, who transforms from the city mode he was hiding as on the planet and stomped the six changer, temporarily incapacitating him. However, Metroplex immediately takes off with the object that he was on the planet to protect, leaving the Throttlebots on Sakvvatan VIII. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}} Unfortunately, Sixshot soon recovers and damages the team's shuttle as they try to leave; though the remaining Throttlebots believe they manage to kill the Decepticon before taking off, they soon crash land on the planet [[Botanica (planet)|Botanica]]. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

On Earth, Ratchet succeeds in separating Sunstreaker and Hunter. Horrified and disgusted by what humans did to him, Sunstreaker makes a Faustian deal with [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] to help him take out Megatron in exchange for the Autobots permanently abandoning Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}} Ratchet returns Hunter to his house and leaves, unaware that Bombshell is preparing to abduct the young human to gain access to the Headmaster technology still implanted in his body. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-Overlord.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"I come in peace. Shoot to kill."]]

Using Autobot access codes acquired from Sunstreaker, Megatron launches "[[Surge (event)|The Surge]]": across the galaxy, Decepticons abandon infiltration protocol and launch an all-out attack on every major Autobot outpost. {{storylink|Bullets}} The Autobots on Earth are led into a Decepticon trap and are soundly defeated, leaving Optimus Prime in critical condition. Megatron takes the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] and exiles them back to Cybertron while he and his Decepticons run amok on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}}

During the Surge, [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]]'s [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s assault [[Garrus-9]]. Rogue former Decepticon [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] kills Skyquake and takes over the prison, turning it into an arena for his own amusement. Former warden Fortress Maximus is lobotomized and repeatedly tortured. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} As part of a deal, Overlord releases Shockwave and restores him operational status; in return, Shockwave removes the [[Achilles virus]] implanted in Overlord's body as a failsafe. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

Knowing that he is being targeted by the Decepticon Justice Division, Shockwave selects a crew consisting of ''other'' Decepticons on their "list", and offers them as a trade for his life when the DJD tracks him down; however, Tarn rejects his offer, intent on following the list in order despite its inefficiency. Unaware that the DJD is only there for Scorponok, three members of Shockwave's crew—Scorponok, Flame and Flywheels—eject themselves into space before Shockwave manages to shut off the transmission of Tarn's lethal voice. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Flywheels is found by the crew of the [[Weak Anthropic Principle]] (aka the "Foragers"), while Scorponok and Flame are found and claimed by the Grand Architect, manifesting as an enormous spacebound heiroglyph. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

[[File:AHM2Devastator.jpg|thumb|left|200px|YOU—ARE NOT—PREPARED.]]

On [[May 29]], 2008, the Earth-based Decepticons make their presence known to humankind. Their combined forces demolish [[New York City]] and easily defeat the US military. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Colonel Daniel Witwicky]] is brought to New York to aid in its defense, though his troops can do little to defeat the onslaught. The Decepticons rampage across America and annihilate major cities across the nation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} Within a matter of hours, [[Washington, D.C.]] falls. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} College student [[Marissa Faireborn]], in New York as part of the {{w|Occupy Wall Street}} movement, has her worldview shaken by the scope and horror of the invasion. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}}

Mercy Gale, head of intelligence for the [[Action Man Programme]]—and, in secret, the AMP's greatest nemesis [[Doctor X]]—makes her own arrangements that prevent the Decepticon invasion from touching the [[United Kingdom]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part One: Redcliffe Club|Redcliffe Club}}

Over the next few days, the Autobots and humans struggle to get back on their feet while the Decepticons continue to ravage cities across the globe. On Cybertron, Kup's team crash-lands on the planet and joins the stranded Autobots, who are fighting off the Swarm. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} On Earth, Colonel Witwicky appoints a team lead by his son [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Spike]] to take out Megatron. Spike's team is killed by Ratbat and Spike is the only survivor. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

Without the Autobots, the Decepticons quickly grow bored and start squabbling among themselves. The [[European Union]] decides to end the threat by deploying nuclear weapons against New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} Frustrated by Megatron's sudden listlessness, Starscream plots with the Insecticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

On Cybertron, the Autobots decide to use their remaining energon to repair Prime. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} The Autobots struggle to elude the Swarm, but Perceptor is injured. Guilt ridden, Sunstreaker makes the ultimate sacrifice and detonates a bomb to blow up a bridge (and himself) to keep the Swarm away from the other Autobots. Just before he does so, he reveals to Ironhide that it was he who brokered the deal with Starscream that betrayed the Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

Sarah and Bridge run into Spike, and are later joined by [[Charles (G1)|Charles]], seeking revenge against [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] for killing his son. With a weapon reverse-engineered from Shockwave, Spike brings Rumble down with the help of his new friends. On Cybertron, Optimus Prime is repaired, along with the remaining Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}}

Bombshell builds a [[space bridge]] and reveals that he helped hack into the Autobots' defenses using technology gained by dissecting Hunter O'Nion. Starscream teams up with the Insecticons and Constructicons to attack Megatron, but they are not successful. The Autobots on Cybertron are saved by the arrival of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and taken back to Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}}

===2009===
{{note|According to "[[Ride-Along]]", the events of ''All Hail Megatron'' spanned over a year, though it's unclear exactly when the transition to 2009 happened.}}

[[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|thumb|right|250px|One Shall...oh, you know the drill.]]
The Autobots arrive on Earth and battle the Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} Megatron gets the upper hand against Prime and orders a retreat, leaving the Autobots to be nuked by the humans… but Spike Witwicky, welding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Transformer technology, shoots Megatron in the face, allowing Prime to smash Megatron in the face with his own fusion cannon. With Megatron grievously wounded, Starscream takes command and orders a retreat.

The Decepticons do so, but [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] stays behind to dispose of the EU's bomb. He succeeds, but [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] blasts him out of the sky for his efforts.

Discovering that his brother's old Headmaster partner has been horrifically mutilated under Bombshell's custody, Sideswipe mercifully terminates the vegetative Hunter. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}} In the aftermath, Optimus Prime talks Ironhide out of retiring. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Believing the Matrix to be purely symbolic and now devoid of any power it might have once held, Starscream prepares to dump it into space. When [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] reminds him that the Autobots use it to choose their leaders, Starscream declares that with Megatron incapacitated, he will use the Matrix to lead the Decepticons to victory once more. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

Though the Decepticons have been defeated and mostly driven off-planet, Earth is largely in ruins. More than a billion people have died worldwide from the invasion, and most major cities are left utterly devastated by the Decepticons. Military assets begin hunting for Decepticon stragglers; as part of these early missions, Spike defeats Ravage, but is injured. Faced with a persistent Decepticon threat, Skywatch is heavily reorganized, going from a clandestine paramilitary organization into a international peacekeeping unit designed to hunt down and eliminate rogue Transformers on Earth, wielding reverse-engineered Cybertronian technology. Sparkplug is made head of Skywatch and recruits Spike to work for him. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|The Man of Steel}} This new incarnation of Skywatch does not differentiate between factions, and hunts both Autobots and Decepticons indiscriminately. Bumblebee briefly breaks cover to save some humans and is injured for his efforts. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|Hidden}}

[[File:SeasonsInFlight thundercracker discovers tv.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Eight years later and we still haven't gotten him off the couch.]]
Over the next two years, humans and Cybertronians alike struggle to recover from the Surge. With their infrastructure across the galaxy in shambles, many Autobots seek shelter on Earth. Humanity slowly repairs the damage caused by the invasion, but are enraged at the Cybertronians that remain on their planet. After witnessing a defenseless [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] executed by a group of police officers, Prowl decides that with their numbers so reduced by war, all Cybertronian life—even Decepticons—needs to be protected. {{storylink|Ride-Along|Spotlight: Prowl}}

Thundercracker survives his ordeal, but is badly damaged and unable to transform or fly. Stranded in the ruins of New York, Thundercracker takes refuge in an abandoned building and watches [[television]] to pass the time until he's rescued. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

[[File:Crashsuitsandtransports.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Geronimo!'']]
Skywatch continues its anti-Transformer operations, reverse-engineering Cybertronian technology to produce new weapons to safely combat rogue Transformers on Earth; this initiative culminating in the development of the unit's signature [[crash suit]]s. What Skywatch doesn't know is that this technology is secretly being provided to Skywatch via Spike Witwicky, whose disregard for the rules drives him to cut a deal with [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}} [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] are amongst those captured. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}}

[[Dominus Ambus]], now a mole within the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], reports that the Decepticons have lost contact with [[Garrus-9]] and DJD scouting parties do not return. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] authorizes [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] to assemble a new team of [[Wrecker]]s. Their mission is twofold—to rescue any Autobot prisoners and to download data from the [[Aequitas]] supercomputer. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} {{storylink|Bullets}} At some point after this, the other four members of the DJD discover the mole in their organization and subject Dominus to "[[domestication]]", reducing him to a feral "Pet". Another Decepticon thus steps up to become the next "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}}

Still marooned on LV-114, [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] discovers a Decepticon shipwreck with surviving crewmembers [[Spectro]] and [[Spyglass]] ([[Viewfinder]] alas, didn't make it.) He saves an [[Varta|alien]] from them and in the process blows them and his escape ship to pieces. And so, he waits... {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

At some point after Gorlam Prime's transformation, the malevolent Dead Universe entity known as the [[D-Void]] lures the entire population of the planet into his domain and devours their [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

===2010===
[[File:Ongoing Issue 1-Optimus Surrenders.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Botkind, well, that was another story.]]
Thundercracker is rescued by a rag-tag team of Decepticons led by [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. He discovers, however, that he has lost his taste for fighting, having come to respect humanity and its culture. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

Prowl is captured by Skywatch, and Hot Rod's rescue mission leads to Ironhide's death. Depressed, Optimus Prime resigns as Autobot leader and surrenders to Skywatch. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}} Frustrated by recent events, Hot Rod and a group of like-minded Autbots make preparations to leave Earth. They decide to join forces with Swindle's Decepticons, while the other Autobots chose to remain on Earth, and Bumblebee is elected the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 1: "New Arrivals, Old Encounters"|New Arrivals, Old Encounters}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-newrecruits.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cue the A-Team [[theme song|theme]].]]

Eight months after Dominus Ambus's report, the [[Wrecker]]s—bolstered by new recruits [[Verity Carlo]], [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]], [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]], [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]], ascended fanboy [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], and lead by a returned Impactor—arrive at Garrus-9 and begin their assault. Overlord retaliates by ordering the death of all Autobot prisoners upon the Wreckers' arrival save Grimlock, who has vanished. The Wreckers take heavy casualties over the course of their mission, but succeed in capturing Overlord and securing the data from [[Aequitas]]. Overlord is captured and the remaining Decepticons scatter, glad to be free of Overlord's oppression. The [[data slug]] that contains the various records from the Aequitas trials are entrusted to Prowl. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}}

After dropping off the Wreckers on Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus arrives on Earth to investigate the death of Ironhide and surrender of Optimus Prime. Afraid of being arrested by Magnus, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] and Blurr leave to join Hot Rod, but all except Blurr are captured by Skywatch and used as leverage by Spike for Optimus Prime to talk. Magnus leaves to find Hot Rod. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 2: "A Rude Awakening"|A Rude Awakening}}

Bumblebee's feelings of inadequacy, combined with the derision he faces from his fellow Autobots, pushes him into making a reckless deal with Colonel [[Gordon Horiuchi]]. Horiuchi promises the Autobots protection from Skywatch if they capture Decepticons, but at the price of being immobilized if they disobey. Skywatch quickly forces Bumblebee's troops to capture other ''Autobots'', starting with [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]]. After Bumblebee's immobilizing badge is damaged, he locates the [[Sanjay Bharwaney|creator]] of the badges and personally destroys them, defeating Skywarp and proving his worth as leader of the Autobots in the process. {{storylink|The Transformers: Bumblebee}}

Ultra Magnus shows up and tries to arrest Swindle, but Rodimus defends his ally. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}} Ultra Magnus takes several Autobots from Bumblebee's group with him to help him detain Swindle and the rebellious Rodimus. Swindle uses the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticon]]s to test some experimental [[combiner]] technology, and when Ultra Magnus arrives Swindle betrays Rodimus and unleashes [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] to kill the Autobots. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 4: "Enemies of the System"|Enemies of the System}}

Spike releases Optimus Prime to battle Menasor, but the combiner is undone after the Stunticons fail to unite their minds into a workable gestalt. The battle prompts Spike to realize that the Autobots are not part of the problem. Skywatch forges a new alliance with Bumblebee's Autobots, while Rodimus steals Ultra Magnus's spaceship and strikes off on his own. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 5: "Earthworks"|Earthworks}}

The space-bound Decepticons fare little better than their Earth-bound counterparts; Starscream's poor leadership, combined with dwindling fuel sources, leads to the collapse of the Decepticon faction. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} On a desolate asteroid, the Decepticons scrounge for fuel and cannibalize each other for Energon and parts, {{storylink|All His Engines‎}} a barbaric practice encouraged by [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] general [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]], who travels to space following a failed combiner experiment. {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} The other Predacons remain on Earth, where they eventually join the government of [[China]] as border guards. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawk Among the Sparrows}}

[[File:Ongoing Issue 13 - Megatron.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Well, I'm back, back Well, I'm back in black Yes, I'm back in black'']]

Tiring of Starscream's bungled leadership, Soundwave and Shockwave revive Megatron in a new body equipped with [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]-derived [[Space bridge|spacebridge]] technology. His old body is used to create replicas of his old gun mode, which contain small pieces of the Decepticon leader's consciousness. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Rodimus arrives at the Decepticons' asteroid base, intending to retrieve the Matrix. He succeeds in stealing it back from Starscream, but is confronted by the newly upgraded Megatron who blasts him and the Matrix into space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

In his new body, Megatron retakes leadership of the Decepticons {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} and sends the Megatron guns to Earth, where they quickly spread amongst unsuspecting humans with anti-Transformer sentiments. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Spike disobeys orders and goes rogue, hunting down and executing [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] in an attempt to prevent Devastator from ever being formed again. {{storylink|Scrapper (issue)|Scrapper}}

On Cybertron, Alpha Trion continues his project to clean the desolate world, though these efforts are threatened by the increasingly ravenous Insecticon swarm. Trion decides to resurrect a copy of the one Autobot most suited for the job: Ironhide. The confused duplicate lacks all of Ironhide's memories from the war, but does his job well. He also recovers Sunstreaker, having survived his sacrifice years earlier. Alpha Trion and Metroplex take off for parts unknown, leaving Ironhide and Sunstreaker on the planet to finish off the Swarm. Over the course of their campaign, Sunstreaker adopts one of the failed clones as a pet, which he nicknames "[[Bob (IDW)|Bob]]". {{storylink|The Transformers: Ironhide}}

As Rodimus floats through space, the Matrix bonds with him, saving his life. He crashes on the planet [[LV-118]], where he meets Wheelie. Together with him and the alien [[Garnak]], Rodimus steals a ship and heads to Cybertron. {{storylink|Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination|The Stars My Destination}}

[[File:TFInfestation2-BrittKup.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Alas, neither a pirate nor a ninja.]]

Galvatron frees himself from the solar pool, fully fused with the Darkness. He tracks down the Dead Universe Transformers trapped on Gorlam Prime, Cyclonus and Scourge. Using his new powers, he revives Scourge, using him to create a personal guard in the form of the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} They investigate the planet's missing inhabitants, {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 1|Heart of Darkness #1}} and upon learning about the D-Void's plans to destroy all Transformers, set out to raise an army to oppose it.<ref>The point at which Galvatron escapes the solar pool is never made explicit, but it can be inferred from several pieces of evidence: it occurs after ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' (per ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'''s epilogue), Autobot guards are present on Garrus-9, and it has been "years" since Galvatron's defeat.</ref> {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

Galvatron and his men discover a block of ice in space, unaware that it contains a [[zombie]] virus brought from another dimension by the extradimensional vampire-zombie [[Britt]]. Several of Galvatron's crew members are infected by the zombie virus, and his ship crash-lands on Earth in [[Las Vegas]], forcing the Autobots and Skywatch to pitch in and contain the infestation. Kup is infected by the virus and transformed into a zombie, but uses Prowl's mental link to thwart the swarm and warp Britt, her virus, and himself through time and space to the dawn of the Dead Universe. The Autobots refuse to join Galvatron's army. {{storylink|Infestation (IDW)|Infestation}}

Though physically unharmed by his experience, Kup is stranded within the Dead Universe and spends the next several billion years on a barren asteroid. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} He encounters the similarly stranded Nova Prime, who tries and fails to turn his body into a space bridge back into the living world. {{storylink| No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6|No Exit}}

Galvatron takes his new army to Cybertron, declaring it the first line of defense against the D-Void. Rodimus also arrives on the planet where he meets Ironhide and Sunstreaker and learns of Galvatron's presence. The assorted Autobots leave Cybertron to warn Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 4|Heart of Darkness #4}} {{storylink|Space Opera Act 2: Out of the Silent Planet|Out of the Silent Planet}}

Four months later, [[North Korea]]n leader [[Kim Jong Du]] strikes a deal with three of the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]], providing them with energon in exchange for their services. Under his orders, the Combaticons attack [[South Korea]], prompting the United States government to declare the employment of Cybertronians equivalent to the use of weapons of mass destruction. {{storylink|International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"|The Land Ironclads}} Skywatch and the Autobots move out to defeat the Combaticons. To keep the public from learning that the US also employs Cybertronians, the Autobots remain in their vehicle modes throughout the battle, and are easily defeated. {{storylink|International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"|Ranks of Bronze}}

[[File:TheDemolishedMan-BumblebeeGetsShot.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED. ''EVVVVER''."]]

Bumblebee meets with Thundercracker, who is now only interested in watching TV, and convinces him to help them. [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] hacks the spy satellites above Korea, allowing the Autobots to fight in [[robot mode]]. Backed up by these resources, the Autobots defeat the Combaticons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawks Among the Sparrows}} As the Autobots are attacked by the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], who have a similar contract with [[China]], Skywatch agent [[Sandra (G1)|Sandra]] breaks the encryption on one of the satellites. The secret alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots is revealed to the world, and [[Russia]] attempts to nuke the Transformers, though Cosmos saves them. The energon factories in North Korea and China are destroyed, ending the threat from the Combaticons and Predacons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}}

The incident turns into a PR nightmare for both Skywatch and the Autobots. Bumblebee holds a press conference, but fails to contain the unruly crowd and is grievously injured by [[Joe Gladki]]. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}} Megatron's Decepticons return to Earth, attacking the Autobot-Skywatch base and freeing the Decepticon captives within. The plane carrying Optimus Prime, Spike Witwicky and the rest of the Korea team is shot down over the Pacific Ocean. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}} Ultra Magnus takes charge and has the base evacuated. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} He and his troops attempt to regroup, but are defeated by Megatron himself. Meanwhile, Starscream tries and fails to convince Thundercracker to return to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}}

After two days, Optimus Prime's team emerge from the oceans alive. Prime confronts Megatron, who is holding Magnus hostage, and causes him to flee by injuring Soundwave. Jazz is forced to kill [[John Powell|a human]] in order to save his comrades, furthering Autobot distrust among human civilians. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} After another meeting with Prime, Megatron surrenders himself so that he can watch from the inside as the Autobots are crushed by the humans they protect. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}
{{-}}

===2011===
[[File:PoliceActionPrologue-Prowl.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Prowl discovered his "Summon Leggy Dame" spell had failed.]]
Six weeks later, Rodimus and his crew arrive on Earth and return the Matrix to Optimus Prime. Learning about Galvatron's invasion of Cybertron, Optimus takes most of the Autobots and Megatron with him, Prime leaves Earth on Omega Supreme. Bumblebee, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and several others remain behind to investigate Megatron's claims that Spike murdered Scrapper. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}}

Prowl investigates Spike by following him around. {{storylink|Police Action: Part 1}} While investigating the site of Scrapper's death, he is attacked by [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], but defeating and interrogating yields nothing about his motives. The Autobots bring in Sandra, who enlightens them on Spike's sociopathic past. {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Bumblebee and the other Autobots keep busy by tracking down rogue Decepticons, and Bumblebee singlehandedly takes down a Decepticon plot to activate a space bridge. {{storylink|The Question}} The defeat proves so humiliating that [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] quits the Stunticons forever. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}}

After four months of investigation, {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Spike shamelessly admits to killing Scrapper, but Prowl's fair share of questionable actions makes him unsure on what to do about it. During an attempted arrest of anti-Autobot pundit [[Ben Simpson]], the Autobots learn that he was a [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] created by Swindle. Under interrogation, Swindle reveals that he had been selling weapons to Skywatch via Spike for years. The alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots quickly dissolves and Spike becomes an international fugitive. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}}

En route to Cybertron, Optimus Prime must choose life imprisonment or execution for Megatron's punishment in anticipation of his future trial. He tries to talk to his nemesis, but is only goaded into torturing him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} When he asks Megatron what he would choose, Megatron chooses death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Cyclonus and the Sweeps take over [[Kimia Facility]]. The Autobots arrive on Cybertron, where Optimus Prime again declines to join Galvatron's army, causing Galvatron to responds with violence. {{storylink|Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} In order to reach Cybertron's core, Galvatron uses Kimia to fire on the planet's surface until the facility is destroyed from within. As the Autobots fight Galvatron's army, Megatron escapes from captivity and powers himself up using his Megatron-guns. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}}

[[File:Deceptigod Chaos part3 Kings.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Deceptigod?]]

Megatron uses the space bridge technology in his body to summon his Decepticon army to Cybertron. The D-Void, acting through Galvatron's [[Darkness (G1)|Heart of Darkness]], mind-controls them into combining with Galvatron's troops to form the "[[Deceptigod]]". {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} While Megatron fights and defeats the Deceptigod, Galvatron reaches [[Vector Sigma]] and inserts the Heart of Darkness into it, hoping this will stop the D-Void from entering the universe when in truth it does the opposite. Optimus Prime stops the D-Void from turning Cybertron into a portal to the Dead Universe by opening the Matrix of Leadership into the planet's core, emptying the artifact completely. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}
Galvatron and his forces are defeated, and the cleansing of Vector Sigma has the unexpected side effect of "resetting" Cybertron back to a living, primordial state. Though the planet is habitable once again, it is also wild and untamed, and all indications of Transformer civilization have been lost. Every Cybertronian in the universe receives a simple message, courtesy of Vector Sigma: "come home". With the Decepticons in shambles and Megatron missing, the Great War is considered over, though the Autobot victory proves pyrrhic. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Over the next three weeks, Bumblebee's team returns to Cybertron, taking care to remove every piece of Cybertronian technology they can find on Earth before they depart. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} Joining up with the other Autobots on Cybertron, they successfully inter the weakened and disoriented Decepticons within the wreckage of the Kimia satellite and plant them with [[Inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] to keep them docile. Before they can begin rebuilding society, however, they are joined by tens of thousands of neutrals, deserters, refugees, and other assorted noncombatants. Prowl dubs the hordes of civilians "[[NAIL]]s".

[[File:DoOP matrix bequeathed.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Remember to share, kids. Peace, I'm out.]]

Tensions between the three groups grow until Optimus Prime, having inadvertently time-jumped three weeks forward following his defeat of Galvatron, arrives in the shantytown that was once Iacon. The Autobots bring him up to speed, though ex-Autobot [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]], ''de facto'' speaker for the NAILs, makes it clear that his people want neither the Autobots nor Decepticons on "their" planet. When riots break out in the streets due to his presence, Prime departs the planet and entrusts the empty Matrix halves to Bumblebee and Rodimus, who are split on whether to stay and rebuild Cybertronian society, or go in search of the [[Knights of Cybertron]] in the hopes of starting anew on [[Cyberutopia]] . Prime leaves, and declares that, without the Matrix, he is "Orion Pax" once more—and that Optimus Prime is dead. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Though the Cybertronians have left Earth alone for the time being, the effect they have on the shellshocked planet is profound. Embroiled in controversy, Skywatch is considered defunct and is shut down by the United States government. Several operatives are shunted into its successor, the international [[Earth Defense Command]], headed by [[Marissa Faireborn]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} Determined not to let another invasion happen on her watch, Faireborne and the EDC reverse-engineer what technology they can find, producing new anti-Cybertronian weaponry such as [[mind bomb]]s and particle-based warheads. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} Around this time, eccentric tech industrialist [[G.B. Blackrock|Garrison Blackrock]] comes to prominence, head of the [[Onyx]] software and engineering firm. Unbeknownst to anyone on Earth—including ''himself''—Blackrock is a false identity constructed by [[Sovereign]]. As "Blackrock", Sovereign succeeds in collecting dozens of Transformer artifacts from their recent conflicts on Earth, including the corpses of [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] and [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] and the Enigma of Combination. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} From the former two artifacts, he creates an army of [[Seeker clone]]s for the EDC, which are augmented to combine through the energies of the Engima. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|I Dream of Wires}}

[[File:SecretRaiders-GIJoe.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."]]

Among their many anti-Transformer initiatives is "Project Spectrum", a series of experimental weapons designed to use the Transformers' chameleonic natures against them. Following the mysterious loss of Cornelius Trakker, Adventure Team alumni [[Miles Mayhem]] steps up and refines it into the "[[M.A.S.K.]]" program. {{storylink|O Ship of State|Matt Trakker profile in Revolution #3}}

The Transformer war is soon overshadowed by a new crisis on Earth: the threat of [[Cobra]], an omniscient human conspiracy centuries in the making. Joe Colton becomes the head of a [[G.I. Joe (team)|special missions team named in his honor]]. G.I. Joe's victory turns pyrrhic when their conflict leads to the nuclear devastation of [[Nanzhao]], remembered as second only to the destruction of New York in modern history. Though Cobra is no more, G.I. Joe is mothballed shortly afterwards, with some operatives like [[Ayana Jones]] transferred into the ranks of the EDC. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}
{{-}}

===2012-2013===
[[File:Mtmte-01-liarsatod-p19-panel345-boom.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wait for it...wait for it...]]
Rodimus gathers a crew of two hundred Autobots and purchases the ''Unitrex-1'' during the [[Festival of Lost Light]]. The event inspires him to rename the vessel the ''[[Lost Light]]''. Hoping to learn more about the secrets behind creating [[Phase Sixer]]s, Prowl manages to convince Rodimus to take Overlord with them in the hopes of using [[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]]'s [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] skills to probe the Decepticon's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} Before they depart, Chromedome, his [[Conjunx Endura]] [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], and Ratchet discover Tailgate and take him aboard. The ''Lost Light'' departs Cybertron shortly afterwards... but the quantum engines malfunction shortly after the ship launches due to a mishap involving Overlord's slow cell {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}, and the vessel vanishes in a fiery explosion. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:TheAutonomyLesson-spaceport.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."]]
The loss of the ''Lost Light'' causes ructions between the Autobots, Decepticons, and NAILs; the latter faction believing that the Autobots are now publically discouraging anyone from leaving their shantytown. Having made the difficult choice to release the Decepticons to help keep the peace, Bumblebee is forced to put down [[Horri-Bull]] when the Decepticon oversteps his authority. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}}

Around this time, war hero and all-around do-gooder [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] decides to strike out on his own search for the Knights of Cybertron aboard his own ship, the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]''. He discovers the lost colony of [[Caminus]] and recruits three of the inhabitants—[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], and [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]—to join him on his quest. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}}

An attempt on Bumblebee's life via [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] leads to the latter's death and prompts Starscream to start working with Bumblebee's Autobots in their efforts to rebuild a functioning government. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] secretly continues Shockwave's old combiner experiments, which results in Prowl, at the end of his tether and increasingly emotionally closed-off, seemingly executing him. {{storylink|Devisive}} Ironhide salvages the situation by petitioning to have the [[inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] installed in the Decepticons deactivated. {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}

After [[Barrel Roll]] dies, [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] and his crew of [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] leave Iacon to start anew in the wilderness beyond. {{storylink|Stick Together}} Ironhide then recruits the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] to try and find the missing fliers; they discover that the lands beyond Iacon have a disorienting effect on Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|Dinobot Hunt}}

[[File:Sparkeater rips The Chaos of Warm Things.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''HEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!'']]

Meanwhile in space, the ''Lost Light'' rematerializes, ''twice''; the peculiar quantum engines mean that the explosion creates a duplicate ''Lost Light'', one on-course and one off-course. The on-course ''Lost Light'' and its duplicate crew embark on a series of improbable adventures that ends when the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], on the trail of the traitorous Overlord and tipped off to his location by conflicted double agent [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]], kill everyone aboard save Rewind. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

The ''other'' ''Lost Light'', however, materializes near the edge of the galaxy, where the crew meets Skids and contends with the Sparkeater. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} The Sparkeater's rampage accidentally damages the [[slow cell]] containing Overlord, which alerts paranoid security director Red Alert to the stowaway. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

[[File:MTMTE ROE Grimlock.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Grimlock in stained glass.]]

On Cybertron, Wheeljack investigates a mysterious time machine brought to the planet by [[Turmoil]]. {{storylink|Interference Patterns}} This has repercussions across the galaxy; far away from Cybertron, Orion Pax, Hardhead, [[Garnak]], and Wheelie discover that Jhiaxus, Bludgeon, and Monstructor are carrying out a part of Shockwave's Regenesis program to alter the future using the chronologically-destabilized world of [[LV-117]], a plan involving Turmoil's time machine. Thought they thwart Jhiaxus's scheme, the planet is destroyed. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}}

On the planet [[Clemency]], a [[Scavenger (group)|band of misfit Decepticons]]—the former Foragers—stumble on [[Fulcrum]], a cowardly [[K-Class]] suicide bomber. Together, they investigate an anomalous [[Worldsweeper]] ship containing numerous strange experiments and a brain-damaged Grimlock, whom they reactivate to battle the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. The Scavengers reluctantly take him on. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Shortly afterwards, the ship chances on the planet [[Theophany]], former home of the now-missing [[Circle of Light]]. The crew discovers [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and help the struggling Titan return to Cybertron by using Brainstorm's [[mass-displacement gun]] to shrink him to a manageable size so he can safely teleport away. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

[[File:RID16 heavyisthehead.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Spoiler: this won't end well.]]

Metrotitan materializes within the ruins of [[Crystal City]], where his arrival interrupts the search for the missing Autobots. Starscream investigates, and the Titan proclaims him the "chosen one" before his destabilized molecules explode and teleport him away {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} to [[Monument Valley]] on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}} Before Starscream can use his new standing to tip upcoming elections in his favor, Iacon is thrown into chaos when Megatron returns. {{storylink|City on Fire}}

Having experimented with [[combiner]] technology in the wake of the D-Void's defeat, Megatron has secretly collaborated with several Decepticons to perfect the process and create a new, more powerful Devastator from the remaining Constructicons... and using Prowl, who has been under Bombshell's mind control all along, as a guinea pig. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

The new Devastator lays waste to Iacon, but is defeated by Ironhide, the Dinobots, and the Aerialbots, the latter group having accidentally combined into a new combiner named [[Superion (G1)|Superion]]. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} Wheeljack sacrifices himself to neutralize Megatron, while Superion helps defeat Devastator and return Prowl to his senses. Starscream kills Metalhawk to exploit the NAILs and uses the political leverage to declare himself as the sole ruler of the "[[Republic of Cybertron]]", casting both Autobots and Decepticons out into the wilderness. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}} Starscream recruits [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] as his second-in-command and finds a useful stooge in the religiously-inclined [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] {{storylink|Three Monologues}} after taking custody of the comatose Superion and secretly placing Wheeljack into stasis. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

A subsequent stopover on [[Hedonia]] {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} brings the ''Lost Light'' crew into contact with a group of [[Ammonite]]s, and a game of one-upmanship goes wrong when [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] annihilates [[Terradore]] commander [[Imperius Drax]]. With Drax's successor pushing the Terradores towards a dangerous conclusion, the Ammonites join forces with Shockwave. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Megatron's defeat pushes Shockwave into accelerating the development of his Regenesis program—having evolved into an ambitious plan to end the universe so Cybertron can live forever. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Not far away, Metroplex detects [[Ore-7]], and Shockwave dispatches his Ammonite army to reclaim the sample. The Ammonites prove incapable of bringing the Titan down, but ''are'' successful in incapacitating him with a sample of [[Ore-2]]. Having contracted an [[alchemical virus]] from exposure to the deadly ore, a grievously wounded Metroplex jettisons his thumb and the Ore-7 sample before splashing down beneath the oceans of [[Hydrophena]] to recuperate. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

Metroplex's thumb impacts the ''Lost Light'', leaving a reluctant [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] to fight off [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] and his crew of [[Titan Hunter]]s. {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}} Meanwhile, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] and a crew of Autobots cope with a leftover [[phobia shield]]. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

[[File:ThisCalamitousLife-legislatorfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|";"]]

When Rewind is grievously injured in a battle on [[Temptoria]], the possibility of losing his beloved sends Chromedome into a grief spiral that eventually sees him tapping Overlord's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Unfortunately, Chromedome accidentally allows Overlord to escape, and Rewind has to sacrifice himself to jettison the monster from the ship. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}} Not wanting to jeopardize a great destiny he has forseen for Rodimus, Drift volunteers to take the fall for the incident and is exiled from the ship. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} Overlord's drifting body is found and taken in by the [[Galactic Council]], who rebuild and recruit him into their service. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}}

Ultra Magnus is also fatally wounded in the battle, but his body disappears from the ship's Medibay. The crew track the Magnus Armor and discover lost moon of [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} where they discover Chief Justice Tyrest, who has gone rogue and constructed a [[universal killswitch]] designed to eliminate all Transformers who were constructed cold in an act of religious genocide, helped by mad doctor [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] and knight Templar [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. The crew discovers the secret of [[Minimus Ambus]] and eventually defeat Tyrest by using their half of the Matrix to overwrite the killswitch, sacrificing their map to Cyberutopia in the process. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} Tyrest escapes, managing to teleport himself to the other side of Luna 1, where he is found and repaired by the Grand Architect. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness}}

[[File:BurningBright-Windblade.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Windblade and the Brain One is a Titan, the other's a plane!'']]

Alpha Trion makes contact with Thunderclash and persuades him to send his Camien crew members to Hydrophena, where [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] uses her [[cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] talents to tend to Metroplex's many injuries. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}}

Believing that Shockwave's plans will involve the [[Enigma of Combination]], Alpha Trion correctly deduces it to be on Earth. He travels there to retrieve it, but his vessel is shot down by the [[Earth Defense Command]] and he is taken hostage to forward the development of the EDC's weaponry. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

With his pieces in place, Shockwave puts the final pieces of his plan into play. At the request of his old student, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] manipulates Orion Pax into awakening a Titan slumbering beneath [[Gorlam Prime]] and transports it to Cybertron, transforming it into a [[zombie|undead]] "[[Quintessa (IDW)|Necrotitan]]" that lays waste to Iacon by unleashing a "death plague" that brings the dead back to life, including Metalhawk. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:BlackPlanet-bigfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Good; then we will fight in the shade."]]

Shockwave creates a portal to the [[Dead Universe]] to summon Nova Prime and his ancient Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} Bumblebee makes an alliance with Soundwave to stop this, but their strike on Shockwave's base proves only partially successful, as Galvatron reemerges before they can close the gate. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}} Gorlam Prime collapses into a Dead Universe portal, and Orion and his crew are saved by the ''Lost Light''. Orion and Hardhead venture into the rift to stop Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} Though Hardhead perishes, Orion succeeds in rescuing both Nightbeat and Kup from the thrall of the Dead Universe. In the ensuing fight against Nova Prime, Prime finally kills his villainous predecessor and retakes the title of "Optimus Prime". {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

With the ''Lost Light'' on Jhiaxus's tail, the ship makes a detour to [[Hydrophena]], where they encounter Metroplex's body, {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} his Camien caretakers, {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} and an army of Ammonites. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The crew use their ship's engines to power up the Titan and return him to Cybertron. In the ravaged remains of Iacon, Bumblebee and Megatron form a strange alliance, {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} and the Decepticon leader uses his internal space bridge to teleport Metroplex's thumb back to its rightful owner, giving Metroplex the energy to kill the Necrotitan and counter the plague. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

Unfortunately, all of this plays right into Shockwave's metaphorical hands; having lured all of the elements in his final plan to Cybertron—and having eliminated Nova Prime's control over the Dead Universe—Shockwave begins his final endgame, using Jhiaxus's [[chronal drive]] and the power of all fourteen ores to collapse all of reality into a singularity that will feed Cybertron for all eternity. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|thumb|right|250px|WHAT.]]

Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron confront Shockwave beneath Crystal City {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} while Metalhawk sacrifices himself once again to destroy the Ammonite army. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Shockwave shoots Bumblebee {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} but the Autobot's sacrifice moves Megatron—having slowly realized the error of his ways—to announce that he is changing sides. Shockwave's incredulity breaks the shadowplay, and, horrified at what he has become, he allows Optimus Prime to put him down. Crystal City collapses into a singularity and drags Bumblebee's body with it. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Unbeknownst to anyone, however, Shockwave is not dead, instead having been sent [[#12 million BCE|twelve million years back in time]], to the dawn of Cybertronian civilisation. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Though the Transformers have saved reality, the events of the crisis have changed Cybertron forever. In the aftermath, Autobot Megatron allows himself to stand trial for his crimes against the species, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} while the three Camiens struggle to adjust to their new lives. With the Decepticons left betrayed and rudderless, a new warrior steps up to take command... [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}
{{-}}

===2014===
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cast in the name of Primus.]]
Megatron's trial in the [[Raskol Arena]] lasts for five months, and though Megatron initially pleads guilty, Starscream's blustering testimony convinces him to change his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} The ex-Decepticon escapes immediate sentencing on a technicality. Requesting to be judged by the Knights of Cybertron, he joins the crew of the ''Lost Light'' as co-captain alongside an annoyed Rodimus. Before leaving Cybertron, he announces that the Decepticon cause has failed and that all active Decepticons are to stand down. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}

[[File:DetonationBoulevard-galvatronandedc.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Awkward!'']]

Those Decepticons still loyal to the cause rally under Galvatron's new banner. Soundwave joins Galvatron's splinter group, announcing that they will follow the ''true'' Decepticon path and seek peace. Galvatron leads his new troops to [[Earth]], where they meet with [[Sparkplug Witwicky|General Witwicky]] and [[Marissa Faireborn|Director Faireborn]]. The neo-Decepticons convince the skeptical humans of their good intentions by telling them that Megatron has defected to the Autobots, though Galvatron openly chafes under the idea of working alongside humans. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} In exchange for aid against the Autobots, G.B. Blackrock sponsors the construction of [[Sanctuary Station]] in orbit around Jupiter, which will house the new Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

As the Autobots and their new allies settle in, Optimus Prime decides to lead a small crew of Autobots (and Prowl's Constructicon hangers-on) back to Earth aboard the ''[[Ark-7]]'' in search of Alpha Trion. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}

Metroplex transforms into his city mode and links up with the ruins of Iacon, providing housing, power, and infrastructure for any in need. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} In time, a "ghetto" of Decepticons springs up around his outskirts, while the Autobots and NAILs live inside the Titan. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} Though alive, Metroplex is barely functional, and over several months Windblade slowly nurses him back to health. {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} As Metroplex recovers, he begins searching for his Titan brethren, scattered throughout the galaxy. Eventually, he locates [[Navitas]] on [[Velocitron]], [[Chela]] on [[Eukaris]], the remains of the [[Devisiun (Titan)|dead Titan]] on [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} and [[Vigilem|Carcer]], disguised as Metroplex’s lost brother [[Tempo]]. {{storylink|Rubicon}} Though most of the colonies have survived their millennia of isolation unscathed, one world is not so lucky: [[Micronus Prime]]'s colony world of [[Mini-Con]]s is sterilized by the robophobic [[Black Block Consortia]]. The sole survivor, a young female named [[Nickel]], joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] when they happen on the planet days after the attack. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

[[File:ABotAndHerCity-metroplexsbrain.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Yes, Windblade and the Brain Their robotic campaign, is easy to explain'']]

[[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron is too dangerous for Windblade to stay, and engineers a public crisis that will allow her access to Metroplex's space bridge by surreptitiously bombing districts within Metroplex. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} Windblade investigates and repeatedly clashes with Starscream {{storylink|A Long Way Down}}, who has by this point established the [[Badgeless]] troopers as enforcers of his will. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} Windblade is horrified when she learns the truth, but strikes an uneasy deal with Starscream in the name of the greater good: in exchange for keeping Chromia's crimes hidden, Windblade will allow Starscream to contact the ''other'' lost colony worlds, help her impoverished home and rebuild the Cybertronian empire with himself at the helm. Though her friend walks free, Windblade is left conflicted by her friend's duplicity and her own moral compromise. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}}

[[File:Full Fathom Five Alpha Trion.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Old Primes never die, they just get to be lab rats.]]

Entering Earth's orbit, the ''[[Ark-7]]'' runs up against post-invasion humanity, who deploy sophisticated orbital defense systems derived from Cybertronian technology against them. Sneaking to Earth aboard Sky Lynx, Optimus, Kup, and Jazz encounter [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]], who has gone native on Earth and turned his love of television into a career as an aspiring screenwriter. Thundercracker and his new pet [[Buster (IDW)|Buster]] are bait, however, and the Earth Defence Command arrives to arrest the Autobots. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} The Autobots flee to the town of [[Poverty Flat]], where Prowl and the Constructicons deploy Devastator against their foes. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} The Autobots escape custody and return to their ship, where they trace the development of the "[[mind bomb]]" to an EDC base on [[Marshall Islands|Bikini Atoll]]. The Autobots manage to infiltrate the facility, where they discover and free Alpha Trion. In the conflict, Galvatron kills General Witwicky. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

Trion explains the sordid history behind the Enigma of Combination, prompting the Autobots under Prowl's command to search for it {{storylink|The Crucible}} while Optimus returns to Cybertron. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches|Signals, Calls, and Marches}}
A globetrotting chase across the world ensues as Prowl's Autobots race Galvatron's Decepticons to find the artifact before the Decepticon leader can destroy it. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|Vs.}} {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} As they close on the Enigma, Prowl and his Constructicons form an unlikely alliance with Spike Witwicky to infiltrate Blackrock's Onyx facility in [[China]]. Devastator's hatred of Spike jeopardizes the mission and causes him to lose control of the Enigma to the Decepticons… who in turn, lose it to Starscream's double-agent Scoop, who has been working within the Decepticons as a mole. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} {{storylink|The Onyx Interface Conclusion: The Obliterati|The Obliterati}}

[[File:TheRoadNotTaken-ChromedomeRewind.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''[Feels intensify]'']]

In deep space, Megatron continues to grapple with his legacy while dealing with the less-than-accepting crew of the ''Lost Light'', including his old nemesis [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} A freak transmission and a mysterious coffin causes the ''Lost Light'' and its crewmembers to start disappearing, a phenomenon caused by their approach to the quantum duplicate of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The ''Lost Light'' crew investigates the wreckage of the ship and discovers the "other" Rewind, who is reunited with his beloved Chromedome. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} {{storylink|Slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} Immediately afterwards, Brainstorm, who has been perfecting the development of a portable [[time case]], takes the ''Lost Light'' crew out of commission and escapes backwards through history with the intention of talking Megatron out of starting the war and saving [[Quark]] from his eventual fate. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} A team of Autobots chase Brainstorm across time to prevent a [[Functionist Universe|alternate timeline]] from overwriting reality entirely and succeed in preventing the increasingly desperate scientist from killing Megatron at the moment of his creation—but not without creating some critically important time loops along the way. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

[[File:ThePermanentRevolution-goingtowar.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Good god, y'all.]]

Ratchet decides, after some soul-searching, to leave the ''Lost Light'' and go off in search of his friend [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} He tracks the wayward Autobot to the outer rim of the [[galaxy]], and joins Drift in confronting his old commander [[Megatron (RID)|Gigatron]] and [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]] over an [[Stone Army|army of ancient automatons]]. Ratchet agrees to help Drift, but only if he promises to return to the ''Lost Light'' at the conclusion of their adventure. {{storylink|The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|Drift: Empire of Stone}}

Learning of Megatron's defection from a postwar edition of his [[Towards Peace|manifesto]], Tarn briefly despairs, but his grief hardens into a resolve to kill Megatron, whom he considers a traitor. He joins forces with [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s troops in preparation for all-out war against Megatron. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

With Windblade's repairs on Metroplex nearing completion, Optimus arrives on Cybertron and helps bring Autobot serial killer [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], who has been exerting vengeance on war criminals who went unpunished, to justice. {{storylink|The Transformers: Punishment|Punishment}}
{{-}}

===2015===
[[File:TheSumAndItsParts-OptimusMatrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Starring: Space Jesus, Space Peter, and Space Judas.]]
Starscream resuscitates Wheeljack to help repair Superion with the help of the Enigma and aid Windblade on Metroplex's space bridge. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}} Having established a stable link between the two worlds, Cybertron prepares to make official "first contact"with Caminus after millions of years of mutual isolation. Starscream uses both Menasor and Superion to stage a combiner attack on the planet to win them over, but discovers that the Camiens, like most colonists, consider Optimus Prime to be a divine being, and immediately fall behind him on learning of his existence. {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} Caminus's leader, the [[Mistress of Flame]], comes to believes that Optimus is the "Arisen", the legendary Thirteenth Prime, a belief not held by Pyra Magna or her Torchbearers. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}}

[[File:Optimusmaximus.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"You have failed. We will find another way."]]

Windblade and Optimus collaborate to undermine Starscream's imperialism from within, and manipulate him into announcing the formation of the "[[Council of Worlds]]", a democratic parliament where Cybertron and its colonies will all have an equal voice. {{storylink|The Possible Light}} Infuriated by news of Starscream's scheme, Prowl and the Constructicons arrive on Cybertron to forcibly cut the planet off from the rest of the galaxy, but Starscream stops them by creating [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] from the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], a group of ''Lost Light'' delegates. {{storylink|Mistakes and Mayhem}} Starscream takes custody of Devastator and rebuilds him to incorporate Scoop, forcing the combiner into obeying him. Rattrap, who is secretly a double agent working for Prowl, releases Prowl from prison and gives him the Enigma. {{storylink|You, Me, and the Universe}}

When Devastator and Menasor go berserk, Prowl uses the Enigma on himself, Prime, and several other Autobots to create [[Optimus Maximus (G1)|Optimus Maximus]], who battles Devastator in a fight that spans across the lost colonies. Swindle leads a riot at Metroplex's space bridge; he is shot and presumed dead,{{storylink|All That Remains}} but Rattrap and Wheeljack secretly hide the brain-damaged Cybertronian, knowing that he has incriminating information on Starscream. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} The rogue combiners are defeated, paving the way for the creation of the Council of Worlds. Across the other colonies, the inhabitants are alerted to the fact that Cybertron still exists, and prepare for their own first contacts with their ancestral homeworld. {{storylink|All That Remains}} Optimus visits Prowl to try and reconcile, but the increasingly unstable tactician rejects his attempts. Their disagreement escalates into a full-on fistfight, and Rattrap has no choice but to spirit Prowl's broken body to safety. On Earth, Galvatron and Arcee arrange a clandestine meeting, where Galvatron reveals the otherworldly source behind [[G.B. Blackrock]]'s Onyx operating code. {{storylink|Now and On Earth}}

[[File:TheWillOfTheFew-councilofworlds.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bots of the Square Table.]]

Arcee travels to Cybertron and steals the Enigma, hoping to ensure that nobody else can be changed against their will. Windblade and Chromia track her to the [[Rust Sea]], where they encounter Pyra Magna's group of Torchbearers. An accident leads to the creation of [[Victorion]], the first Camien combiner. The Enigma is returned to its proper place, with Starscream none the wiser, while the Torchbearers opt to remain in the Rust Sea. {{storylink|An Uneventful Night}} Starscream and Windblade race each other to try and recruit more colonies into the Council of Worlds; after some adventuring, they succeed in convincing the citizens of [[Velocitron]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Eukaris]], and "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]" to join. {{storylink|The Will of the Few}}

In space, a visit to the Vis Vitalis for Thunderclash's "pre-wake" sees the legendary Autobot, and the Camien medic [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]], join the Lost Light's crew after they save the other ship from an infestation of "[[personality tick]]s". {{storylink|The Frail Gaze}} A series of whimsical events leads to the ''Lost Light'' crew braving the holographic "[[Swearth]]" in search of Swerve {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}}, which, in turn, leads them to the [[Necroworld]], where they meet [[Mortilus|Censere]]. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} A discussion regarding the Necrobot's passivity inspires Censere to use one of Brainstorm's discarded [[time case]]s to start travelling back in time and rescuing the "Disappeared" before they can vanish from history, storing them in stasis pods before they can overcome their timesickness. Among those brought to the present are [[Anode]] and [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]]. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Come into my Noisemaze, said the spider to the bot.]]

At some point after this, Prowl is kidnapped by his old comrade [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]], who has escaped from the [[Noisemaze]] and recruited [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], a post-war terrorist group sporting experimental biomechanical [[beast mode]]s, to capture a terminally ill [[Verity Carlo]] and [[Stakeout (G1)|Stakeout]] for the Aequitas data they carry. Prowl's capture necessitates the return of the Wreckers, who assemble to rescue the disgraced strategist. Their mission takes them into the Noisemaze, where Prowl rejects Tarantulas's offer of an alliance. The Wreckers manage to free Prowl; Kup and Arcee finally sever ties with him and return to the ''Ark-7''. {{storylink|The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers|Sins of the Wreckers}}

Aboard the ''Lost Light'', crewmember [[Getaway]] decides that enough is enough and makes a move to incriminate Megatron by grooming Tailgate into performing a suicide mission. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}} In case this fails, he also plans a large-scale mutiny, taking advantage of the crew's resentment of Megatron's presence and Rodimus's increasingly erratic leadership; Getaway also convinces them that the captains plan to have him locked up on trumped-up charges, which results in the crew having doubts when he is imprisoned for his attempt to manipulate Tailgate into his death. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} A subsequent encounter with [[Froid]] and [[Sunder (G1)|Sunder]] results in a super-powered Tailgate, while Megatron decides to permanently lay down arms in the name of pacifism. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}
{{-}}

===2016===
[[File:AHO-earthannexed.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Got tired of whining A grander scheme with silver lining For every boy and girl'']]
The formation of the Council of Worlds brings great changes to Cybertron; Transformers from all five colonies start immigrating to Iacon, and the mix of cultures and traditions bolsters the rebuilding city. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Choose Me}} This new optimism has little effect on the increasingly frazzled Starscream, who starts experiencing recurring hallucinations of Bumblebee—who, unbeknownst to anyone, still lives within the Crystal City singularity. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Unsure of his place in this rapidly changing society, Optimus Prime finds a sympathetic ear in [[Aileron]], a young Camien who persuades him to seek out the Torchbearers. They do so, and Pyra Magna vows to build the agnostic Optimus into a worthy Prime. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} At the same time, Galvatron begins recruiting new Decepticons on Cybertron, intending to restart the war on Earth via the space bridge network. {{storylink|The Transgressors}}

The Dinobots accept a secret mission from Camien-turned-Decepticon sympathizer [[Swift (G1)|Swift]]: transporting a payload of Sparks into the Cybertronian wilderness. They contend with [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s latest wave of experiments and succeed in reigniting [[Alyon]]'s old hot spot, gaining [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] as the newest member of their team. {{storylink|The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption}}

[[File:RageRage-Megatronappears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The old man's back again.]]

The faith the colonists place in Optimus pushes him into making ever more reckless decisions, and when Galvatron launches a unilateral attack on Earth, Optimus responds by using his authority to annex Earth into the Council of Worlds, permanently placing it under Cybertronian protection {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} His actions throw both worlds into chaos; on Earth, the Earth Defense Command forms an alliance with the [[People's Liberation Army Mecha Force]] to prepare for total war against the Cybertronians, while on Cybertron, Starscream galvanizes the Council against Prime's actions. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}} Blackrock, his status as a mechanical imposter fully revealed, forges an alliance of convenience with Galvatron's Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 4: It's Beginning To And Back Again|It's Beginning To And Back Again}} Seeking a new advantage, Optimus travels to Sanctuary Station and blackmails Soundwave's Decepticons into joining him and taking down Galvatron. The Autobots battle the Decepticons underwater, where Galvatron uses the powers of the Enigma against his foes before Superion sacrifices himself by de-combining for good to neutralize Blackrock's Enigma code. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}}

On Earth, events come to a head in [[Monument Valley]], where Optimus, at Alpha Trion's urging, uses his control over Titans to summon Metrotitan. Optimus summoning a holy Titan convinces the colonists that Prime is, indeed, the Thirteenth Prime, and that Earth is a lost colony of Cybertron, which swings public opinion back his way. Prime, Arcee, and Soundwave subsequently pursue Galvatron to [[Jupiter]], where Prime finally kills the ancient warrior. Hoping to repair relations with humankind, Optimus orders Metrotitan to transform and dubs the Titan "[[Autobot City (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Autobot City]]", an embassy for Cybertronians on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

In space, the mutinous crew of the ''Lost Light'' make their move against Rodimus and his crew by luring them to the [[Necroworld]] under the guise of a psychic attack and stranding them there. What they ''don't'' know is that Getaway has made a deal with the [[Galactic Council]] to hand over Megatron—and even he is unaware that the Decepticon Justice Division has finally tracked down Megatron, and that the Decepticon forces have assembled to take out the traitor and his allies. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} The Galactic Council arrives and deploys their new asset Overlord against Megatron. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} With the help of the returned Ratchet and Drift—and through Skids's own self sacrifice—the crew manage to repel Deathsaurus's troops; Megatron renounces his pacifism and takes up arms once more to finally put down the DJD for good. In the aftermath, the crew discovers the fate of the time-hopping "Disappeared". Megatron is finally reunited with his old friend [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]... moments before a GC [[geobomb]] detonates inside the planet. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

On the Lost Light, the crew are shocked to learn both about Getaway's deal with the council and that he used his nudge gun to erase the memories of those who would not agree to the coup. Getaway pacifies them by lying that the council promised not to harm anyone but Megatron, but his subsequent efforts to alter the terms of the deal ends in failure. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

[[File:ModesOfProduction-tractorbeam.jpg|thumb|left|300px|They're heeeere!]]

The detonation of the geobomb shunts the entire Necroworld into an [[Functionist Universe|alternate reality]] created by Brainstorm's time-travel misadventures. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising|Bad Moon Rising}} Rodimus and a small crew of Autobots attempt to teleport back to Cybertron, only to find themselves on the wrong Cybertron! {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} The [[Functionism|Functionist]] Cybertron stands on the brink of extermination, and the arrival of the Autobots threatens to push the uneasy peace completely over the brink. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} The [[Functionist Council]] eventually deploy their [[Moonbase Two|ultimate weapon]] against Cybertron, and Megatron steps up to lead the counterattack and rallies the [[Anti-Vocationist League]]. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} Most of the Autobots return to their home universe, but Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron joins the League and begins again, this time basing his revolution on "peace through empathy". On Necroworld, Anode—having been hallucinating Lug still being alive thanks to her timesickness—manages to resurrect her using the widowed metal "snowflake" and traces of Lug's spark energy in Necroworld's flowers. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

On the "real" Cybertron, Windblade and the other Council members continue to keep the peace {{storylink|07:00:00}} while Starscream hires exiled [[Eukaris|Eukarian]] [[Fateweaver]] [[Airachnid (G1)|Airachnid]] to search for Swindle's body in the hopes of permanently silencing the loose end. {{storylink|The Price of You}} {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Increasing tensions between the [[Badgeless]] and the civilians prompt [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to step up and reform Cybertronian security. {{storylink|Applicable Skills}} Chromia and Windblade continue to search for Swindle's body as Airachnid surreptitiously racks up a mnemosurgical murder spree, while [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] joins the Badgeless to bring down their organization from within. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Their inquiry ends when Rattrap and Wheeljack reveal the location of Swindle's body. The Combaticons use the Enigma to probe Swindle's mind and merge into [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], who attacks Iacon. Ironhide's new recruits bring down the combiner, but in the aftermath Chromia confesses to her old crimes and is sent to jail. {{storylink|The Line Between Us}}

Prompted by Getaway, Perceptor manages to find "the [[Warren]]", a series of quantum tunnels that the Lost Light crew can use to reach Cyberutopia, but this "victory" is stymied by the Lost Light finally receiving the "last will and testament" of the crew, broadcast from Necroworld, which reveals their apparent imminent deaths at the hands of the Decepticon Justice Division. Despite Getaway's flustered insistence that the transmission is a fake, the crew is horrified and wants to go back for them, leading Getaway to use his nudge gun to memory-wipe Thunderclash and Riptide, though—unbeknownst to him—it fails on the latter. Getaway has Froid and Sunder released from the ship's brig so that Sunder can use his remote mnemosurgery abilities to trap Thunderclash in a memory loop and make the crew forget the transmission; though Getaway initially balks at Sunder's demand for twenty-five [[life cord]]s to feast on in exchange, he quickly comes around. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

The [[President of the United States]], furious at the EDC's recent failures, dissolves the organization in favor of [[Joe Colton (Dire Wraith)|Joe Colton]], leading a revitalized team of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] veterans. {{storylink|White Light}} What she doesn't know is that Joe Colton and several G.I. Joe troopers have been replaced by [[Dire Wraith]]s. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The real Colton, having survived the Dire Wraith attack, takes on the identity of Baron Ironblood and joins up with Garrison Kreiger, intending to solve the Cybertronian problem by other means. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[File:WhiteLight-bodyjackinginfinitus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"SHUT UP, DAMMIT!"]]

Metrotitan broadcasts a message to the galaxy at large... a message that reaches Cybertron and awakens [[Infinitus]] from his long slumber beneath [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Disgusted at what Cybertron has become, "Sentinel Prime" returns to life and rampages through Iacon before bridging to Earth. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}} There, he captures G.B. Blackrock and forcibly awakens his "Sovereign" persona {{storylink|White Light}} before leaving for Prion with Soundwave and Optimus. Claiming to be the herald of Onyx Prime's return, Sentinel attempts and fails to convince Optimus to stand with him. {{storylink|White Light}} Subsequently, Infinitus and Sovereign travel to [[Moonbase One|Luna One]], where Infinitus uses his powers to reactivate the Titan graveyard and send them to "cleanse" Cybertron. Infinitus perishes and Fortress Maximus, Red Alert, and Prowl manage to send his fleet of Titans off-course so that it will take months for them to reach Cybertron. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

On Necroworld, the stranded ''Lost Light''ers prepare to attempt re-contact with Cybertron using a [[Skip|convenient alt-mode]] they found amongst the dead Decepticons. Tailgate accepts treatment for his [[Outlier|hyperactive spark]], but a vengeful [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]] buries him for another six million years {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|After Megatron}} before taking control of Necroworld with his fellow Decepticon Disappeared, until Fortress Maximus and his team arrive in response to Team Rodimus's "last will and testament". {{storylink|Sardines}}

The "Rod Squad"'s first stop is [[Troja Major]], where they seek to obtain a new map to Cyberutopia from [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]'s contact [[Agonizer]]; however, Nautica has an ulterior motive for travelling to the planet, seeking to use the [[Carthasian]] [[Mengel]]'s Resus Cradle to resurrect Skids from his brain module. Meanwhile, Anode and Lug meet up with her old co-worker [[Wipe-Out]], but soon find themselves under attack from both the Black Block Consortia and the forces of the [[Adaptus|Grand Architect]], led by [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]. {{storylink|An Axe to Break the Ice}} Anode, Lug and Wipe-Out escape, and Flame's troops instead pursue their more important target—a newborn Transformer known as the "[[Infinite]]", capable of turning into anything—to Mengel's lab. Nautica manages to break out of Mengel's siphon and escape from the Grand Architect's men before losing her friendship with Velocity, which Mengel had demanded as payment for Skids's resurrection, but loses her emotional connection to her memories of Skids in the process. Flame and his men recover the Resus Cradle, which is actually the Magnificence, and deliver it to Scorponok. {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}} The Grand Architect moves his plans into their final phase, using the Black Block Consortia, which he has infiltrated and taken over, to clear the Benzene cluster of life so that he can use its threadbare space to banish the threat he had seen so long before. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}}

Around three weeks into Skip's journey, tensions start to flare during a prank war between the bored Swerve and Anode; things come to a head when the crew recieve news from Fortress Maximus on Necroworld that Tailgate has apparently spontaneously combusted, leading a grief-stricken Cyclonus to inadvertently wound Rewind with his Great Sword. As fighting breaks out aboard the ship, Skip's [[Size changing|mass-shifting]] begins wearing off, causing the dead Decepticon to shrink, threatening to crush the crew. {{storylink|Sardines}} Ten, having apparently gained the ability to speak—in reality, the Omega Guardians manipulating the crew by speaking through him—attempts to rally the other Autobots to save the de-materializing Ratchet by plotting a course through the Warren to Mederi.<ref name="LLTimeline">The Lost Light timeline relative to the rest of the universe takes... a lot of {{w|No-Prize|No-Prizing}} to figure out. Despite [https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1062091397271089152 ''Crucible'' taking place simultaneously to ''Unicron''], the characters indicate that from their perspective it was only four weeks between ''Dissolution'' and ''Crucible'', rather than ''two years''. This can be fixed by assuming that the characters' various trips through the Warren took them through time as well as space... but we're also going to assume that Scorponok's transmat portal had similar time-bending consequences, as otherwise, timeline crossover means we'd have to conclude that it took years for Mirage and the Protectobots to catch up with the ''Lost Light''. James Roberts encourages us not to try and do the mathematics.</ref> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

[[File:TheNewColossus-thisendsnow.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Behold the power of brand synergy*! (* [[Synergy]] not included.)]]

Several months pass, and humanity and Cybertronians uneasily coexist on Earth in spite of the Autobot's continued humanitarian efforts. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} All this changes when extradimensional warlord [[Baron Karza]], hailing from [[Micronus Prime]]'s dying dimension of [[Microspace]], sets his sights on Earth's ample supplies of [[Ore-13]], which he can use to save his universe. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} He cuts a deal with the [[Dire Wraith]]s and [[Miles Mayhem]] and begins transporting supplies of the ore into his dimension, which has the side effect of destabilizing the ore on Earth and threatening the planet with nuclear annihilation. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} Believing the Cybertronians at fault, “Colton” seeks out Miles Mayhem, who gears up to deploy [[M.A.S.K.]] in the field by using his captive [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] as a source of scientific development. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

Colton deploys G.I. Joe in [[Portland]] against Jazz and Arcee; during the battle, [[Rom]] arrives and immediately kills the false Colton. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The Autobots pursue Rom while [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] relocates to Earth to deal with the malfunctioning Metrotitan, and a [[Cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] session catapults her into Microspace. {{storylink|Informed}} Thundercracker defends the President from a Dire Wraith incursion {{storylink|Thundercracker & Buster Save the World}} while [[Action Man]] leads a daring heist to rescue Kup from MASK captivity. {{storylink|The Modern World}} The heroic [[Micronaut]]s cut a deal with their nemesis Karza and travel to our dimension. {{storylink|The New Colossus}}

[[File:ValleyForge-MonsterKarza.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"''Enerchange''."]]
The Scavengers briefly stop by Earth, where they befriend washed-up G.I. Joe recruit [[MP3]] and Crankcase's [[CONS4EVA|online boyfriend]]—in reality a pacifistic Dire Wraith—as part of a mystical "[[Crossover]]". {{storylink|Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!}} Abandoned by Galvatron's Decepticons, Skywarp throws his lot in with the newest incarnation of G.I. Joe, a grudging alliance until the humans can repair the Seeker's onboard teleportation systems. {{storylink|D.T.A.}}

Miles Mayhem, M.A.S.K., and the Dire Wraiths launch an assault on Autobot City, which turns into a free-for-all when Baron Karza arrives. Only by teaming up do the heroes manage to force the villain back into Microspace and neutralize Earth's remaining stores of Ore-13. In the aftermath, Optimus Prime and his new allies realize that they will have to defend Earth together, as equals. {{storylink|Valley Forge}}

[[File:Desperate Times - Depth Of My Pettiness.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Nothing more need be said.]]

Windblade returns to Cybertron just in time for Sentinel Prime's fleet of [[zombie|undead]] titans to make planetfall on Cybertron. The Republic of Cybertron musters its defenses and prepares to fight back… {{storylink|Ping}} but their efforts aren't enough, and as a result Starscream orders his troops to storm [[Vigilem|Carcer]] against the wishes of its commander [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] and force the Titan to transform. {{storylink|Desperate Times}} Windblade joins the infiltration team, but is horrified when she learns she has awoken Vigilem after years of slumber. {{storylink|Desperate Measures (Till All Are One)|Desperate Measures}} Vigilem destroys the zombie Titans, but proves too much for Windblade to control. Metroplex releases Chromia to help her, and Elita One manages to kill the Titan… but not before Vigilem disgorges Liege Maximo, the Prime teleporting away to places unknown. {{storylink|Rubicon}}

Baron Karza, having built a new army after being sent back to Microspace, invades Earth to create a new home for his people; Enerchanging with Micronus Prime's body, Karza uses its power to defeat and capture Optimus Prime, Arcee and Jazz, while his forces neutralise M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 1|Wrath of Karza #1}} Though his armies almost manage to conquer the planet, he is stopped by the Micronauts, who release the Autobots from Karza's orbital prison to fight him. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 4|Wrath of Karza #4}} Karza is forced to team up with the Autobots when his wife, [[Shazraella]], starts using the power of the Entropy Cloud that has consumed Microspace, but they are unable to defeat her. Shazraella is eventually stopped when the Micronauts' leader, [[Oziron Rael]], ascends to become one of the Time Travelers and separates her from the source of her power; the Time Travelers arrange to have spacebridges created between Microspace and Earth, with Optimus pledging to help welcome any ambassadors of Microspace to the planet. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 5|Wrath of Karza #5}}
{{-}}

===2017===
[[File:ToWalkAmongTheChosen-NewAutobots.jpg|thumb|right|250px|They'll let anyone be 'chosen' these days.]]
Optimus Prime's adventures prove inspirational enough to recruit a whole new generation of idealistic Autobots, recruited from the colonies and religiously devoted to their leader. With his new recruits, Prime and the Autobots continue their mission of global peacekeeping while preparing Earth to join the Council. This uneasy status quo is thrown into doubt when the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s arrive on Earth, hoping to rebuild their world using Earth's supplies of Ore-13. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} A series of mutual misunderstandings caused by Prime's increasing ruthlessness escalate the crisis to the point of all-out war between the Transformers and Junkions, as Soundwave uses Megatron's ''original'' words to turn the Junkions' servant [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] against their masters, {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} but Optimus salvages the situation at the last moment by convincing his troops to lay down arms. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

The Junkions relocate to an abandoned EDC base to start the construction of "[[Little Cybertron]]", but [[Slide]], who has lost her brother [[Oiler]] in the hostilities, is unable to forgive the Junkions and finds herself being groomed by an increasingly ambitious Pyra Magna, who has grown tired of Prime's leadership, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} even as Optimus and Pyra tentatively bury their hatchet...for now. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Jazz, in an effort to increase understanding between humans and Cybertronians, agrees to an interview with [[Hector Ramirez]], but the interview is used as a trap by G.I. Joe, who seek to apprehend him for his killing of John Powell years before. Jazz escapes thanks to a tip-off from Optimus Prime. {{storylink|What It's Really Like}}

[[File:LostLight12 smite the abomination.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Who would win? a) A powerful gestalt being formed of six Autobots through mystical and ancient technology b) One sword-wielding boi]]
After months in space, the Protectobots and [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] finally catch up with the ''Lost Light'' where they are all, First Aid in particular, caught off guard by the change in command and the resulting changes aboard ship as well the myriad of suspicious activities and attitudes. At a private meeting, they are approached by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] who confesses the truth behind the mutiny against Rodimus and his role therein. Simultaneously however, Getaway and his loyalists corner them forcing the Protectobots into a running firefight to try and escape the ship only to be subdued and placed within a memory loop, {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 1): Full Circle|Full Circle}} while Riptide is forced into the ship's oil reservoir, which has been filled with [[scraplet]]s. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} To secure his control of the ship, Getaway contacts Star Saber, hiring him as an enforcer.

As the ''Lost Light'' makes multiple trips through the Warren, in order to deal with his co-conspirator [[Atomizer]]'s growing doubts, Getaway forces him to execute the comatose [[Rook (Generations)|Rook]] to prevent the Protectobots from forming Defensor; however, Riptide, who survived his dip in the oil reservoir, awakens the comatose Autobots to help them escape. The Protectobots retrieve the corpse of Ambulon from the ship's morgue to use as the combiner's leg, but even the combined might of Thunderclash, Mirage and Defensor is no match for Star Saber, who cuts them down where they stand. Thunderclash, Riptide and First Aid are able to escape the ship thanks to Atomizer turning on Getaway, but the captain murders Atomizer with his bare hands in response before the ship emerges from the Warren at its destination.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}}

During a misadventure on the planet [[Frayus]], the Scavengers are caught in a three-way fight between the Galactic Council, the Black Block Consortia, and Deathsaurus and Nickel's Decepticons. They are rescued by Agonizer, who uses a portal to bring them to Troja Major, with Nickel inadvertently being brought with them. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} Agonizer hires the Scavengers to retrieve the Magnificence from Flame on the planet [[Confluence]], but after they arrive they are captured by Flame's master Scorponok; {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} however, the group is able to escape after Nickel and Spinister manage to treat the symptoms of Grimlock's brain damage, restoring the Dinobot to his "old self". Discovering that Scorponok has created an organic baby called the [[Firstborn]], the first of a race of "organic Decepticons" containing Cybertronian sparks, the Scavengers take the baby and the Magnificence and flee; Grimlock takes the Firstborn and fights his way out, while the other Scavengers and the Magnificence are sent through Scorponok's transmat portal.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} Grimlock is picked up by First Aid and crew, who drop the Firstborn off at Troja Major and repair Thunderclash before setting off in search of the Lost Light on a ship chartered from [[Wipe-Out]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 1): A Dance Before Dying|A Dance Before Dying}}
[[File:Salvation - Trypticon.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, he pulls the spitting high-tension wires down.]]
On Cybertron, Starscream—increasingly "haunted" by the "ghost" of Bumblebee {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}—picks up the pieces from the leftover Titan crisis; as part of a deal between himself and the Mistress of Flame, he releases Chromia into the Mistress's custody so that she can hunt down and kill Liege Maximo. {{storylink|Heavy}} He subsequently has Airachnid alter the memories of the Combaticons and turn them into loyal bodyguards for his own purposes. {{storylink|The Price of You}} Meanwhile Bludgeon reawakens Trypticon, intending to lay waste to the galaxy in the name of Cybertron; the Dinobots, Sandstorm, and Trypticon defeat him, sparks Bludgeon had harvested from the Alyon hotspot subsequently developing into a wave of newborn protoforms within the belly of the beastial Titan. Starscream takes Bludgeon into custody, and manages to revive Slug—who was killed by Sandstorm while hunting Bludgeon—using a corrupted Sweep spark. {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionMeetsTheAutobots.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Remember me, from two-thirds up the page? I still exist!]]

In the country of [[Schleteva]], G.B. Blackrock investigates the Talisman and provokes a crisis aboveground when his recklessness transforms civilians into Dire Wraiths. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} He, [[Action Man]], [[Ayana Jones]], and Kup team up to chase the Talisman across the globe and beyond in the hopes of returning Ayana's G.I. Joe comrades to normal, encountering a villainous alliance—the [[Iron Ring]]—of foes such as [[Joe Colton|Baron Ironblood]], the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]]s, {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} and [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]], the last of the living Maximal Autobots... even as the frozen corpse of Domitius Major is examined by the forces of Ironblood and [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]]. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} The Revolutionaries break into Kreiger's [[Project Ice Man]] compound and capture Kreiger while also reuniting with the time lost [[Sgt. Savage]]. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Before they can transfer the Talisman and Kreiger over to G.I. Joe however, Baron Ironblood attacks with Savage unmasking him as Joe Colton. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Blackrock proves able to use his connection to the Talisman and his Titan Master powers to heal the infected the mutates Verenyans via Metrotitan's Space Bridge, a wave that somehow releases the consciousness of the deceased [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] into the body of Centurion. Nonetheless, Colton's alliance proves able to escape with the Talisman with it sending another mutagenic wave that the new Centurion shields Action Man from before returning to life and explaining his recovery. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[Windblade's doctor]] informs Starscream of his discovery that Vigilem downloaded his mind into Windblade's before his death, and that it is slowly killing her. After some deliberation, Starscream has Airachnid connect his mind to Windblade's so that he can save her, despite the risk to his own life. {{storylink|If I Know You}} Entering Windblade's mind, he intervenes to stop Vigilem from killing her, but Vigilem begins to take control of Starscream's body. However, on looking into Starscream's memories, Windblade sees his creation through cold construction; in response, she "forges" Starscream's spark to create a projection of his"true form"—the form he would have taken had he been forged, rather constructed cold. With Starscream forcing Vigilem back into Windblade's mind, she destroys the Titan within her spark, allowing the two to awaken. {{storylink|Your First Mistake}}

With Sideswipe's health increasingly deteriorating, the Autobots humanely shut down his CR chamber. {{storylink|The Life of Sideswipe}} Soon afterwards, Alpha Trion recounts the origin of the Autobot symbol to Optimus Prime, Starscream and Pyra Magna before the President calls to announce that [[Marissa Faireborn]] has been chosen to represent Earth on the Council of Worlds. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

[[File:FirstStrike6-Merklynn.jpg|thumb|right|270px|"I turned myself into an alien wizard, Colton! Boom! Big reveal!"]]
At the official induction ceremony, Colton's alliance attacks {{storylink|First Strike issue 1|First Strike #1}} before heading into the depths of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] to deploy the Talisman, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} leaving behind their army of [[Iron Grenadier]]s, [[Dreadnok]]s and [[Red Shadows]], with [[Doctor Mindbender]] in the Baron Ironblood costume as a distraction. {{storylink|First Strike issue 3|First Strike #3}} During the attack, the mercenary [[Colditz]] and a trio of Red Shadows are sent to retrieve the Centurion/Mike Power hybrid, who apparently willingly rejoins his side, kidnapping Blackrock in the process. Arcee and the remaining "[[Revolutionaries (team)|Revolutionaries]]" head into the Cybertronian wilderness after them. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dawn}} Centurion actually intends to take revenge on Kreiger, but Colditz has actually been ordered to take him into the wilderness to ensure that he doesn't interfere with the villain's plans with his connection to the Talisman. The Revolutionaries manage to talk the overloading Centurion down, but he is left in [[stasis lock]] and unable to help them against the Iron Ring. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dusk}}

Meanwhile on Earth, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] and [[M.A.S.K.]] contact [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] to reach Cybertron and stop Colton, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} only to be thrown in jail under charges of suspicion by Starscream. Sunstreaker and Ironhide head underground to try and kill Colton but the human general manages to outmaneuver them and escape Metroplex. {{storylink|First Strike issue 4|First Strike #4}} Optimus Prime breaks the Joes out of prison, to Windblade's disappointment, and—along with Soundwave and a returning Arcee—head to the core of Cybertron, managing to beat the villains there. {{storylink|First Strike issue 5|First Strike #5}} Despite the intervention of Starscream, Elita One and Obsidian, who attempt to arrest or kill everyone present, Colton's alliance is prevented from reaching the core; however, Kreiger—actually the alien wizard Merklynn—activates the device where they are, using it to magically alter the whole planet's energon and transform a portion of Cybertron into [[New Prysmos|a replica]] of his lost homeworld [[Prysmos]], from which he intends to conquer the galaxy. A broken, defeated Colton and his allies are taken into custody on Cybertron. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|First Strike #6}}

In response to Merklynn's actions, Cybertron uses almost half its energy to beam a signal—"Welcome. Death."—into space, where it finds its target in the orbit of a black hole: [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|The Signal}}

[[File:OP13 prowl and the gang.jpg|thumb|left|150px|There's a war going on! And it's time that you knew Every lad in this land has his duty to do.]]
While G.I. Joe and the Cybertronians deal with Colton's attack, [[Aileron]] leads a team of colonists to search for the missing Jazz on Earth, eventually finding him under attack by humans in [[Oaxaca]]. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 1}} Though Jazz and the colonists succeed in tracking the Cybertronian weapons the humans were using to their source ([[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]], posing as humans via [[holomatter]] avatars), Jazz is angry and upset that Optimus Prime didn't attempt to find him or deal with the weapons, and heads off on his own once more. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 2}} Meanwhile, other villains take advantage of the absence of G.I. Joe and Autobot City's leadership, such as [[V.E.N.O.M.]] (now under the employ of Cobra) {{storylink|G.I. Joe: First Strike}} and the Dire Wraiths. {{istorylink|Micronauts: First Strike}}

Discovering from Centurion that protoforms once again exist on Cybertron, Optimus and his allies confront Starscream over his knowledge of the active hot spot. Starscream takes Prime to see the resurrected Slug, who agrees to help track down the Dinobots and the protoforms; however, when Optimus's team finds Centurion, the Dinobots and Sandstorm in the wilderness, Bludgeon uses his [[Void Scepter]] from afar to drive Slug into a murderous rage over his teammates working with his killer. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}} After Slug is calmed down, Trypticon, wishing to protect the protoforms, emerges from the ground to demand an end to the fighting; this prompts Optimus to declare Trypticon to be the Earth embassy on Cybertron, preventing him from having to turn the protoforms over to Starscream's government. Meanwhile, Prowl and his allies rescue the surviving Throttlebots on Regalis V from Onyx Prime's beast army in the ''[[Peaceful Revolution]]'', acting on intelligence provided by Pyra Magna. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 2 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}}

{{-}}

===2018===
Thundercracker's attempts to write a biopic of G.I. Joe agent [[Chuckles]] are interrupted by Starscream, who asks Thundercracker to make a film about his life. Thundercracker eagerly sets to the task, though he is stymied by the seemingly impossible task of portraying Starscream both positively and honestly. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:TheChosenOne-imsorry.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Spoiler: this didn't end well.]]
On returning to her seat on the Council of Worlds, Windblade is outraged to learn that the council have not yet told the public about Liege Maximo's escape, and informs the planet of the truth herself. Though she is expelled from the council, when Starscream calls free elections as demanded by Elita One, she agrees to run for office. Starscream, meanwhile, is haunted by his experience within Windblade's mind and the vision of what he could have been, and when the electoral debate comes, he confesses to his crimes in full for all to hear. Starscream, along with his co-conspirators Airachnid, Rattrap and the Combaticons, are all arrested, and Windblade goes on to win the election and be declared the "first delegate", the new ruler of Cybertron. {{storylink|The Chosen One}}

Thundercracker, on learning of Starscream's arrest, is not dissuaded from his filmmaking, seeing it as the perfect ending to the movie. Not wanting the fairly-accurate-but-kind-of-terrible film released, the imprisoned Starscream has a message sent to two Badgeless, who attempt to kill Thundercracker to prevent the film's release. Thundercracker manages to kill his two attackers, and returns to Earth... where he finds out that all interest in the film is dead in the water. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:OP17 Everything is Shockwave's fault.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|"IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, OPTIMUS! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT—HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER! EVEN [[Liege Maximo|MY FAMILY]]—EVEN [[The Fallen|MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY]] BOUGHT IT!"]]
Optimus Prime, Marissa Faireborn and the President of the United States inaugurate an Ore-13 mine in Kentucky, staffed by human, Cybertronian, and Junkion alike; the ore is refined into energon and shipped to Cybertron, compensating for Merklynn's magical tainting of their fuel supply. However, the arrival of the first shipment is overshadowed—quite literally—by the arrival of Onyx Prime's enormous eyeball-shaped ship [[Nemesis (BWII)|''Nemesis'']] in the skies above Iacon. Onyx Prime, with a chained Liege Maximo at his feet, demands to speak to Optimus Prime, who he calls "the Arisen". {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} While Soundwave attempts and fails to read the mind of Liege Maximo, arguing breaks out between Onyx, the Council of Worlds, and Optimus; things reach a head when Soundwave enters the council chambers, and is enraged to see Optimus defending Onyx. Just as Alpha Trion realises the truth of Onyx's identity, an explosion rips through the [[Spire]] and kills Trion, which Onyx blames on Soundwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}} Liege Maximo vanishes from captivity in the chaos, while Onyx stokes dissent and confusion by impugning Optimus's allies, revealing the truth that Soundwave killed Horri-Bull to the furious Decepticons.

With fighting breaking out in the city streets, Onyx boards his skiff to return to the ''Nemesis''; meanwhile, Devastator forms to forcibly "rescue" Starscream from prison, while Metrotitan travels from Earth to Cybertron and submits to the command of the "chosen one", firing on Onyx's vessel. As the situation gets further out of control, Metrotitan refuses to obey Optimus's orders to stand down and fires on him and Windblade, sending Optimus falling to the ground; Onyx catches him aboard the skiff and has the ''Nemesis'' return fire, knocking Metrotitan to the ground. After subduing the furious Optimus, Onyx tears his "face" off, revealing his true identity as Shockwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|The Ground}}

Explaining what happened to him and how he became "Onyx" to Optimus, Shockwave has the ''Nemesis'' take them to the Crystal City singularity and throws Optimus in so that he may share Shockwave's enlightenment. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} With the discovery of his "true self" and the prophecies surrounding him seemingly adding up into a chance to become the savior Cybertron needs, Starscream has Devastator carry him to the fallen Metrotitan, where for one moment he believes he really ''does'' have some grand destiny... only for Shockwave to show up and mock him with the revelation that the entire prophecy was the result of his manipulations to place a fool like Starscream on the throne of Cybertron, before murdering Metrotitan. Within the singularity, Optimus — now finding himself in [[infraspace]] once more — reunites with Bumblebee, whose ghostly form is dragged away from Starscream to meet with his old leader. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}}

[[File:Schismatic-KupDies.jpg|thumb|Or: How Not To Sell Fans On A Crossover.]]
With Shockwave's machinations having sowed chaos across Iacon, Scoop's religious faith drives him and the other Constructicons on as Devastator, taking on Victorion out of a sheer single-minded intent to prove that Starscream is a reincarnation of the treacherous [[The Fallen|Megatronus]]. In the meantime, Optimus devises a means of escaping from Infraspace, using the Matrix as a means of generating an escape back to the real world. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}} Ultimately, Arcee succeeds in killing Liege Maximo, Victorion triumphs over Devastator, and the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee come to inhabit Pyra Magna's body; Shockwave is taken prisoner, and Pyra is treated to disentangle the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee from her own. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

During Optimus's convalescence, Ironhide and Kup are sent to attempt diplomatic negotiations with the [[Prysmosian]] inhabitants of [[New Prysmos]]. While Wheeljack discovers that the Talisman is tunnelling towards Cybertron's core and threatening to finish what Merklynn started, a faction of Visionaries called the [[Darkling Lord]]s—covertly urged on by Merklynn—attempt to conquer Cybertron for themselves, their leader [[Virulina]] murdering Kup with magic. [[Leoric]] and his [[Spectral Knight]]s oppose Virulina's plan, and ally with Ironhide's team to stop them; though they succeed in preventing the Darkling Lords' conquest, a reaction between [[Galadria]]'s magics and Wheeljack's bomb rockets New Prysmos to the surface of Cybertron and surrounds it with a swathe of organic grass. Merklynn is imprisoned for his misdeeds, and is left dejected and fatalistic by his realisation that all he did was for naught, as his actions have summoned Unicron. {{storylink|Transformers vs. Visionaries}}

Learning of Kup's death, Springer and Verity Carlo attempt to meet up with Impactor, but are embroiled in Mayhem's anti-faction scheme in the process — which, in turn, causes Verity's kidnapping by Overlord, who has been working on Earth with Tarantulas on the [[Timemaze]], a gateway allowing access to other times and alternate timelines. Though Impactor sacrifices himself to save Springer and Verity, Overlord is dealt with by sending the two halves of his body into different time periods, and Tarantulas dies in the arms of his "son". Leaving a message to the surviving Wreckers and their allies asking that they make sure nobody has to do what the Wreckers did again, Springer departs into the Timemaze in the hope of changing history for the better by preventing the war. {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}}

The Lost Light's final Warren jump brings them to what they believe to be Cyberutopia; {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} however, the paradise world is actually [[Mederi]], an ancient medical facility designed to allow terminally ill patients to die happy through an telepathic "happy ending". {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Due to a lack of a cohesive idea of what Cyberutopia "should" be, however, the crew finds the planet empty; when they are subsequently attacked by the Grand Architect's fleet, Getaway strikes a deal, allowing Scorponok to transform the crew into sparkeaters in exchange for a position among the Grand Architect's followers. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} Scorponok's transmat portal also brings the Scavengers to Mederi, the illusion causing them to perceive the facility as Grimlock's cell in Garrus-9. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}
[[File:LL20 Rodimus saves Getaway.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|After the [[Contrivance Engine]], Brainstorm's next invention was an Incredibly On-The-Nose Symbolism Engine.]]
Skip's travel through the Warren to Mederi is interrupted when the mass-displacement fails and the Autobots are exposed to the [[compressed space]] outside, causing them to crash on the artificial moon; because of Cyclonus's desire to see Tailgate again, the facility presents itself to them as the [[Transformer afterlife|Afterspark]], complete with illusory versions of their dead friends to welcome them. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (1): Metastasis|Metastasis}}

However, the Mederi illusion is imperfect; Nautica's loss of her connection to Skids allows her to walk into the Scavengers (causing the illusion to fail when they see conflicting environments), while Ratchet's scepticism leads him, Rodimus, Drift and Ultra Magnus to the device controlling the illusion, which they destroy. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Realizing where they are, Rodimus's group figures out what happened, and Rodimus comes to the conclusion that Mederi ''is'' Cyberutopia, the dying Knights having been fooled by the illusion into believing that they had found a new, perfect Cybertron. Ultra Magnus manages to inform the crew of the truth in time to prevent all of them except for Nightbeat and Ten from being killed by "ascension", causing all of the "ghosts" to fade away — except Tailgate, who had been secretly teleported to Mederi from Necroworld by the Omega Guardians — but as soon as the three groups reunite with the intention of returning to Cybertron, they are set upon by the Sparkeater army transformed from the ''Lost Light'' crew. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

Joined by Grimlock, First Aid and their team, the combined group comes flees the Sparkeaters, only to be attacked by the ''Lost Light'' itself, under the command of the Grand Architect's forces; under Rodimus's direction, the majority of the crew barricades themselves in Mederi's Ward Zero to find a cure for the Sparkeaters, while he and a small team board the ''Lost Light'' aboard Wipe-Out's ship. Rodimus and Cyclonus confront Star Saber and Getaway, killing the former and preventing the latter from committing suicide by destroying the ship in a [[nucleon (fuel)|nucleon]] explosion; Getaway instead tries to stab Rodimus in the back, but is killed by the oil reservoir scraplets, under the control of the scraplet colony that Whirl had previously bonded with.
[[File:LL22 Functionist Primus.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Oooh, 'e's a big 'un!]]
Though the medics on the ground manage to cure the sparkeaters through "concussive medicine", as everything else is going on, a giant rift is formed in space, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} pulling Mederi and the ''Lost Light'' through to the Benzene Cluster, now home to the five false Cybertrons created by the Grand Architect. Rodimus persuades the Grand Architect to let his entire team come aboard the Architect's Worldsweeper, angering Scorponok, who has Sunder attempt to probe the Architect's mind; however, the Grand Architect is able to force Sunder out, and kills Scorponok in response. The God Gun is activated with the intent to form an interdimensional portal to banish the Architect's foreseen threat through, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} but in fact, the false Primus that the Architect had seen so long ago was the Cybertron of the Functionist Universe, transformed and controlled by the Functionist Council, which used the portal to enter the mainline universe — with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fleeing ahead of it.
[[File:LL24 Matrix Opening Pt2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Now, light our second-darkest hour!]]
Split up between the Worldsweeper and Megatron's ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the ''Lost Light''ers have both the Functionists' plan and the true history of the Guiding Hand revealed to each other; {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}} the latter prompts the enraged Solomus to kill Adaptus, though he is fatally wounded himself. The crews of the ''Lost Light'' and ''Last Light'' reunite on the former ship to plan a way to stop the Functionist Primus, currently laying waste to the replica Cybertrons; the Magnificence proposes having Rung create three Matrices as bombs to destroy the planet, but instead, the crew propose using ''twelve'' Matrices to destroy Vector Sigma and the Functionist Council while leaving the planet unharmed. The Magnificence, angered, reveals its "wisdom" to actually be the voices of the Omega Guardians, who want Primus destroyed to blow the Benzene rift open wide enough for them to return and "eat everything"... so Nickel smashes the Magnificence, stopping their plans short. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Rung uses his alternate mode to create twelve Matrix replicas, but the effort kills him in the process. To forcibly transform "Primus" back to planet mode, Fortress Maximus and Red Alert — on the instructions of a future Rodimus — pilot Luna 1 through the Warren, back in time and into the back of the robot's neck, forcing transformation and ensuring the crew can use the planet's hot spots to channel the Matrix energy. The crew land on the hot spots, but thanks to the [[morality lock]], are unable to open the Matrices until an encouraging speech from Rodimus gives them the self-belief they need to do so — though Megatron remains unable to do it, forcing Rodimus to open his Matrix instead. The released energy obliterates the Functionist Council for good before radiating back out, igniting the Luna 1 hot spot and giving life to a new generation of sparks; together, they form the shape of a message from Rung: "DON'T FORGET ME". {{storylink|Crucible (Part 6): A Spark Among Embers|A Spark Among Embers}} Tragically, within a matter of days, the crew give into information creep and lose all their memories of Rung. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
[[File:Unicron4 Unicron Arrives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Yes, ma'am, Earth is literally under siege by planet fragging Jupiter."]]
On Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are revived to help against Unicron, now in the process of consuming Cybertron's colony worlds. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} Though Prime and his allies are able to save much of the populations of Elonia {{storylink|Our Darkest}} and Caminus, they are unable to find a way to stop Unicron within the monster-planet, and are forced to retreat. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}} Starscream's plan, to have Bludgeon's "[[Decepticon Vengeance Division]]" trap Unicron in a [[stasis web]], proves a miscalculation; Bludgeon has changed loyalties to Unicron, and allows his fleet to be corrupted and transformed by the chaos-bringer. Meanwhile, Bumblebee seeks out Omega Supreme, who was part of the original invasion of Antilla, for answers; the comatose Omega Sentinel projects a vision of Unicron's origins into Bumblebee's mind before dying, just in time for Unicron to appear over Cybertron, transforming into a robot mode in the image of Cybertron's mythical Uncreator, gained from the integration of the Titan Nemesis and its transformation cog. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}
[[File:Unicron6 Spirits of the Dead.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Press F to pay respects.]]
The fleet rallies to defend Cybertron while its leaders debate what to do; Victorion attempts to break into Unicron's interior and kill the planet-eater from the inside, but is stopped by Monstructor, who — under Bludgeon's command — tears [[Stormclash]] in half and breaks the Torchbearer combiner apart. Starscream advocates having Metroplex space bridge to Earth so that a ''portion'' of the population can survive, but is convinced to allow Windblade to execute an alternative plan: {{storylink|Our Finest}} appealing to the Visionaries and their magic for help. Using the Talisman, the Visionaries use a wave of magic to teleport the Cybertronians and refugees to Earth, though only the sacrifice of Blurr and a suicide attack on Unicron by Elita One lets everyone get to safety. The Transformers and Elonians are teleported to Earth, moments before Unicron tears Cybertron in two and consumes it, {{storylink|Road's End}} while the Visionaries themselves are sent back in time to the earliest days of Prysmos. {{istorylink|A World and a Future}} Meanwhile, a confrontation between Slide's colonists and the Dinobots at Mount Rushmore ends in the death of Gimlet and G.I. Joe agent Mainframe. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}}

Shockwave — teleported to [[Toronto]] to begin his conquest — is horrified to realise Unicron has survived the destruction of Cybertron, and contacts Bludgeon to initiate his backup plan, unaware that his agent and the Maximal army have switched their loyalties from Shockwave to Unicron himself. Sanctuary Station is evacuated in light of the approaching Maximals, with a small number of its residents laying down their lives to buy time. {{storylink|Road's End}} Putting aside their history and enimities, all of Earth's heroes and villains join together to hold the attackers back, with Destro's M.A.S.S. device allowing Trypticon, Metroplex and a full army of Cybertronians to teleport into the midst of Bludgeon's fleet. {{storylink|Unicron issue 5|Unicron #5}} Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker carry Optimus Prime, Arcee and the Talisman down to Unicron's surface, but Skywarp and Thundercracker are waylaid by Maximals, preventing Skywarp from teleporting them into the planet-eater's interior; instead, Starscream chooses to give up his life to activate the Talisman, which burns its way down into Unicron. Optimus and Arcee follow it into the interior where it enters the black hole at Unicron's core, with Optimus jumping in after it.
[[File:Unicron6 The Last Hug.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The power of love might just save your life.]]
On Earth, Shockwave is betrayed by his follower [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], but is "rescued" by Prowl, who has Stardrive use her Dire Wraith powers to link with Shockwave's mind; in turn, Jetfire connects her to Soundwave, wielding the Enigma of Combination in conjunction with Superion and the Earth Enigma. Victorion, who uses the Enigma energies to combine with Slide as a replacement limb, kills Monstructor while the Dinobots sacrifice themselves to kill Bludgeon and destroy his Worldsweeper; but Soundwave's true intent is to unite the spirits of those who have fallen with Shockwave's memories and send them through to Optimus to give him the strength he needs, though Soundwave crumbles to dust as he uses its power. In Infraspace, Optimus encounters the spirit of Unicron's creator, whose rage and grief animates the superweapon; rather than fight him, however, Optimus owns up to the legacy of Cybertron and the Primes, and offers the Antillan peace and compassion instead. Remembering his daughter who was killed so long ago, the scientist allows the Talisman to consume Unicron; the giant collapses into its own singularity, which settles in as a second, dark sun for Earth.

{{anchor|QuantumJump}}
[[File:Unicron6 Peace At Last.jpg|thumb|left|And they all lived happily ever after.]]
In the aftermath, the survivors take stock. Arcee celebrates with her love on Earth's moon, while Thundercracker carries Skywarp back to Earth and reunites with Marissa Faireborn and Buster. Windblade and the President of the United States begin making plans for a future for Cybertronian and human alike; the surviving Dinobots are rescued from the ruins of the White House; and Pyra Magna takes up the mantle of the deceased Mistress of Flame, inviting the remorseful Slide to serve as one of her new Torchbearers. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Prowl makes contact with the ''Lost Light'' crew on "New Cybertron", where he insists that Megatron face trial once more, with the Galactic Council presiding in lieu of the long-dead Knights of Cybertron. In order to increase the planet's energon reserves and bring the new generation of sparks online, he also requisitions the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> quantum generators; Rodimus reluctantly agrees, on the condition that he and the crew are allowed one last trip aboard the ship before it's decommissioned. After a one-day "victory lap", the crew returns to Cybertron, but not before the scientists propose attempting to recreate the quantum accident that duplicated the ''Lost Light'' at the beginning of their quest, shunting the "duplicate" ship into another universe so that they can continue their quest on their own terms. With the agreement of the crew, they do so — and though the version of the crew that returns to Cybertron is unaware, they are successful in the attempt, their duplicates setting out on a new adventure.

The "main universe" Megatron is tried by the Galactic Council, and — despite Rodimus lying on his behalf by claiming that Megatron was able to open the Matrix — he is sentenced to either death or permanent solitary confinement. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}} The trial marks the start of a better working relationship between Cybertronians and the Council: Bumblebee is selected as the Transformers' ambassador, accompanied — unbeknownst to anyone but him — by the spirit of Starscream, who has traded roles with Bumblebee to become a "ghost" only he can see.

Life goes on. A funeral is held for Optimus Prime, with Windblade reflecting on his flaws and virtues alike, and opining that the most important thing about him was his willingness to challenge himself. Transformers, Elonians and humans alike help to rebuild on Earth. Pyra makes an effort to settle into her new role as a spiritual leader. Buzzsaw hunts down human poachers in Soundwave's name. Thundercracker's film, ''[[Last Laugh: The Life and Death of Chuckles]]'', is nominated for "Best Original Screenplay" at an awards show. Shockwave is imprisoned in ''Lemuria'', left immobile to reflect how his lack of faith led to his failure. Aileron and her colonist allies take to the stars to explore. And Arcee becomes a mentor and teacher to a new generation of three races on Earth, using the story of Optimus Prime and his life to inspire them to build a better future. {{storylink|Post}}
{{-}}
[[File:LL25 - Ratchet's funeral.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|"I was here at the start of it all, Miss Carlo. I'm not going to miss the end."]]

===Many years later===
Years pass. Minimus Ambus, having destroyed the Magnus Armor at Megatron's urging, helps with resettle the new "[[Lunarian]]" 'bots born from Luna-1, unaware that they all resemble Rung. Swerve's becomes a franchise, but eventually its owner is forced to close all but one location. Rewind's quest to learn all he can about the Functionist Universe causes him to contract [[Delta's Malady]] and becomes stuck as a mass-shifted data stick, though he and Chromedome continue to live happily together. Brainstorm, injured in a lab accident, adapts his briefcase as a mobile life support system. Whirl, directionless, ends up in and out of prison for various crimes. Rodimus signs onto the crew of Thunderclash's new ship, the ''[[Exitus]]''. Nautica writes a memoir of the crew's travels. Ratchet and Drift become conjunx endurae, and share many years together.

Eventually, Ratchet dies of age-related burnout; his components are sent to medical centers across the planet, and a funeral is held for him on the Rivets Field of the Functionist Cybertron. The crew reunites after many years, catching each other up on what has become of them. Cyclonus and Tailgate, concerned by what has become of Whirl, invite him to live with them when he is released; and, when Whirl is offered Ratchet's hands by Drift to replace his own lost ones, refuses, as he doesn't consider himself broken. Drift and Rodimus reflect on whether their attempt to duplicate the ship so long ago worked before going their separate ways, promising to keep in touch. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Alternate timelines==
===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage prime stabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Megatron's greatest mistake was in ever allowing you to ''live'', Prime!"]]
The [[Decepticon]] [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] tracks the ailing Autobots to the [[Pegasus Star Cluster]], where he briefly succeeds in taking Optimus Prime hostage before perishing. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}

{{note|The issue is vague on whether this sequence of events is merely a dream by the "real" Mirage or a supernatural glimpse into a true alternate timeline. [[Mistakes and Mayhem|A later issue]] would go on to explain Mirage’s hallucination as a side-effect from a long-running medical condition. However, in that same issue, he experiences several accurate premonitions of future events, which leaves the original question up in the air.}}
{{-}}

===Hail and Farwell===
====2008====
Two years after becoming a Headmaster, [[Hunter O'Nion]] continues to have adventures with his partner Sunstreaker, their minds permanently fusing into a new, singular entity. {{storylink|Hail and Farewell}}

{{note|"Hail and Farewell" was declared canonical when it was first published online. However, the subsequent truncation of author [[Simon Furman]]'s intended story arcs and the subsequent ''All Hail Megatron'' storyline, which among other things, saw Hunter horribly tortured and killed, means that this sequence of events is incompatible with the mainstream timeline.}}
{{-}}

===Pax Cybertronia===
====15 million CE====
[[File:PaxCybertronia-IronhideAndKids.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And stay off his lawn.]]
In a far-distant future, the Great War is over and the Decepticons have perished. An ancient [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]], the last surviving veteran of the Great War, tells war stories to a [[Autobot youth|new generation]] of Cybertronians on [[Gorlam Prime]] alongside [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}}

{{note|This sequence of events was later established to be a vision that both Ironhide and Jhiaxus experienced during the reformation of Cybertron following the events of the ''Chaos'' miniseries, calling into question if it was a definite glimpse of the future or merely a vision of what might be. The apparent destruction of Gorlam Prime in the main timeline suggests that this particular future may not ever come to pass.}}
{{-}}

===Functionist timeline===
{{main|Functionist Universe}}
====5 million BCE====
[[File:AWorldMisplaced-TheTakeover.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause."]]
Megatron perishes on the date of his cold construction. Without Megatron's writings to upheave Cybertronian society, the Senate grows increasingly controlling, and eventually clashes with the Functionist Council regarding the use of Nova Prime's spark stockpiles. When the Senate seals [[Vector Sigma]] behind a wall of impenetrable [[ununtrium]], the Council overthrows the Senate, kills Nominus Prime, and institutes hardline Functionism across Cybertron, {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} periodically altering the [[Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy]] to declare "[[mass recall]]s" of "obsolete" Transformers. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2014====
Following the dissolution of the [[Primal Vanguard]], Minimus Ambus returns to Cybertron to find [[Dominus Ambus|his brother]] an [[empurata]] victim. Rewind dies in a mass recall. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2016====
[[File:ThisMachineKillsFascists-GiantRung.jpg|thumb|left|Rung digs giant robots.]]
A [[geobomb]] accident sends the crew of the ''Lost Light'' to Functionist Cybertron. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} They battle the forces of the Council with the [[Anti-Vocationist League]] in their quest to return home, as the Council deploys [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]] to "harvest" Cybertronians for reforging into [[M.T.O.|crusaders]] to cleanse the universe of everything not having a role in the eyes of Primus. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} The crew manages to return to the main timeline victorious, but the Functionist Universe Rung is killed and Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron takes command of the League and prepares to start his revolution anew, as it always ''should'' have been. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

Despite the loss of Luna 2, the Council continues their plans, instead turning Cybertron itself into their weapon of genocide, augmenting it with a robot mode in the image of Primus after Megatron thwarts their plans one time too many. Over centuries, the Council — now merged with Vector Sigma — carry out their campaign of "sterilization", with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fighting them at every turn. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

====2833====
After centuries, the Council pursue the ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the AVL's ship, through a rift in space; this brings them to the present-day Benzene of Megatron's native universe, which [[Twelve-of-Twelve]] declares to be a gift from Primus in the form of a new universe to purify. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}
{{-}}

===Quantum jump universe===
[[File:LL25 It Never Ends.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And to all, a good night.]]
====2018====
Having pulled the "magic trick" of [[#QuantumJump|duplicating themselves into another universe]], the ''Lost Light'' crew finds themselves in completely uncharted space, further than they've ever been. Jubilant, the crew sets out to chart the new universe, an adventure that could well take forever. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Chronologies]]
[[Category:Generation 1 history]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1| ]]

2005 IDW timeline

2018-12-05T02:57:21Z

Prowl245: /* 7 million BCE */

{{featured}}
[[File:ChaosTheory1 montage.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Let's see how far we've come.]]

Beginning as a simple reimagining of the traditional [[Generation 1 continuity family]] under the pen of [[Simon Furman]], the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]] has evolved over the course of thirteen years into the single longest-running continuity in the history of the brand, spanning numerous ongoings, miniseries, and one-shots. Almost every work ties into the overarcing '''timeline''', telling a single unified story that starts at the dawn of time, moves through to the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] and eventually into a new era of post-war reconstruction. Naturally, such a long-running work of fiction is bound to contain occasional storytelling and artistic inconsistencies, though [[John Barber|certain writers]] have actively sought to correct these mistakes over the course of their careers.

In 2016, [[IDW Publishing]] announced the formation of the [[Hasbro Universe]], a shared comic continuity retroactively encompassing the Transformers, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]], other Hasbro properties such as [[Rom|Rom the Space Knight]], and, in a stranger development, the events of the largely forgotten ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' miniseries. This chronology focuses largely on the adventures of the Transformers as they relate to the timeframe of the larger Hasbro Universe, with characters from other properties only dealt with in passing.

{{quote|The story never ends, Ironhide. It just changes into something else.|[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], having a nice [[Furmanism]]|[[Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia]]}}

==1,000,000+ years ago==
===5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] is formed around this time; later religions will hold that the creation of the planet was divinely ordained by the Transformer god [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===4.5 billion BCE===
The planet [[Earth]] forms. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===16 million BCE===
The [[Stentarian]] civil war begins, pitting the heroic [[Terradore]]s against the villainous [[Ammonite]]s. {{storylink|Little Victories}} Their war precipitates the disastrous [[Shattering]], necessitating the creation of the [[Galactic Council]] to stabilize the galaxy and govern the planets who join its ranks. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

===12 million BCE===
[[File:GodWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Name Brand vs. great value.]]

According to legend, the very first Cybertronian, in the land that will one day become [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], realizes that he can [[Transformation|transform]]. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} This first Transformer is Primus; though later religions will remember him as an omnipotent warrior-god, the "true" Primus is a humble robot much like any other, distinguished solely by his ability to generate the [[photonic crystal]]s capable of storing [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} At some point after his creation, he is joined by four others like him: [[Mortilus]], [[Adaptus]], [[Solomus]], and [[Epistemus]]. The five are present for the first activation of Cybertron's twelve [[hot spot]]s, which birth the first true generation of Transformers. The five become known as the "[[Guiding Hand]]." Primus is able to use his alternate mode to compress multiple photonic crystals together, creating the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:TheUnremembering-informationcreep.jpg|thumb|right|300px|When Moons Attack.]]

The creation and subsequent proliferation of the Transformer race leads to the planet's first golden age. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} Primus supposedly delivers the [[Prime Pastoral]] at the future site of [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} The peace lasts until the ambitious Adaptus—worried that their perfect society will only lead to stagnation—encourages Cybertron to wage war against the rest of the galaxy, to encourage growth; when the other four members of the pantheon refuse, the conflict leads to the "[[God War]]," pitting the four allies against their treacherous brother. Epistemus is killed in the conflict, and Adaptus—routed but not defeated—flees to [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], where he blasts the planet with an [[electromagnetic pulse]] designed to erase the memories of Cybertron's inhabitants and leave them disoriented while he makes his escape. Primus attempts to ''absorb'' this same blast, but is only partially successful; he and the other surviving members of the Guiding Hand forget their true identities, with Primus being rendered "compulsively forgettable", and the fallout gives rise to the neurological condition known as "[[information creep]]." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Adaptus escapes Cybertron by installing thrusters on Luna-1 and leaving the planet through the [[Warren]]. In the meantime, the Cybertronian race, left with only hazy memories of their origins, create new myths based on half-remembered truths; in these stories, ''Mortilus,'' supposedly the "god of death," is cast as the treacherous member of the Guiding Hand, whose "death" at the hands of "Primus" rendered the Cybertronian race immortal while giving rise to the Matrix, the [[brain module]] and [[transformation cog]], and [[Vector Sigma]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

The first generation of Cybertronians present to witness these supernatural feats supposedly go on to become the mythical [[Knights of Cybertron]], {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} who go on to turn the planet into a paradise. Among their many feats involve defeating the monstrous [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], rumored to be a creation of Mortilus, {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} alongside [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], the First [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]. Trypticon's body is sealed away beneath the [[Toraxxis Plains]]. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}}

[[File:MtMtEAnn2012-Metrotitans.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Fleeing the Great Kirby Krakle Scourge of Cybertron.]]

Eventually, after turning Cybertron into a utopian haven for both the mind and spirit, the Knights leave Cybertron to spread enlightenment aboard a fleet of [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]s, taking the Matrix of Leadership with them. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} They never return, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} though some later evidence suggests that the Knights split into different clans during their voyage across the galaxy. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} Most successive generations of Cybertronians do not believe in the Knights as concrete beings, instead viewing them as mythological folk heroes. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

Having fled Cybertron, Adaptus exploits the strange properties of the Warren to travel many millions of years into the future; there he witnesses a terrible sight of a gigantic, false effigy to Primus ravaging the galaxy. In order to prevent this fate from coming to pass, he returns to his own era of history, setting up Luna One as a new base of operations for himself and his clan of followers while building a new network of contacts designed to prevent this terrible future from coming to pass. In this new role, he dubs himself the "Grand Architect," and adopting the motto "prepare, confront, [and] repel." {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusOrigins.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Everything from this image that follows is [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|his]] fault.]]

Deprived of the benevolent leadership of the Knights of Cybertron, Cybertron regresses into a primitive state of barbarism, reverting to a new dark age as early Cybertronian civilization splinters into a multitude of competing tribes and societies. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} As a result of the destruction of his [[chronal drive]], the [[Decepticon]] [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] is flung twelve million years into the past from the moment of his defeat in the year [[#2012-2013|2013]]. Grievously injured, he spends years wandering the barbarian land until he is found by a peaceful "shepherd" named [[Onyx Prime|Onyx]], who Shockwave recognises as the Cybertronian who will one day be known as Onyx Prime. Shockwave murders Onyx and takes on his identity; he also takes control of Onyx's "flock" of mostly [[beast mode|beast-mode Cybertronians]], taking one particularly fearless individual under his wing as a student and naming him "[[The Fallen|Megatronus]]".

Inspired by [[#10,000 BCE|a previous encounter]] in his youth, Shockwave uses his knowledge of future events to manipulate history on a grand scale, guiding it along the course he learned in his youth, while simultaneously manipulating those around him in the hopes of analyzing why his species falls to civil war; {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} eventually, Shockwave determines that the only hope for his race's future is to destroy its past, and sets about creating every facet of its culture and religion so that he can, in time, reveal it as a falsehood and build a new civilization on a blank slate. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

Prominent tribal leaders soon arise, chief among them the [[Prime (rank)|Primes]]. Five of these Primes—[[Solus Prime|Solus]], [[Nexus Prime|Nexus]], [[Alchemist Prime|Alchemist]], [[Vector Prime|Vector]], [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and their followers—join forces to commemorate Primus by founding the small village of Crystal City. Around the same time, Megatronus—now a powerful warlord in his own right—aims to expand his territory of the [[Darklands]], and after invading and annexing [[Protihex|Protohex]] he recruits the twin gladiators [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]], who slay their capricious master [[Septimus Prime]] and pledge allegiance to Megatronus. His legions conquer the [[Forgotten Plains]], but when Megatronus marches on the Crystal City, he is met by the armies of the Primes, bolstered by the [[Liege Maximo]] and Onyx Prime's bestial legions. Their fighting awakens the original three Titans before Onyx "realizes" that their enemy is his "old friend" Megatronus, leading to ceasefire and a truce—all of which Onyx planned, having unleashed Megatronus on Cybertron to force an alliance between the tribes that would build Cybertronian society. To celebrate the new alliance, Onyx Prime creates a new flag for Cybertron, supposedly based on the visage of Primus himself, but actually based on his foreknowledge of the symbol of the [[Autobot]]s. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:Heavy-TheThirteen.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Cybertron League Unlimited.]]

The alliance is joined by five more Primes, and together they become known as the [[Thirteen]], {{storylink|The Crucible}} each ruling a group of followers that come to be known as the [[Thirteen Tribes]] and commanding the loyalty of gigantic Titans and diminutive [[Titan Master]]s. {{storylink|White Light}} The Primes become the archetypes for future Cybertronians to pattern themselves after, {{storylink|Heavy}} but it doesn't take long before the Thirteen grow drunk on their own arrogance and begin to think themselves above other Cybertronians: indeed, it soon becomes common belief that the Primes are so powerful that only a Prime can kill another Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Origin Myths}}
{{-}}

===10 million BCE===
After leaving Cybertron, the Knights of Cybertron travel the galaxy for many years, "changing and being changed by" the many new [[alien]] races they encounter. However, their adventure takes an unfortunate turn when the Knights contract the degenerative disease [[atrophosia]] through prolonged contact with organic species; around the same time, their fleet lands on the planet [[Mederi]], a planetary euthanasia clinic. The telepathic aliens who control the planet's illusions reconcile the Knights' homesickness with their desire to explore new worlds by creating a "perfect" Cybertron for them to inhabit, a "[[Cyberutopia]]." The Knights, believing they'd found paradise at last, inscribe a map to "Cyberutopia" in the Matrix and send it back to Cybertron before they pass away. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

===8 million BCE===
[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-AntillanWar.jpg|thumb|left|300px|How come Midnight Oil never wrote a song about ''[[Antillan|them]]''?]]

As the Primes govern their planet peacefully, Shockwave, in the guise of Onyx, advises [[Prima]] to spread Cybertron's "enlightenment" to other worlds via colonization. Megatronus, Alpha Trion, Arcee, and Galvatron join [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and the [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinels]] on this mission, the first since the days of the Knights of Cybertron. Their effort to colonize the planet [[Antilla]] leads into a brutal war against the native [[Antillan]]s, which only ends when a desperate Antillan scientist constructs and activates a [[Talisman (G1)|doomsday weapon]] that annihilates ''all'' life on Antilla, its energies wreaking havoc across the galaxy. In the process, the device reaches out across time and space, drawing on the [[magic]] of [[Prysmos]] and creating the [[Dire Wraith]]s and their dark sorcery from it. The resulting dead world is transformed into the dormant [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

Inspired by Onyx Prime's rhetoric of galactic expansion, twelve Titans leave Cybertron at or around the same time, each one the former servant of a Prime. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} They embark on millennia-long deep space voyages, intending to find and colonize distant worlds in an attempt at spreading [[Pax Cybertronia]] across the cosmos. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} These planets include [[Caminus]], [[Velocitron]], [[Eukaris]], {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} and [[Arduria]]. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Some of these planets, such as [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], are aggressively [[Cyberforming|cyberformed]], crushing the native civilizations in the process. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}} Eventually, thirteen planets become closely associated with the Cybertronian species, and history will remember them as the "thirteen colonies," each connected to one of the Primes. <ref> The thirteen colonies are [[LV-117]], [[Gorlam Prime]], [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Caminus]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Arduria]], [[Antilla]], [[Tsiehshi]], [[Velocitron]], [[Carcer]], [[Eukaris]], [[Elonia]], and [[Earth]]. Not all of these planets were shown to have been officially colonized by Cybertronians; in some cases, they are only called colonies due to their close ''association'' with the history of Cybertron, though it's possible that at least some of them hosted true colonies that simply failed. </ref> {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusKillsSolus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Look, Hasbro, we'll give you anything to not have this plot point come up again.]]

After the Antillan mission fails, however, Prima blames Megatronus for the expedition's failure; acting on Onyx's orders, Liege Maximo stokes Megatronus's resentment, leading him to turn on Prima. Solus Prime intervenes in the fight to save Prima's life, but is killed by Megatronus with the Star Saber. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} The betrayal ignites tensions between the thirteen tribes and escalates into the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Heavy}} Megatronus flees the planet, while Liege Maximo is captured by the Primes and imprisoned within his titan, [[Vigilem]], whom the other Titans deem unworthy of remembrance and exile into space. A repentant splinter of Liege Maximo's old tribe agree to keep their former leader and his Titan permanently interred, renaming their dormant Titan "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]". {{storylink|Rubicon}} {{storylink|Heavy}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Onyx Prime allies first with [[Micronus Prime]], {{storylink|White Heat}} and later, [[Nexus Prime]]. Onyx and Nexus utilize the [[Enigma of Combination]] to create an army of [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]: [[combiner]]s between beast-bots and humanoid Transformers. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} The joint faction proves powerful, and the Headmasters see action on distant worlds such as [[Spindrift]]. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 3|Heart of Darkness #3}}

Onyx Prime and Prima hunt down Megatronus aboard Prima's Titan [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]], finding him on the planet [[Tsiehshi]]; Megatronus kills Prima before being slain by Onyx, his usefulness to Shockwave's machinations at an end. Emissary carries Prima's body to the stars, but Onyx ensures that he will crash on [[Elonia|a faraway planet]]. On returning, Onyx tells Alpha Trion that Megatronus and Prima slew each other in final battle. Megatronus's name is soon forgotten by history, and he becomes known only as "the Fallen". {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:TheMindBomb-GalvatronKillsHeadmasters.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Off with his Headmaster.]]

Disgusted by this fusion between beast-bots and his own kind, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] deserts his post in Megatronus's army to begin his own campaign against the Headmasters—a campaign that ends with him killing Nexus Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Disgusted by the idea of combination, Galvatron conceals the Enigma to prevent any future combiners from coming into being. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} {{storylink|The Crucible}} The realization that they are not as invulnerable as they thought provokes many of the Primes to flee Cybertron, with the exception of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Nexus Prime's most devoted servant, a diminutive Titan Master named [[Infinitus]], vows revenge for his master's death and swears allegiance to Onyx Prime before going into hiding. {{storylink|White Light}}

With the war over and the Primes gone, Trion brings together Galvatron and [[Prima]]'s follower [[Nova Prime|Nova Major]] in hopes of reuniting Cybertron. Nova Major agrees, noting that under the principles of [[functionism]], everyone will "know their place". {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:Windblade1 Caminus.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The lack of tail fins was a dissapointment.]]

Over time, the surviving members of the Guiding Hand re-emerge under new identities: Solomus as the judge [[Solomus|Tyrest]], Mortilus as the forensic pathologist [[Mortilus|Censere]], and Primus as the unassuming psychiatrist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} Censere is inspired by the death of an [[Tusk|an old friend of his]] to begin a lifelong mission to chronicle the deaths of every Cybertronian; after losing his hometown in the war, he relocates to a [[Necroworld|distant planet]] where he sets up a base of operations, equipped with a [[teleport chamber]] to allow him to record every fatality. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} He is unaware that this "planet," is in fact, a hollow "mould" used to forge multiple copies of Cybertron, utilized by his former brother Adaptus to create a weapon known as the "[[God Gun]]" as part of his ongoing goals. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} Elsewhere, the decapitated head of Epistemus ends up under the care of the [[Omega Guardian]]s and becomes known as "the Magnificence", an artifact able to immediately and accurately answer any question posed to it. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Eventually, however, the [[space bridge]] network between the Titans fails and the colonies are permanently cut off from Cybertron and each other. In their absence, the colonists begin developing their own societies that invariably venerate the Thirteen—and, by extension, all Primes—as deities. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}}
{{-}}

===7 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-NovaPrimeAndFriends.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Pastel Age was a soothing time.]]
Alpha Trion and Metroplex work together to explore the surface of Cybertron, {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} until the Titan eventually goes dormant beneath the city of [[Nyon]]. {{storylink|Ruins}}

Nova Major declares himself "Nova Prime". Accompanied by Galvatron, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]], [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], he embarks on a quest into the planet's lowermost reaches. There, they discover the ancient [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], who allies himself with the Prime in the hopes of returning their wartorn planet to its former glory. With Omega Supreme's aid, Nova Prime ushers in Cybertron's "Golden Age". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Under his direction, the Cybertronian empire expands into space, with the [[Primal Vanguard]] serving as offworld peacekeepers. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}}

At some point following the departure of the colony Titans, [[female Transformer]]s disappear from Cybertron under unknown circumstances. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} Arcee, feeling that her "forged male" status has never been true to her spark, approaches Jhiaxus for help; but though the scientist's experiments in reintroducing female Transformers to the now "genderless" Cybertronian species are broadly successful, the invasive process of altering Arcee's CNA gives her her a "maelstrom of contradictory sensory input", and Jhiaxus abandons his now disoriented and homicidal follower. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}} {{storylink|Post}}

===6.7 million BCE===
[[File:Tyrest and the matrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It consisted of our Top Bots."]]

Nova Prime aims to further expand the reach of the Cybertronian race and, inspired by the legends of the Knights of Cybertron, begins planning what he calls the "[[Expansion]]", a massive wave of interplanetary colonization and conquest aimed at establishing "[[Pax Cybertronia]]" across the known galaxy. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} To do so, he requires a fresh generation of new Cybertronians, but, around this time, the life-giving, [[hot spot]]-igniting pulse waves of Vector Sigma slow down. Nova tasks a team of scientists, led by Tyrest, with extracting new sparks from the [[Matrix of Leadership]], exponentially boosting the Cybertronian population and dividing Cybertronians along [[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|"forged" or "cold constructed"]] lines. A "first wave" of new Transformers is created; additional Sparks are stored until bodies can be created for them.

The process ends after a scientist has a crisis of conscience, steals the Matrix, and replaces it with a forgery while hiding the real one underground. The team simply assumes that they have bled the Matrix dry and the project is abandoned. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

Hoping to rediscover the lost art of combination, Nova Prime conspires with Jhiaxus in an attempt to replicate combiner technology, seeking a process that allows sentient minds to be merged into one in the pursuit of peace—eliminating all free will save his own, a society where "all are one". {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} Galvatron, still opposed to the existence of combiners, secretly launches Nexus's [[Enigma of Combination]] into space to put it beyond Jhiaxus's reach. It lands on [[Earth]], in the region that will one day be known as [[Mesopotamia]]. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

In deep space, Onyx Prime and his Titan [[Chela]] make planetfall on [[Eukaris]], an uninhabited jungle world. Using the [[hot spot]] within his Titan, Onyx oversees the development of a new civilization of [[beast mode]] Transformers, free to live without the stigma surrounding beast modes. He eventually departs, but instructs Chela to guard his colony from any intruding "standard-formers". {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}}

Aware of Galvatron's gambit from his past experiences as Shockwave, Onyx correctly deduces that Nexus's artifact has landed on Earth and dispatches a Titan Master named [[Sovereign]] to find the artifact and summon the Prime when he had found it. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Abandoning his colony Titan, [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Micronus Prime]] creates and then retreats into the sub-atomic realm of [[Microspace]]. {{storylink|White Heat}} {{storylink|O Ship of State}} {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}}

===6.5 million BCE===
With the Cybertronian population growing exponentially under [[Nova Prime]]'s program of expansion, Jhiaxus's student [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] begins planning for an inevitable energon shortage by developing a [[Ore-14|self-regenerating energy source]]. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

===6 million BCE===
[[File:AllGoodThings-Monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|They did, in fact, ask for this.]]
After a long period of experimentation, Jhiaxus creates [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] from six volunteers. Though physically powerful, Monstructor is also violently insane as a result of the crude combination process, and Nova Prime's enthusiasm for the creature prompts Omega Supreme and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]] to turn on him. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}}

While Omega Supreme is occupied battling the beast, Nova Prime and Jhiaxus depart Cybertron in the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' to begin their work, with notable crew members Galvatron, {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]], [[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]], {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}} and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} A young 'bot named [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], born only two weeks previously, is part of the crew responsible for cleaning out the craft's coolant tubes before take-off. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} He runs late and tries taking a shortcut across the fragile [[Mitteous Plateau]], which results in him falling into stasis underground for several million years. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:DarkCybertron01-setcoursefortheanomaly.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"We'll simply set a new course, for that empty region over there, near that blackish, hole-ish thing."]]

After a prolonged battle, Omega defeats Monstructor and locks him away in an inter-dimensional prison {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} and entrusts [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], one of two remaining Titans on Cybetrtron, to Dai Atlas. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things}} The [[Crystal City]] is destroyed, but not before Shockwave plants a seed of [[Ore-14]] within. The defeat of Monstructor allows Shockwave to realize that his old teacher had flaws of his own; Shockwave takes up the mantle of his teacher, striving to study and better his erstwhile master's works. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Around this time he begins to investigate the history of ancient Cybertron. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Nova Prime's ''Ark'' is subsequently lost in the [[Benzuli Expanse]], transported to the [[Dead Universe]]. All aboard perish and are resurrected as undead creatures to serve the will of the [[D-Void]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}} {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

With Nova Prime gone, Cybertron enters a brief period known as the [[Interregnum]]. Unaware that it's a fake, [[Delta Magnus]] of the Primal Vanguard safeguard the Matrix of Leadership until a new bearer can be found. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Cybertron suffers from a lack of energy in the wake of Nova's expansion program, and tensions emerge.

Those who were constructed cold face institutionalized apartheid; {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} although this eventually ends due to mounting public pressure, including mass protests and marches. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} However, intrinsic prejudice against constructed cold Transformers persists in among a sizable percentage of the population. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

After a period of unrest, [[Nominus Prime]] becomes the next Matrix-bearer, though by this point the office of "Prime" is largely subordinate to the new, but increasingly corrupt, [[Senate]]. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} At some point around this time, Cybertronian datekeeping switches to a [[New Calendar]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} [[Functionism|Functionist]] sentiment becomes an institution of society overseen by the [[Functionist Council]], with robots expected to stick to a single job determined by their [[alternate mode]]. [[Militant Monoform Movement|Monoformers]], those without alt mode, face shape-hate. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Unable to determine what [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] does, the Council classifies him as an "[[Ornament class|ornament]]"... {{storylink|Little Victories}} unaware that the unassuming psychiatrist, is, in fact, Primus. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

[[File:RID17 senator shockwave.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You can tell it's advanced because it's glowing.]]
The Senate use the sinister network of secret facilities known as the [[Institute]] root out and quash dissent through [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] techniques like [[shadowplay]]. The Functionist Council becomes fond of subjecting criminals to a barbaric head-and-hand replacement ritual known as [[empurata]]. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Shockwave joins the Senate in the hopes of precipitating real change on Cybertron and founds the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]] in memory of his old teacher. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

As a result of their increasingly stagnant and moribund society, neighboring alien races start calling the Cybertronians "Autobots": an insult, meaning "automatons". {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

At an unknown point, the Omega Guardians "ascend" to the "[[Higher Realms]]", becoming four-dimensional beings. They leave the Magnificence on [[Ki-Aleta]], protected by statue-like automatons. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Eventually, one of them seeks to return to three-dimensional space through a rift in the [[Benzene Cluster]], but is killed in the attempt, with their four-dimensional corpse becoming the knot of quantum tunnels known as the [[Warren]], spanning all of space and time. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering}}
{{-}}

===5 million BCE===
[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Would you kill baby Megatron?]]
The experimental ship ''[[Lost Light|Unitrex-1]]'' is commissioned and constructed in the city of [[Unitrex]], designed to house a prototype [[quantum generator]]. Before it can launch, [[time travel]]ling [[Autobot]]s from the future infiltrate the vessel, searching for a way to recharge their [[time case|time machine]]. Hoping to use the ship’s engine to provide the necessary jump-start, [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] uses [[Perceptor (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Perceptor]]'s knowledge of future quantum science to upgrade the ''Unitrex-1''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s generator so that it can perform the task, and retroactively creates the very first quantum generator. A reaction between the case and generator causes the vessel to quantum jump away through time and space. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

A watchmaker named [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] attempts to leave the [[Aerial Corps]] and follow his true passion as a awatchmaker. Though initially successful due to a moderate functionary pemitting the change, the Council catches word of his blasphemy and engineer his downfall via a local criminal syndicate. In the aftermath, he is subjected to [[empurata]], leaving him destitute, and, eventually, he is convinced to join the Senate's security forces. {{storylink|Interiors}} {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}}
[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] is constructed cold in [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], intended to house a spark from the Matrix of Leadership. The same Autobots from the future interfere with his development, extinguishing the original spark. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

The time travel misadventure creates a [[Functionist Universe|divergent timeline]] where Megatron was never constructed at all. Before this alternate universe can overwrite reality, the future Whirl replaces Megatron's spark with a forged [[Point One Percenter]] spark harvested from the future. This action returns history to its proper course and gives rise to the first and only "hybrid" Transformer. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} Megatron spends his early life hoping to become a medic, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} but the tenets of Functionism means that he instead becomes a miner, working at [[Nova Point]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] is brought online from a sparkfield in Iacon; the [[blacksmith]], impressed with his size, invites Alpha Trion to bear witness to his birth. With many options available to him thanks to his truck alternate mode, Orion joins the Iacon police force, but is disturbed by the violence and cynicism inherent in the system. {{storylink|Post}}

Sickened by the caste-based brutality of Nominus Prime's Cybertron, Megatron writes a [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|treatise]] arguing in favor of non-violent dissent and the peaceful exchange of ideas. His ideas prove popular among Cybertron's menial classes, attracting a growing movement that threatens the sovereignty of the Senate. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

While discussing his ideas with his friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] at [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]], the two are caught in a bar brawl {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} accidentally caused by the same time-hopping Autobots from the future. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} The fight sees both Megatron and Impactor arrested; hoping to use the event to silence Megatron, the Senate send Whirl to visit Megatron's cell to permanently silence him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

[[File:ChaosTheory2 orion addresses senate.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lend me your audio receptors.]]
Orion Pax, now a police captain, manages to arrange for Megatron's release before Whirl can finish him off, saving his life. Orion discovers Megatron's readings, and, moved by them, decides to confront the Senate, deciding to 'reclaim' the slur Autobot as short for "autonomous robot". Orion's diatribe inspires Shockwave, who has been searching for promising young Cybertronians, to befriend the police captain in the hopes of nudging him into bearing the Matrix of Leadership. Shockwave arranges for his release and repair, adding a new Matrix chamber to his chest in the repair process. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Megatron, however, comes to the realization that peaceful dissent will not be enough to unseat the Senate—and that violence makes a more powerful statement. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Shortly afterwards, several Senators make a grab for more power by ordering an attack on Nominus Prime, using it as an excuse to obtain the Matrix of Leadership and enforce more control over an increasingly unruly Cybertronian populace. During the [[Primal Procession]], Nominus is attacked by a suicide bomber and rendered comatose. The public is told that Nominus is merely in hiding while the Senate investigate the comatose Prime, hoping to use their head of security [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel]] to tap into the power of the Matrix. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} Unbeknownst to all, "Sentinel" is, in reality, a false identity constructed by [[Infinitus]], using his [[Titan Master]] powers to disguise himself as a normal Cybertronian. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Sentinel's attempts prove fruitless, but expose an ancient secret: Nominus Prime's "Matrix" is a fake holdover from the days of Nova Prime's reign. Realizing this, the Senate sees no use keeping the Prime around and kill him, releasing a cover story that he passed away from a [[rust]] infection.
Thus bolstered, the Senate impose the [[Clampdown (event)|Clampdown]], limiting the rights and social mobilities of all Cybertronians. Ostensibly, this is to root out terrorists and tighten security, in reality, it is an opportunity for Senators to track down and silence those who contest their rule. The injustice proves useful for the growing "[[Decepticon]]" movement, basing themselves off Megatron's [[w:Samizdat|samizdat]] writings.

[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."]]
As part of attempts to limit any future Decepticon uprisings, the Senate has Megatron transferred to an offworld mine on [[Messatine]] to limit his influence. {{storylink| Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} There, he meets [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly miner who encourages him to keep writing. Terminus helps smuggle each new work back to Cybertron, continuing the spread of the Decepticon movement. The Senate eventually tries to cut the problem off at the source, deploying [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] to try and rewire Megatron's mind through shadowplay. Megatron escapes the procedure due to a nearby explosion and subsequent evacuation—in reality, the explosion is caused by [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] jumping backwards through time. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}} Afterwards Megatron publishes his magnum opus, ''[[Towards Peace]]'', which will eventually become the Decepticon manifesto. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[File:Shadowplay3-SenatorWho.jpg|thumb|right|250px|We can rebuild him. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. More logical.]]
As part of a complicated plan to eliminate the threat the Decepticons pose to their social order, Senator [[Proteus]] promises to recognize the Decepticons as a legitimate political entity if 10,000 of them register as such, actually a method of gathering names for future shadowplay. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} To discredit the growing movement, the Senate intends to stage a bombing that will be pinned on the Decepticons. The scheme is foiled by Orion Pax, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], and a trio of [[outlier]]s comprising [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Tarn (DJD)|Damus]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]. They succeed, but as a repercussion, his friend Senator Shockwave is brainwashed and subjected to empurata and shadowplay by the Institute. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} Realizing that he has been "liberated" from the constraints of emotions, Shockwave continues his [[Regenesis|energy research]] in secret. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Thanks to the influence of the Senate, Sentinel is installed as the new Matrix-bearer and becomes “Sentinel Prime”. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Sentinel reorganizes the Senate's security forces into the [[Elite Guard#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Elite Guard]], a collection of thuggish bruisers. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} Infinitus quietly uses his Titan Master talents to assemble a legion of sleeper agents that will join his side should the need arise, including [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]]. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] joins his security services and eventually becomes Sentinel's second-in-command. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

Hoping to take out the bot responsible for the heist, Sentinel Prime's forces try to track down Orion Pax and his friends, forcing them to go on the run. While on the lam, he meets the ambitious [[Zeta Prime|Zeta]], another of Shockwave's handpicked wunderkind. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}
{{-}}

===4.2 million BCE===
On [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]], [[Thymesis Energon mining facility]] workers [[Frak]] and [[Rushcut]] uncover a [[Point One Percenter]] [[spark]] beneath the moon's surface, the first in ten generations. The spark will become [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

===4 million BCE===
[[File:BirthsDeathsAndInterventions-OutlawPax.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You seem familiar. Ain't I killed you before?"]]
By this time, Cybertronian society is growing increasingly secular, and as a result the role of the Functionist Council in society has greatly diminished. When the Senate catches wind of a new hand-shaped [[hot spot]] in [[Alyon]] that seemingly proves the existence of the supernatural Guiding Hand, they send the Elite Guard to secure the site, cover its existence from prying Functionist eyes, and use the newborn sparks within for experimentation. Orion Pax and his fugitives clash with the Senate for control of the hot spot, and with the help of some time-travelling Autobots they are successful in defending the location. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

With Messatine abandoned, Megatron is transferred to [[Mining Outpost C-12]] on [[Croteus 12]]. Growing increasingly frustrated with his life, he works there for a period of time until Senator [[Decimus]] automates the mine, leaving the miners unemployed. When Decimus and his thuggish police force arrives to announce the closure of the facility, the reaction sparks a riot—and in the chaos, Megatron takes his first life. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}} Megatron and his fellow miners escape in a shuttle to join the illegal [[Gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial games]] beneath the city of [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Megatron takes over the games and is approached by [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]], an emissary of Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], to cause terror throughout Cybertron. Thousands of new Decepticons join the cause, including the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s, who help rebuild the motley collection of gladiators into full-on warriors. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}}

During this period, Shockwave is approached by Starscream, who brings him before Megatron. Realizing that Shockwave has a goal of his own, but with no interest in what it actually ''is'', Megatron offers the former senator the freedom and resources that the Senate cannot provide. In exchange, Shockwave will use his scientific talents to study and improve on Jhiaxus's technology in the hopes of creating a functioning [[combiner]] for the Decepticons. Shockwave accepts the offer, though he notes that it will take a very long time. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|thumb|right|250px|"I could make a giant purple griffin out of stolen automobiles..."]]
Megatron unites his gladiators under the Decepticon banner and arranges their "capture" by Sentinel Prime's forces. Once captured, [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] and Soundwave's forces massacre the Senate, and release the Decepticons from prison so they can overrun the security force's HQ. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} News of the Decepticon uprising reaches Sentinel Prime, and the Prime dons his [[Apex Armor (G1)|Apex Armor]] to make a final stand against the Decepticons in Kaon. He loses the ensuing duel with Megatron, and the Decepticon leader fashions his defeated enemy's armor into a throne. With Kaon now a Decepticon stronghold, the security forces withdraw to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

Sentinel Prime's body is laid to rest within the [[Primal Basilica]]... but while "Sentinel Prime" has publicly perished, ''Infinitus'' lives on, and the tiny head-bot abandons his old body and goes into hiding underneath Kaon. Neither the Senate nor the Decepticons are able to explain the mysterious loss of the corpse's head. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

Zeta subsequently steps up as the next Prime. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} His leadership—relying heavily on pageantry and theatrical displays of force—restores a semblance of order to Cybertron, forcing the Decepticons back underground for the time being. Orion Pax returns to the force, helping to keep the peace in these troubled times; {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} he asks [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to teach him how to be a ''soldier'' and not just a cop. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Orion Pax and Zeta help to reshape Cybertron's disorganized security forces into a counter-terrorism army dubbed the "[[Autobot]]s". {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Zeta begins reorganizing Cybertron in ways large and small, "pushing Cybertronian society as fast as it can go". {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} Among other things, he gives more rights to members of the [[disposable class]], a political move spurred in part by the writings and campaigning of noted adventurer and rhetorician [[Dominus Ambus]]. {{storylink|Before & After}} Under his leadership, Zeta brings back the Senate as the "New Senate", but he also secretly resuscitates the [[Institute]] and turns it into "The New Institute" for his own uses. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

With the Decepticon movement now publicly recognized as a terrorist movement, Zeta takes numerous actions to root out illegal activity, which eventually leads to shutting down popular venues like racetracks. This temporarily puts star racer [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]] out of the spotlight. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}} Orion Pax later oversees a hostage exchange with the Decepticons. This is a trick to capture the wise [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], so the Decepticons can use him to find a Titan and gain spacebridge technology. Pax prevents this. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum|Spotlight: Orion Pax}}

[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] is stranded in the [[Rust Sea|Rust Spot]] and develops a fear of solitude. {{storylink|The Waiting Game|Spotlight: Hoist}} Blurr gets caught in Autobot/Decepticon crossfire, but Orion convinces him to turn his self-confidence to the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}}

[[File:DanceAmongTheShadows-zetaprime.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ah, I could just look at myself all day.]]
On the Decepticon side of things, growing tension causes ideological rifts among the community. a sizeable portion of Decepticons maintain that their movement should be one of pacifism, but others—bolstered by Megatron's recent actions—begin preparing for all-out war by amassing weapons from offworld. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 3: Behind My Bleeding Back|Behind My Bleeding Back}} Decepticon gunrunner [[Hefter]] finds himself on the wrong side of the law when Zeta's forces crack down on the Decepticons, and his death in police custody sparks a larger inquiry that involves Orion Pax. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} With the help of [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] and conflicted Decepticon pacifist [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]], Orion succeeds in uncovering exposing [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]] and [[Horri-Bull]]'s Decepticon cell, but his experiences leave him embittered and ready to go to war against the Decepticons. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

A young Cybertronian named [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] joins the Autobots after the Decepticons trick him into delivering explosives through his dreams. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}

With war looming on the horizon, Prowl forms an alliance with the neutral scientist [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Together, they create many weapons and devices that will see use in the upcoming conflict, but Prowl eventually has a crisis of conscience and recruits Impactor to dispose of his increasingly depraved comrade. Impactor does so in exchange for having [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] released, but finds himself unable to kill "Ostaros", an artificial Cybertronian created in the lab. Instead, he inducts the young "Transformer" into the Autobots as "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

Megatron holds [[Declaration Day]], officially announcing the commencement of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Zeta and Orion work to fight back against the Decepticons, but Zeta Prime's ruthlessness pushes him to create the [[vamparc ribbon]], which drains energon from his own citizens and other insurgents. Horrified by his leader, Orion Pax turns on him and forges an alliance with Megatron to overthrow the tyrannical Prime. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[File:Autocracy9 pax becomes prime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|He's getting The Touch.]]
They succeed, and Megatron kills Zeta in an action later remembered as "the gunshot that killed a civilization". {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} Megatron immediately betrays Orion, casts him into the depths of Cybertron, and declares himself ruler of the planet. Lost underground, Orion discovers the long-lost true Matrix and is turned into [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Optimus uses his new connection with the Matrix to awaken the dormant Metroplex and rally a new army against Megatron's dictatorship. The new army of Autobots drive the Decepticons out of Iacon, setting the stage for all-out war. {{storylink|The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy}}

[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] is finally (reluctantly) accepted for a scouting mission and crashlands on [[LV-117]]. He spends a period of time getting beaten up by giant spiders, picking his arm out of giant lizard dung, and sending a distress signal.<ref>In "[[Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination]]", Rodimus claims that Wheelie disappeared shortly after Rodimus joined the Autobots, which he did in ''Autocracy''.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Megatron is overthrown and exiled to [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who destroys Cybertron's last major source of energon and awakens the ancient monster [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. Aided by the [[Quintesson]] [[Pentius]], Megatron is able to return and defeat the beast alongside [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity}}

[[File:Drift2-somewhereinconspicuous.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Are you ''sure'' this is the Heleus Cluster?]]
Alarmed by the energon crisis and escalating hostilities, numerous Cybertronians began evacuating the planet in the [[Exodus (G1)|Exodus]], a mass diaspora of neutrals, conscientious objectors, and other non-participants in the war. Dai Atlas and Tyrest oversee the safe evacuation of approximately 10-20 million refugees. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} Among the evacuees are the [[Circle of Light]], who secretly depart Cybertron aboard [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]] and establish a hidden city on the planet of [[Theophany]]. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} A group of [[Mortilus]]-worshiping neutrals discover the drifting ''Unitrex-1'' near [[Vela Pulsar]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} They take custody of the abandoned ship for the duration of the war, keeping a mutated [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] aboard docile by feeding it [[turbofox]]es. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

Megatron revives Trypticon using Pentius's spark and gathers the scattered Decepticon forces for a full-scale assault on the Autobots, but Optimus Prime cleanses him of the Quintesson's influence and captures him, {{storylink|The Transformers: Primacy|Primacy}} though he is soon freed by a Decepticon raid. {{storylink|Post}}

At some point after this, the original [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] dies under mysterious circumstances. Hoping to keep the legend of the immortal lawman alive, Tyrest creates the [[Magnus Armor]] and recruits [[Point One Percenter|load-bearer]] Autobots to wear it, effectively becoming Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

With both sides searching for a way to bolster their numbers, Cybertronians discover reserves of cryogenically frozen [[Spark]]s created via Nova Prime's Matrix bleeding. These new sparks are used to create new Transformers which become known as "[[M.T.O.|Made to Order]]" soldiers for specific campaigns in what is later termed the "Silver Harvest". {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

The Decepticons move to conquer several nearby cities, and their string of major victories is remembered as the [[Fall of the First Five Cities]] —the conquests of [[Vos (polity)|Vos]], [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], [[Helex (polity)|Helex]], Kaon, and [[Tesarus (polity)|Tesarus]]. {{Storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} These cities become the inspiration for the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], who name their five operatives after the cities. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

Optimus Prime and Megatron repeatedly clash over the course of the war; their very first showdown at the Battle of [[Sherma Bridge]] (2nd Cycle 087) becomes legendary. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} Early into the war, Optimus Prime turns down Megatron's first and only invitation for an Autobot surrender. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] is injured saving Optimus Prime from an [[Axer (G1)|assassin]]. {{storylink|The Iron Age}}
Tyrest attempts to broker peace between the two sides. His efforts ultimately fail, but do result in the creation of the [[Tyrest Accord]], limiting the spread of Transformer technology to other races. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

[[File:ALonelyPillarOnThePlain-BattleOfJunkion.jpg|thumb|right|250px|You weren't there, man. You don't know.]]

The Autobot-Decepticon war expands beyond Cybertron and encompasses many other worlds, and thousands of battles occur both on and off Cybertron over a period of time. During this period, Shockwave leads a detachment back to Junkion in order to recruit the natives. They are opposed by Prowl; the struggle goes on, neither side able to gain an advantage over the other, until one faction decides to detonate the planet entirely to keep it out of the other's hands. The surviving Junkions, led by [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and [[Rum-Maj]], flee the destruction of their home aboard a [[Quintesson Cruiser|gigantic vessel]] and become galactic nomads. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}}
{{-}}

===3 million BCE===
A battle takes place on the planet [[Clemency]] for control of the [[Nightmare Engine]], and a flight of [[K-Class]] Decepticons succeed in killing a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

The early phases of the war culminate in the destructive [[Simanzi Massacre]], a cataclysmic battle over the [[Crucible]]. Details are unclear, but the fallout from the conflict irradiates a sizeable percentage of the planet whiele cutting the Cybertronian population in half. Among the casualties is a bearer of the Magnus Armor. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} The Simizani Massacre leads to the [[Forced Flood]] and the [[Endless Retaliation]]. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

[[File:Omniglobes.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Electrohamster balls were a popular accessory for the well-equipped commanding officer.]]
Bolstered by their victories, the Decepticons form the [[Constellate]], marking the peak of Decepticon power. In this brief period, the Decepticons conquer and colonize many worlds, using grandiose weapons of war like the gigantic [[Worldsweeper]]-class warships. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}} The devastation visited on other races is enough to prompt the [[Galactic Council]] to permanently blacklist the Cybertronian race, {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} and develop anti-Cybertronian weapons to safeguard their member worlds from future destruction. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

With both sides now defending on-planet and offworld footings, the conflict enters a state of total war as both sides pour all available resources into defeating the other. Optimus and Megatron seal themselves inside [[omniglobe]]s to direct the war effort. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Eventually, the Constellate collapses, marking the decline of the Decepticon's imperial phase. Imperial assets are recalled to Cybertron to fight on the home front. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Mtmte 48 grindcore.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Comes with its own cheerful [[The Empyrean Suite|theme tune]]!]]
Skids joins the Autobots as a "bomb negotiator", disabling [[anti-personal mine]]s. One negotiation session goes wrong and lands him in the notorious [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]]. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} There, he befriends [[Quark]] and catches the attention of Decepticon Damus—Skids's old friend, now a Decepticon. Damus plays a sadistic game where the Autobot repairs the camp's "teleporter", in reality a smelting chamber, and then kills the fifty Autobots he promised to send away, including Quark. The experience proves traumatic enough for Skids to suppress the memory. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} At some point after this, Damus is promoted and joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] as "Tarn". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

Skids eventually escapes prison and joins the Autobot [[Diplomatic Corps]], working to persuade other races to support the Autobot cause. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

After several other Magnus Armor wearers succumb to battlefield injuries or ailments, [[Minimus Ambus]] becomes the latest and longest-serving bearer of the Armor. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}
{{--}}

==100,000+ years ago==
===650,000 BCE===
Shockwave realises Cybertron will soon die and fully launches [[Regenesis]]; using [[energon]] as a catalyst, he launches thirteen specific ores at thirteen distant planets.<ref>"Six Hundred Thousand Meta-Cycles Ago"</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Unbeknownst to the younger Shockwave, these planets are the thirteen colonies of Cybertronian legend, an ontological paradox set up years beforehand by his future self in the guise of "Onyx Prime." {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing}}

===500,000 BCE===
Shockwave leaves Cybertron to begin examining the fruits of Regenesis. Over the ensuing thousands of years, he discovers that the ores that have formed on the different planets have taken on wildly different attributes, and begins formulating a scheme to use them in conjunction to achieve his dream of fuelling Cybertron forever. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} Alpha Trion takes Metroplex off Cybertron to keep him out of Megatron's hands and investigate Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

Still searching for usable Titan technology, Megatron has a team of Decepticons led by [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] search outer space for Metroplex. Crew member [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] finds the Titan, but has a crisis of conscience and ends up letting him go. {{storylink|The Hunting Party (IDW)|The Hunting Party}} Another member, [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], is able to find and injure [[Quintessa (IDW)|another Titan]], causing it to teleport to [[Gorlam Prime]] where it goes dormant. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}}

===18,000 BCE===
Returning to Antilla aboard the titan [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]], Onyx Prime and his [[Maximal]]s uncover the core of the Unicron device, which he dubs the "[[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]]". {{storylink|Our Finest}} Knowing its destructive potential, Onyx entrusts the device to the Maximal crew of the ''[[Axalon]]'', sending them on a deep-space mission to locate the [[Enigma of Combination]] in the knowledge that their quest would take them to Earth; {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Centurion's profile}} Onyx's ultimate goal for the Talisman is for it to poison Cybertron and act as bait to draw in and destroy Unicron, leaving the Transformers freed of their past and able to begin again on Earth. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}} {{storylink|Our Finest}}

===10,000 BCE===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-IceAgeWars.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''All this has happened before All this shall happen again'']]
The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] attack a Decepticon-held Energon silo in [[Sub-Sector-Nine]]. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1}} Later, they depart Cybertron to hunt down Shockwave in pursuit of revenge for a past defeat. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

The ''Axalon'', needing to refuel, stops by prehistoric Earth after tracking the energon surges from Shockwave's experiments. Shockwave, present to check on his work, shoots them down, and the crash scrambles their memories. As an experiment, he brainwashes and retrofits the crew to think they are prominent Autobots and Decepticons so he can run the "[[Ice Age Wars]]", a control experiment of the Great War while he studies the Talisman.<ref>A caption says [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] hasn't been on the ''Axalon'' for "twenty thousand years", which clashes with ''Spotlight: Shockwave'' but does put this nicely in the Ice Age.</ref> {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===8390 BCE===
[[File:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"A six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the the middle toe. He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say... no no. He slashes at you here, or here..."]]
The Ice Age has ended<ref>The real Ice Age ended several thousand years earlier.</ref> and Ore-13 has started to grow unstable. Shockwave abandons his miniature Great War to stabilize Ore-13 but the Dynobots—seeking revenge and sporting energon-shielded beast modes—have finally tracked him down, and they engage him in combat. While he defeats them, he is deactivated by a failsafe set by Grimlock, as the Dynobots' ship triggers a volcanic eruption which buries all six in what would later become [[Eureka]], [[Nevada]].<ref>Shockwave specifies in [[Maximum Dinobots issue 5|''Maximum Dinobots'' #5]] that he has been waiting for "ten thousand, three hundred and ninety-six years, two months and three days".</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} The abandoned ''Axalon'' crew fight on for a time, but low energon levels eventually force them all into hibernation in secluded regions. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Megatron assigns Bludgeon to investigate Shockwave's projects {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}—and Soundwave to watch over Bludgeon. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] is rescued from the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] by an [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|unknown Autobot]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Jazz}}

[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] crashlands on an unnamed planet and spends a period of time there watching over young aliens named [[Kita]] and [[Coll]] until Kita dies when Cliffjumper is discovered by Decepticons. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cliffjumper}}

A Decepticon named [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] leaves [[Turmoil]]'s command when he feels disillusioned by what the civil war had become, and he stumbles across the Circle of Light. {{storylink|Drift issue 1}} His coming prompts the Circle to raise their hidden city above ground. {{storylink|Drift issue 4}}

===3000 BCE===
At some point before this period of time, ancient humans discover the Enigma of Combination. The influence of the Enigma "combines" their thoughts and ideas, allowing them to to work together and found the city of [[Uruk (Earth)|Uruk]].<ref> Issue 37 of ''The Transformers'' claims that this only happened 2000 years ago, which contradicts historical events alluded to in later issues ''and'' real life; Uruk existed as far back as 4000 years ago, and was far from the first civilization. </ref> {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}}

Sumerians develop an early civilization. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===2560 BCE===
The [[Pyramid]]s are constructed. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}} Around this time, the Talisman somehow winds up underneath the [[Tomb of Altomec]] in [[Dahshur]], [[Egypt]]. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

==100+ years ago==
[[File:GhostStories-onyxprime.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Tirac|Tirek]] got a big makeover for his ''[[My Little Pony|Friendship is Magic]]'' appearance.]]
Over time, the colony world of Caminus runs low on resources and energon, becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the galaxy. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} At an indeterminate point in time, while Caminus still has functioning interstellar ships, the inhabitants detect an emergency beacon from the planet [[Antilla]]; however, the explorers find the planet dead and rusted, and inhabited only by Onyx Prime and his army. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} The surviving explorers flee back to Caminus, but after some years are followed back there by Onyx, who attacks the village [[Parvus Oppidum]] and claims the life of [[Praesidia Magna]], leader of the [[Torchbearer]]s and one of the explorers. Her subordinate [[Pyra Magna|Pyra]] steps up as leader, {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} while the [[Mistress of Flame]] covers up the attack. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}}

===603 BCE===
The [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s put down local resistance in the [[Skomiloch Territories]]. They remain while [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]] rules a mini-empire there. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Snare's personnel evaluation}}

===27 BCE===
Octavian establishes the Roman Empire as {{w|Emperor Augustus}}. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===220===
The Han Dynasty in Ancient [[China]] ends. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1320===
[[Dante Alighieri]] publishes ''{{w|The Divine Comedy}}''—in reality, an allegorical exploration of the ideals and long-term goals oft the ancient conspiracy [[Cobra]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1408===
Fortress Maximus is instated as warden of [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

===1516===
Runaway [[blacksmith]] turned adventurer-archeologist [[Anode]] and her conjunx endura [[Lug (IDW)|Lug]] travel to [[Moonbase Two|Luna Two]] at the behest of their employer, the mysterious "[[Adaptus|Grand Architect]]", in search of a rare piece of "[[Living metal #IDW Generation 1 continuity|widowed metal]]". They run afoul of a Decepticon [[Cybernought]], but Censere, as the "Necrobot", intervenes. He spirits Anode away through time and space, but Lug is left behind and perishes. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}}

Arcee, who Anode had offered to help with her trauma from Jhiaxus's experiments, is left even more unstable by her sudden disappearance, {{storylink|Post}} and ends up on a violent rampage trying to track down Jhiaxus and destroy everything he created; she is eventually stopped by Ultra Magnus, who has her spark extracted and imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

===1550===
[[File:Thunderwingwhathaveyoudone.jpg|thumb|250px|{{w|Pod People}}.]]
Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron—between ever-dwindling supplies of energon and the fallout caused by millennia of warfare—will soon be entirely uninhabitable. Believing that the Transformers must find a way to adapt to changing planetary conditions, he develops an upgrade based off of "[[Pretender|polydermal grafting]]" procedures. Unfortunately, he uses himself as a test subject for the process and, driven mad, he ends up destroying the planet even faster before perishing.<ref>700 stellar-cycles ago, so if a stellar cycle is ~7.5 months, then presumptively ~437 years ago.</ref> {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Shortly after Thunderwing's rampage, Soundwave uses [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] to take control of [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]]. Beachcomber attempts to assassinate [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], leaving him adrift in space. The Decepticons began a massive offensive against the demoralized Autobots. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}} It's all for naught anyway as the planet is soon abandoned, a lifeless, radiation-saturated wreck. With Cybertron now completely uninhabitable, the war does not abate, but moves permanently off-planet. {{storylink|The Transformers: Stormbringer |Stormbringer}}

Following the loss of Cybertron, the nature of the war changes, becoming a series of cloak-and-dagger operations on alien worlds. The Decepticon war machine reorganizes around the [[infiltration protocol]], a step-by-step process by which Decepticons covertly infiltrate a planet's society and manipulate events to bring it down from within. As part of this process, three of the [[Warriors Elite]] are promoted to [[Phase Sixer]]s, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—who promptly deserts from the Decepticon army. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}
{{-}}

===1586===
[[United Kingdom|England]] creates the original [[Action Man]] Programme. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1610===
{{w|Galileo Galilei|Galileo}} charts the moons of [[Jupiter]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

===1700s===
Incumbent Magnus Armor wearer Minimus Ambus is critically injured in the line of duty, requiring him to step down as Ultra Magnus for a prolonged period. He is replaced as the armor's wearer by [[Convoy (G1)|Convoy]], a hot-headed Autobot with a disdain for organic life. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

Around this time, the [[Prysmos]]ian sorcerer [[Merklynn]], disgusted by his home planet's technological advancements, plots to reverse their technological development and does so by casting a spell that brings the system's three suns into alignment with one another, shutting down machinery across the planet. {{storylink|Cybertron No More}} In the ensuing "Age of Magic", he and his "[[Visionaries]]" keep the peace until catastrophe strikes: as the suns move back out of alignment, the gravitational forces unleashed tear the world apart, and only a handful of Prysmosians escape its destruction. Merklynn goes out into the galaxy in the hopes of finding a new world to colonize: a quest that, eventually, leads him to [[Earth]]. {{storylink|Schismatic}} Though Merklynn believes the de-alignment to have been the fault of his own miscalculations, the true cause was the creation of Unicron, which had harnessed the [[Magic|arcana vast]] from across time and space, destroying Prysmos in the process. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}

===1800===
Following the destruction of his homeworld [[Elonia]] at the hands of the evil [[Dire Wraith]]s, [[Rom|Rom K'atsema]] joins the [[Solstar Order]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention|Revolutionaries #1 timeline}}

Shortly afterwards, the Dire Wraiths discover Earth, drawn to Shockwave's supplies of [[Ore-13]] to amplify their powerful dark magic. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} Using their shapeshifting talents, Dire Wraith scouts begin infiltrating the worlds' governments and militaries, preparing for an eventual encounter with the Space Knight. {{istorylink|Earthfall: Part Three}}

===1830s===
[[File:Shining Armor 4 - Ultra Vekktral vs Starscream.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"]]
A Galactic Council ship destroys a Camien vessel in the [[Gray Area]]. One protoform survives, recovered by [[Rom]] and taken to the Solstar Order, where the protoform matures into [[Stardrive]]. After some years the Cybertronian joins the Order's Space Knights as a cadet, though she is often excluded and made to feel unwanted thanks to anti-Cybertronian prejudice.

The [[energon synthesizer]] the Order have developed for Stardrive draws the attention of [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], whose Decepticons ally with the Dire Wraith [[Vekktral]] and attack the attack the [[Orchid Crossing]] space station in order. The battle draws the attention of an Autobot ship commanded by Convoy's Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 1|Shining Armor #1}} The ensuing fight sees the Autobots team up with the Solstar Knights to counter the Decepticon/Dire Wraith alliance as both parties battle it out on the frozen world of [[Xetaxxis]], Wraith leader [[Vekktral]] using his [[magic]] to create monstrous Wraith-Cybertronian hybrids. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 3|Shining Armor #3}} The battle ends with Starscream destroying the energon synthesizer and sterilizing half of the planet in the process, forcing the heroes to retreat and wiping out Vekktral and his Dire Wraiths. The experience leaves Stardrive unwilling to continue fighting in the Space Knights' war; abandoning her allies, she takes up residence on a distant planet... unaware that she has been infected by a fragment of Wraith biomatter.

Bumblebee returns with the Magnus Armor to the Autobot fleet, where Minimus Ambus—recovered from his injuries—takes up the mantle once more. The Galactic Council and the Solstar Order formally decide to keep to their own sectors of space rather than getting caught up in each others' wars, while Starscream determines that the Dire Wraiths are too dangerous to risk allying with—and the Wraiths themselves decide to rely on their magic rather than turning to technology in future. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

===1867===
[[File:BeeandJohnHenry-HOS2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''John Henry was a man just six feet high Nearly two feet and a half across his breast He'd hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day And never get tired and want to rest'']]
Still believing themselves to be the Autobots and Decepticons, the lost Maximals are roused from their slumber by [[human]] activity sometime in the late 19th century.<ref>The ''Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook'' would lay down that the events of ''Hearts of Steel'' took place 150 years before the present date. This date contradicts real-world historical information; In the story, Mark Twain lives in San Francisco, as he did from 1864 to 1866, but refers to a daughter in [[Hearts of Steel issue 4|issue #4]], who would not be born in the real world until 1872.</ref> [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]] (believing himself Bumblebee) awakens to the sound of [[John Henry]] laying railroad track. While Centurion takes the form of a steam locomotive and makes contact with John Henry and his friends, the brainwashed "Shockwave" fools disgraced scientist [[Tobias Muldoon]] into helping him create a "Golden Age" of progress. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 1|Hearts of Steel #1}} {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 2|Hearts of Steel #2}}

Muldoon realizes he's been tricked in time and manages to alert mankind by reaching [[Mark Twain]], helped by "Ravage" following him and Twain defeating him. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 3|Hearts of Steel #3}} Human industrialists [[Vanflint]] and [[Jacob Lee Bonaventure]] collaborate with the Decepticons in Muldoon's place, while John Henry and his friends join the Autobots in heading out to stop the Decepticon's "[[Astrotrain (G1)#Hearts of Steel|Astrotrain]]" reaching [[New York City]] (running through [[United States Army]] blockades). The Autobots fight a running battle down the railroad tracks before knocking the Astrotrain, and the human collaborators riding it, off a cliff. With the threat over, the "Autobots" return to their slumber. {{storylink|Hearts of Steel issue 4|Hearts of Steel #4}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1887===
Dormant Maximals are found by the [[fish people|Deep Ones]] that lurk in our oceans and taken to their unearthly city to join the forces of a slumbering [[Elder God]]. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}}

===1888===
[[File:TFInfestation2.2 Optimus Prime vs Elder God.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Iä! Iä! Optimus primhagn!]]
Shipping is being sunk by the fishy foes and their "Seacon" slaves, and "Ironhide" (riding the [[USS Miskatonic|USS ''Miskatonic'']] identifies the threat. The steam-powered "Autobots" are rallied again and seek 1,000,000 volts to power up "Optimus Prime" (actually Domitius Major) with the help of Muldoon and [[Nikola Tesla]], but [[Port Cenotaph]], [[Canada]] is overrun before they reach it. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 1|Infestation 2: The Transformers #1}} Domitius Major is awoken just as a combined naval fleet of the world's powers reaches Port Cenotaph and runs into the Elder God. Domitius Major joins the battle and wounds the Elder God badly enough to provoke a retreat, leaving the Royal Navy bemused and questioning Tesla and Muldoon. {{storylink|Infestation 2: The Transformers issue 2|Infestation 2: The Transformers #2}}
{{--}}

==1900s==
[[File:SpotlightHotRod rush.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Wheeeeeee!]]
Over the course of his travels, [[Sixshot]] is challenged by the alien [[Reaper]]s. He refuses to join them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sixshot}}
[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] leads a team to secure the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. [[Doubledealer]], posing as an Autobot, sabotages the raid. Hot Rod hides the Magnificence. He later infiltrates the Decepticon penal colony [[Styx]] to rescue "Dealer", who befriends him. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}

Meanwhile, [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]] and [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] crash-land on the planet [[Tsiehshi]], one of Shockwave's Regenesis test planets. The barren, uncharted planet is covered with radioactive crystals of [[Ore-8]]. Outback is killed in the crash, and Kup is slowly driven insane by the radiation. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

The massacre at [[Babu Yar]] takes place, which sees the deployment of the controversial bioweapon [[Gideon's Glue]] against [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]'s Autobots. {{storylink|Bullets}}

===1914-1919===
The Maximal Autobots are, by this time, slowly dying off, though several beginning to shake off their reconditioning and realizing that they are not who they believed themselves to be. Several of the Maximals try to find the Talisman and perish in the attempt. [[World War I]] breaks out on Earth, and Domitius Major and Centurion stumble on a battleground. Seeing real conflict causes their artificial memories of the Great War to unravel; Domitius perishes, but Centurion, confused and enraged, dedicates the remainder of his life to hunting down and killing the remaining Maximals on Earth. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

===1941===
[[Merklynn]]—who has arrived on Earth at some point before this time—has forged a [[human]] disguise and a new alter-ego as "Garrison Kreiger". Hoping to plot a new course, he joins the [[United States Army|US army]] at the beginning of [[World War II]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part Five: One Unholy Machine|One Unholy Machine}}

[[Sgt. Savage|Robert Steven Savage]] also joins the military; after going above and beyond the call of duty in [[Galibi]], he receives a crack team of his own to command: the elite [[Screaming Eagles]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Sgt. Savage profile}}

===1943===
With Garrison "Blitz" Kreiger now serving as an officer on the Screaming Eagles, the unit is deployed to fight in [[Kalistan]]. They are startled to find [[IRON Trooper|robot drones]]—in reality, creations of the Talisman—fighting for the Axis. [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]], recognizing them as the work of alien magic, becomes fascinated by them. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

===1944===
[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionVsFakeShockwave.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''We're leaving together, but still it's farewell'']]

In the winter of 1944, Centurion tracks the last of the ''Axalon'' crew—"[[Maximal Shockwave|Shockwave]]"—to his hiding place in [[France]]. The two battle one another, and are witnessed by the Screaming Eagles, who have arrived in France to help out the local resistance. Centurion defeats his foe and takes his gun as a trophy. Centurion asks for their help in tracking down his old starship so that he can die in peace, and although Kreiger is horrified at the prospect of the "mechanical hell" the Maximals embody, he convinces Savage to assist the alien... and so that he can learn more about the IRON Troopers.

The trio eventually locate the ''Axalon''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s frozen remains in [[Brasnya]], but are unprepared for an IRON Trooper ambush, or the sight of the robots puppeteering Domitius's corpse to attack the group. Though Centurion defeats his reanimated commander, energies unleashed by the Talisman caused the ship to vanish, with taking [[Sgt. Savage]] with it. A confused and upset Centurion agreed to assist Kreiger, who spends the next several decades grooming him as he begins a decades-long search for the Talisman. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}
{{-}}

===1960s===
Disabled amateur sleuth [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] accidentally stumbles on a ring of Brasnyan spies smuggling alien technology into the United States. Their plan is foiled by British super-spy [[Action Man]], who offers Power some words of encouragement. Bolstered by this praise, he goes on to study some of the technology he surreptitiously recovers from their base and eventually builds himself a new set of prostheses. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

===1982===
[[File:Adventure Team Revolution.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb."]]
After serving with the [[Green Berets]], [[Joe Colton|Joseph B. "Joe" Colton]] is selected to join the [[Adventure Team]], an crack team of American operatives. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 1|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1}} He serves alongside elite military assets such as [[Stalker (G.I. Joe)|Stalker]] and [[Miles Mayhem|Miles "Mayhem" Manheim]]. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} They are eventually joined by superpowered operatives including [[Bulletman]] and Mike Power, now calling himself the "[[Atomic Man]]". {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}} {{storylink|Power and Glory}} As "G.I. Joe", Colton and the Adventure Team enjoy numerous globetrotting escapades, on one occasion meeting Action Man. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

===1984===
Soundwave is sent to investigate Bludgeon's activities on Earth {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} but first makes a detour to Egypt to investigate unusual energy readings.

Kreiger, having spent decades scouring the Earth for alien artifacts, finally tracks the Talisman to its resting place in the [[Tomb of Amtoltec]] and goes to retrieve it, disposing of his [[Elliot Marsh|guide]] along the way. A few days later, the Adventure Team is deployed to rescue him. The team battles IRON Troopers and runs afoul of Soundwave before before discovering Kreiger and the Talisman. The Talisman upgrades Mike Power's cybernetic limbs; thus empowered, the team is able to see the Decepticon off and recover the Talisman, entrusting it to British intelligence. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}}

Soundwave returns to his main mission on Earth, but is deactivated when Bludgeon, after some of Shockwave's Regenesis ore—which he calls "ultra-energon"—triggers the eruption of [[Mount St. Helens]].<ref> In real life, the volcano erupted four years earlier.</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1985===
[[File:SpotlightSoundwave infoispower.jpg|thumb|left|Decepticonism killed the radio star.]]
Soundwave, [[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] are excavated by [[Skywatch]]. Interest is taken in the cassettes, found in "[[robot mode]]", but Soundwave, in cassette player mode, is apparently discarded. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

===1988===
[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] lands on the backwater planet [[Nebulos]]. The latest in a series of flagrant violation of the Tyrest Accords, he develops a working relationship with [[Zarak (G1)|Mo Zarak]] and the [[Zarak Consortium]] as part of his ''modus operandi''. The duo develop a variation of the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] process involving hybridizing [[Nebulan]]s and Cybertronians. Ultra Magnus tracks Scorponok to [[Nebulos]], but despite taking severe damage, the Decepticon escapes.<ref>29 stellar cycles ago, or 18 years</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Ultra Magnus}}

[[Solomus|Tyrest]] constructs the supercomputer/judging machine [[Aequitas]], based off of [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]' old designs. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} The [[Aequitas trials]] begin, a catalog of Autobot atrocities. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}} What nobody but Tyrest knows is that every Autobot on trial is "[[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|constructed cold]]", a process he'd help develop. The revelation is enough to gnaw at his conscience, and eventually Tyrest vanishes from the public eye. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

Skids eventually moves to Prowl's covert [[Special Operations]], necessitating faking his own death. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} Partnered with [[Getaway]], he is sent to "assassinate" the rogue Tyrest by using a [[nudge gun]] to implant the impulse to resign in the Chief Justice's increasingly disturbed mind. The plan fails, and Skids barely manages to escape. Aboard his escape craft, he uses the gun to erase his own memory before setting the shuttle to hone in on the coordinates of his handlers, the [[Duobot]]s. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}}

===1990===
Obsessed with defeating [[Squadron X]], the [[Wrecker]]s track them down to the planet [[Pova]]. After capturing them, [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] is ordered to release them due to a technicality. Instead, he executes the prisoners, and as a consequence is himself imprisoned in [[Garrus-9]]. Springer subsequently takes over leadership of the Wreckers. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}} {{storylink|Bullets}}

After a disastrous mission, a despairing Mike Power turns to Kreiger to further upgrade his limbs. Power disappears from the public eye as Kreiger, hoping to use Power for his own ends, experiments on him further. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Though deprived of their most powerful member, Joe Colton reorganizes the team into the totally radical "Adventure Force". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1994===
Kreiger eventually manage to upgrade Power's physiology to the point where he can interface with the Talisman; in doing so, he accidentally returns the ''Axalon'' to the timestream, along with a temporally displaced Sgt. Savage. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Adventure Force storms the base, and in the crossfire, Mike Power is assumed dead. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

Thrust fifty years into the future, Sgt. Savage joins up with that era's Action Man, forming "Team Extreme". {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

===1997===
[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] and Metroplex return to Cybertron. Hoping to return the planet to habitability, Alpha Trion slowly begins cleaning Cybertron's polluted atmosphere.<ref>12 meta-cycles ago, or 13 years</ref> {{storylink|Any Old Iron}}

==2000s==
===2001===
[[File:What Its Really Like - Jazz likes jazz.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"The music was ''dope''."]]
The current era of Transformer activity on Earth begins. Starscream heads a unit on Earth as part of the now-standardized infiltration protocol, and the Autobots retaliate by deploying an Autobot cell led by Prowl. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Advance scout [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jazz]] is the first Autobot to make planetfall, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} and is eventually joined by the rest of Prowl's team aboard the ''[[Ark-19]]''. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

Conspiracy theorists like [[Hunter O'Nion]] begin searching for evidence of extraterrestrials after the anomalous "Buchanan crop manifestations" in [[Iowa]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

The Cybertronians discover that Earth is not as unaware of their presence as they might have thought—the Decepticons become aware of the [[Machination]]. In reality, this is merely a front for Scorponok's latest operation, intending to build off his Headmaster research on Nebulos in the hopes of supplying himself, by this point reduced to little more than a ruined head, with a new body. {{storylink|The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation}}

===2006-7===
[[File:Infiltration6 starscream on ultraenergon.jpg|thumb|left|200px|This is your Starscream on drugs.]]

Shockwave's hand is discovered in an excavation in Nevada. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} News of the dig reaches the conspiracy theorists but is considered a fringe theory, the "paleo-purists". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}}

[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] is founded by General [[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} Skywatch discovers Bludgeon's volcano base and investigate the Transformers within, successfully reactivating [[Bugly (G1)|Bugly]]. As part of [[Project Hot House]], they retrofit the Cybertronian bunker into a Skywatch research lab. Joe Colton joins forces with Joshua Red to investigate the Talisman and whether it can be weaponized. Lured to Oregon by a false distress beacon, Savage encounters G.I. Joe, Bugly, and Centurion, who lead him into Skywatch's base. As part of Colton's experiments, Savage is saturated with more Talisman energy and thrust into the future once again. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}}

From the Dead Universe, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] lures [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to the rapidly-evolving world of [[Gorlam Prime]] and implants a device in his brain. {{storylink|Spotlight: Nightbeat}}

On Earth, Starscream's infiltration unit discover ripe samples of Shockwave's Regenesis ore, dubbing it "Ore-13". In [[Arizona]], wandering drifter [[Verity Carlo]] steals a [[SM-40|palm computer]] from a travelling businessman, unaware that her victim is really an agent of the Machination. Possessing a record of Cybertronian activity on Earth makes her, Hunter, and [[Jimmy Pink]] targets of the Decepticons, prompting Ratchet to intervene. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 0|Infiltration #0}} {{storylink|Infiltration issue 1|Infiltration #1}} Ratchet brings them back to the Autobot base, and, learning that the Decepticons have preemptively initiated "siege mode", brings the humans along to investigate their abandoned base in [[Nebraska]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}}

[[File:Thunderwing stormbringer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The thunder of guns Tore me apart You've been Thunderstruck!'']]

The humans discover that Megatron has come to Earth; Megatron learns from the base's old files that Starscream plans on overthrowing his leader using Ore-13. Disgusted by the power games—and infuriated when [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] accidentally bomb their old base with him inside—Megatron sets off to the new command bunker in [[Oregon]] to retake command. Megatron quickly puts down Starscream's insurrection and announces the beginning of "phase 2". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Orbiting the dead husk of Cybertron, the crew of the ''[[Calabi-Yau]]'' pick up an anomalous energy burst. Jetfire and several [[Technobot (G1)|Technobot]]s investigate the strange readings and discover that Bludgeon has used his "ultra-energon" to reanimate Thunderwing's corpse. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Thunderwing lays waste to Nebulos and overruns the Decepticon cell already located on the planet before returning to Cybertron. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Optimus Prime calls in the Wreckers to combat the threat, and bringing their full firepower to bear the Autobots blast Thunderwing until he runs out of energon. Jetfire analyzes Bludgeon's files and discovers information related to Earth and the Regenesis project. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The news prompts Optimus to set course for Earth, and he arrives shortly after Megatron removes Starscream from command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Meanwhile, Soundwave, still trapped in his alternate mode, is purchased from a pawn shop. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}
Springer orders a costly mission to rescue the stranded and demented [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]], whose Spark is beginning a fatal meltdown. They eventually succeed, but not without taking significant losses at the hands of the elderly Autobot, who mistakes his rescuers for [[zombie]]s. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Later, he died off-panel.]]
Shortly after Megatron arrives on Earth, [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] joins the Decepticon's Earth unit. Megatron initiates a plan to increase political unrest on Earth using [[Psycho-Prism|technology]] stolen from [[Doctor Doom]]. Facing resistance from the Autobots and [[Avengers]], the Decepticons initiate [[mirror response mode]] and boost their powers by tapping into [[Spider-Man]]'s superhuman abilities. Megatron's plan is thwarted by the Autobots and Avengers, helped in part by Ramjet's increasing disloyalty to Megatron. {{storylink|New Avengers/Transformers|Man and Machine}}

While returning the humans to their normal lives, Machination forces successfully tail and capture [[Sunstreaker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]] and Hunter O'Nion while incapacitating [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} Prime, Jazz, and [[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] join Ironhide to search for the attackers. Meanwhile, the Decepticons proceed to phase two by activating numerous [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] sleeper agents within world governments to further destabilize human society. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}}

The Decepticons use their facsimiles to, among other things, escalate tension between [[Brasnya]] and [[Russia]]. The Autobots intervene, and Prime summons Hot Rod, [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to Earth. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} During the battle, Prime is nearly killed and encounters the form of [[Nova Prime]] within [[infraspace]] as he shunts his consciousness into his trailer. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Ironhide, Ratchet, Jimmy, and Verity continue to search for Sunstreaker's disappearance, but Ironhide is severely damaged in the process and left behind. Unbeknownst to them, Sunstreaker and Hunter are sent to surgical prep to test the Machination's [[binary bonding]] process. {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}}

Skywatch takes over the excavation of Shockwave and the Dinobots, while also reactivating and reprogramming Ravage and Laserbeak into loyal Skywatch operatives. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}}

[[File:SLOptimus prime vs monstructor.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Quickly, give him your face and he'll go away!]]
With Megatron's other forces busy, Ramjet initiates an ambitious plan to overthrow the Decepticon leader and sieze control of the Decepticons, involving, among other things, a group of jive-talking [[Mini-Constructicon]]s. His bungled plan ends when Megatron returns from Brasyna, beats him to death, and throws his parts across the globe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}

[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] is found drifting in space and returned to the Autobot fold. As he reintegrates into the Autobot command structure, he helps free [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] from Decepticon control. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

Optimus Prime briefly leaves Earth to meet with the ancient warrior [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], from whom he learns more about Nova Prime and the nature of Nova's original quest. Optimus winds up defeating and capturing Monstructor, and he sends the "Monstructor Six" into the care of [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] on [[Garrus-9]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} Around this time, Wheelie's original distress signal from LV-117 finally reaches Autobot space… only to be ignored due to more pressing concerns. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Galvatron briefly leaves the Dead Universe to travel to Cybertron to retrieve Thunderwing's body, defeating [[Hound (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hound]]'s unit on the way. He takes his trophy to [[Gorlam Prime]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Galvatron}}

[[Banzai-Tron (G1)|Banzaitron]] initiates an attack on the Autobot prison facility at [[Garrus-9]] in an attempt to free the long-imprisoned Monstructor team. Realizing that they need another of Jhiaxus's creations to track down the unpredictable escapees, Fortress Maximus takes a gamble by releasing [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] and sending the warrior-bot after them. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

His defeat at the hands of Optimus Prime turns Megatron's behavior increasingly erratic, and so the Earth-bound Decepticons reactivate Starscream to help deal with the problem. Hoping to get an edge over Optimus Prime, Megatron summons Sixshot to Earth, violating the infiltration protocol. Sixshot, though internally conflicted, follows orders and opens fire on the Autobot assets stationed on the planet, destroying the ''Ark-19''. He is, however, followed by the Reapers. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Wheeljack]] and Hot Rod attempt to rescue Ironhide but are attacked by the Machination's army of mass-produced [[Sunstreaker clone]]s. With Hardhead's help, they defeat them and rescue Ironhide. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

[[File:Devastation03-HeadmasterHunter.jpg|thumb|left|250px|My hands! My horrible human hands!]]
Meanwhile, Hunter awakens at Machination headquarters and finds Sunstreaker's head. He undergoes the Headmaster process as [[Abraham Dante]] does the same with [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]. Stealing a spare clone body, he links with Sunstreaker's mind to become a Headmaster and uses his new body to escape the facility. However, the Machination takes Sunstreaker's real head. The hybrid Sunstreaker/O'Nion entity agrees to search for Sunstreaker's real head in the hopes of undoing the process. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

From the [[Dead Universe]], Nova Prime orders Galvatron to Earth to deal with the Reapers, whom Sixshot has aligned with, before Starscream shuts him down using a failsafe trigger. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} The other Decepticons engage the Reapers, losing the [[Battlecharger]]s, before being covertly assisted by Galvatron. Triumphant in his mission, he returns to the Dead Universe with Sixshot's body. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

Learning of the breakout at Garrus-9, the majority of the Autobots prepare to leave Earth, though Hot Rod and Sunstreaker remain. Concurrently, Skywatch is notified of the battle and prepares to deploy their latest and most powerful asset: Grimlock. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} After he is awoken, he escapes from Skywatch and refuses an offer to join forces with Scorponok. {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}

On Cybertron, [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] arrives and attacks Hound's crew as revenge for the devastation wrought by the war. His attack is interrupted by Ultra Magnus, and he is forced to retreat to [[Corata-Vaz]]. After activating the [[Nega-Core]], Cyclonus is again set upon, and activates the Nega-core's reanimated guardian, Thunderwing. He is forced to return to the Dead Universe as his body has been in the "living" world too long. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

[[File:SpotlightCyclonus DeadUniversetransformers.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Death walks among you."]]
In the wake of the attack, Optimus and his crew arrive at Garrus-9. They meet with [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and head back to the ''Ark-32''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

The forces of the Dead Universe—including Jhiaxus, Galvatron, Straxus and Grindcore—leave the Dead Universe to begin the [[Expansion]]. Leading the charge is Nova Prime, now calling himself "Nemesis Prime". {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

Nightbeat and Hardhead travel to [[Gorlam Prime]] to investigate Nightbeat's missing memories, and they encounter a large group of [[Micromaster]]s trying to impede their progress. The pair makes it to the Dead Universe portal and Jhiaxus takes control of Nightbeat, forcing Hardhead to kill him, and dive into the portal himself. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Jetfire decides to use [[Pretender]] technology to enable [[Cloudburst]], [[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]], [[Groundbreaker]], and [[Waverider]] to survive the Benzuli Expanse. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}}

Optimus receives a transmission from Dealer, who says that he's been monitoring the current situation, and he thinks that all of the answers they seek lie in the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} Hot Rod agrees and both travel to [[Ki-Aleta]], the planet where Hot Rod had hidden it earlier. Using the oracle, Hot Rod discovers that Dealer betrayed him, and sends the traitor to his death moments before he could do the same to him. The Magnificence later provides useful info to Ultra Magnus about the machinations of Nemesis Prime. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

On Earth, Straxus and Grindcore mine energon in [[China]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are prevented doing this by Hound's team, primarily Sideswipe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:IDWAutobotPretenders.jpg|thumb|left|250px|To infinity and beyond!]]
Galvatron and Cyclonus attack the ''[[Mirror-Manifold]]'', the ship of Cloudburst and crew. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} They are beamed out seconds before their ship explodes by the Technobots in the ''[[Nightbird (ship)|Nightbird]]'', who present them with their own personal Pretender carapaces. Using these, they battle Galvatron and Cyclonus, defeating one and allowing the other to escape. Using their shells as temporary shields, they cross into the Dead Universe and manage to seal the gate to the Dead Universe. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Nemesis Prime arrives on Garrus-9, and is faced by Optimus Prime. Optimus is attacked, using the [[Darkness (G1)|Darkness]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} However, the Darkness reaches out to Optimus as a successor. Nemesis continues the attack but is blasted in the back by Galvatron and falls dead. The Darkness enters Optimus Prime. Galvatron offers Prime a choice: kill himself in the nearby Solar Pool, or willingly pass on the Darkness to him. Prime does both, passing on the Darkness ''and'' tossing Galvatron into the pool. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}} Meanwhile, Arcee manages to track down Jhiaxus beneath Gorlam Prime, and with some help from an undead Hardhead, defeats him. With Jhiaxus rendered functionally immortal due to the energies of the Dead Universe portal, Arcee gleefully kills him over, and over, and over, and over… {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

Above ground, the residents of Gorlam Prime finally complete their evolution into wholly mechanical beings. In honor of their great leap forward, they rename their planet… ''Cybertron''. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:GrimlockMaxDino01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Because "Skree-onk" was copyrighted.]]
Back on Earth, Grimlock and the other Dynobots end up fighting Sunstreaker clones in [[Fallon]], [[Nevada]] in an event orchestrated by Scorponok and the Machination. Hoping to repair their ship, the ''[[Skyfire (ship)|Skyfire]]'', Grimlock calls the [[Monsterbot]]s for help. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}}

Hot Rod takes on Scorponok and fails, while Sunstreaker and Hunter try to reclaim Sunstreaker's original head. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 2|Maximum Dinobots #2}} The Monsterbots arrive on Earth just in time to rescue the bedraggled Dynobots. The Dynobots begin to have misgivings about Grimlock's increasingly unstable leadership—feelings which come to a head when it appears [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] has died from a blast by Scorponok. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 3|Maximum Dinobots #3}}

Soundwave, Shockwave, Laserbeak, and Ravage plot together and free themselves from Skywatch's control; {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 4|Maximum Dinobots #4}} Shockwave involves himself in the battle with Scorponok, and both are ultimately are defeated by Grimlock and the Dynobots. Ultra Magnus arrives to arrest the group. Though Grimlock willingly goes with Ultra Magnus, the other four Dynobots walk free thanks to his sacrifice. Shockwave, Scorponok, and Grimlock are all sent to Garrus-9 after a trial, though Grimlock's sentence is shortened thanks to bringing in two wanted Decepticons. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 5|Maximum Dinobots #5}}

===2008===
[[File:Slowmotionmoviewalkahm5.jpg|thumb|left|250px|He's your huckleberry.]]
Hoping to bolster the Decepticon ranks, Megatron and [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] create the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s. The process is highly imperfect, however, and the thousands upon thousands of failed clones are abandoned on Cybertron to become the feral "[[Insecticon swarm|Swarm]]". {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

Shortly after their creation, scientist [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] completes Shockwave's project regarding Jhiaxus's combination technology. The end result is [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]: a mentally stable, combat-ready combiner using the like-minded [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Perceptor rebuilds Kup using [[Pretender]] technology, reversing the deleterious effects of Ore-8 on his mind. At Prowl's insistence, however, Perceptor also adds technology into Kup's new body that will allow Prowl to take control of the elderly Autobot. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Everything in Its Right Place}} With his new lease on life, Kup organizes a team to rescue captured Autobots. They receive assistance from former Decepticon Deadlock, now known as [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Drift}} On their first mission, they rescue Hot Rod from Bludgeon and the Monster Pretenders; Perceptor is injured and upgrades himself into a sniper. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}}

Sixshot, freed from the Dead Universe following the defeat of Nemesis Prime, attacks [[Orvus Base]] to recover secret Autobot scientific research, only for the [[Throttlebot]]s to escape to the nearby planet [[Salvvatan VIII]]. Though Sixshot pursues them, they are rescued by Metroplex, who transforms from the city mode he was hiding as on the planet and stomped the six changer, temporarily incapacitating him. However, Metroplex immediately takes off with the object that he was on the planet to protect, leaving the Throttlebots on Sakvvatan VIII. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}} Unfortunately, Sixshot soon recovers and damages the team's shuttle as they try to leave; though the remaining Throttlebots believe they manage to kill the Decepticon before taking off, they soon crash land on the planet [[Botanica (planet)|Botanica]]. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

On Earth, Ratchet succeeds in separating Sunstreaker and Hunter. Horrified and disgusted by what humans did to him, Sunstreaker makes a Faustian deal with [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] to help him take out Megatron in exchange for the Autobots permanently abandoning Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}} Ratchet returns Hunter to his house and leaves, unaware that Bombshell is preparing to abduct the young human to gain access to the Headmaster technology still implanted in his body. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-Overlord.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"I come in peace. Shoot to kill."]]

Using Autobot access codes acquired from Sunstreaker, Megatron launches "[[Surge (event)|The Surge]]": across the galaxy, Decepticons abandon infiltration protocol and launch an all-out attack on every major Autobot outpost. {{storylink|Bullets}} The Autobots on Earth are led into a Decepticon trap and are soundly defeated, leaving Optimus Prime in critical condition. Megatron takes the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] and exiles them back to Cybertron while he and his Decepticons run amok on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #8}}

During the Surge, [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]]'s [[Predator (subgroup)|Predator]]s assault [[Garrus-9]]. Rogue former Decepticon [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] kills Skyquake and takes over the prison, turning it into an arena for his own amusement. Former warden Fortress Maximus is lobotomized and repeatedly tortured. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} As part of a deal, Overlord releases Shockwave and restores him operational status; in return, Shockwave removes the [[Achilles virus]] implanted in Overlord's body as a failsafe. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

Knowing that he is being targeted by the Decepticon Justice Division, Shockwave selects a crew consisting of ''other'' Decepticons on their "list", and offers them as a trade for his life when the DJD tracks him down; however, Tarn rejects his offer, intent on following the list in order despite its inefficiency. Unaware that the DJD is only there for Scorponok, three members of Shockwave's crew—Scorponok, Flame and Flywheels—eject themselves into space before Shockwave manages to shut off the transmission of Tarn's lethal voice. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} Flywheels is found by the crew of the [[Weak Anthropic Principle]] (aka the "Foragers"), while Scorponok and Flame are found and claimed by the Grand Architect, manifesting as an enormous spacebound heiroglyph. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

[[File:AHM2Devastator.jpg|thumb|left|200px|YOU—ARE NOT—PREPARED.]]

On [[May 29]], 2008, the Earth-based Decepticons make their presence known to humankind. Their combined forces demolish [[New York City]] and easily defeat the US military. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Colonel Daniel Witwicky]] is brought to New York to aid in its defense, though his troops can do little to defeat the onslaught. The Decepticons rampage across America and annihilate major cities across the nation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} Within a matter of hours, [[Washington, D.C.]] falls. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} College student [[Marissa Faireborn]], in New York as part of the {{w|Occupy Wall Street}} movement, has her worldview shaken by the scope and horror of the invasion. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}}

Mercy Gale, head of intelligence for the [[Action Man Programme]]—and, in secret, the AMP's greatest nemesis [[Doctor X]]—makes her own arrangements that prevent the Decepticon invasion from touching the [[United Kingdom]]. {{storylink|The Origins of Evil, Part One: Redcliffe Club|Redcliffe Club}}

Over the next few days, the Autobots and humans struggle to get back on their feet while the Decepticons continue to ravage cities across the globe. On Cybertron, Kup's team crash-lands on the planet and joins the stranded Autobots, who are fighting off the Swarm. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} On Earth, Colonel Witwicky appoints a team lead by his son [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Spike]] to take out Megatron. Spike's team is killed by Ratbat and Spike is the only survivor. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

Without the Autobots, the Decepticons quickly grow bored and start squabbling among themselves. The [[European Union]] decides to end the threat by deploying nuclear weapons against New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} Frustrated by Megatron's sudden listlessness, Starscream plots with the Insecticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

On Cybertron, the Autobots decide to use their remaining energon to repair Prime. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} The Autobots struggle to elude the Swarm, but Perceptor is injured. Guilt ridden, Sunstreaker makes the ultimate sacrifice and detonates a bomb to blow up a bridge (and himself) to keep the Swarm away from the other Autobots. Just before he does so, he reveals to Ironhide that it was he who brokered the deal with Starscream that betrayed the Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}}

Sarah and Bridge run into Spike, and are later joined by [[Charles (G1)|Charles]], seeking revenge against [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] for killing his son. With a weapon reverse-engineered from Shockwave, Spike brings Rumble down with the help of his new friends. On Cybertron, Optimus Prime is repaired, along with the remaining Autobots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}}

Bombshell builds a [[space bridge]] and reveals that he helped hack into the Autobots' defenses using technology gained by dissecting Hunter O'Nion. Starscream teams up with the Insecticons and Constructicons to attack Megatron, but they are not successful. The Autobots on Cybertron are saved by the arrival of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and taken back to Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}}

===2009===
{{note|According to "[[Ride-Along]]", the events of ''All Hail Megatron'' spanned over a year, though it's unclear exactly when the transition to 2009 happened.}}

[[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|thumb|right|250px|One Shall...oh, you know the drill.]]
The Autobots arrive on Earth and battle the Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} Megatron gets the upper hand against Prime and orders a retreat, leaving the Autobots to be nuked by the humans… but Spike Witwicky, welding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Transformer technology, shoots Megatron in the face, allowing Prime to smash Megatron in the face with his own fusion cannon. With Megatron grievously wounded, Starscream takes command and orders a retreat.

The Decepticons do so, but [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] stays behind to dispose of the EU's bomb. He succeeds, but [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] blasts him out of the sky for his efforts.

Discovering that his brother's old Headmaster partner has been horrifically mutilated under Bombshell's custody, Sideswipe mercifully terminates the vegetative Hunter. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}} In the aftermath, Optimus Prime talks Ironhide out of retiring. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Believing the Matrix to be purely symbolic and now devoid of any power it might have once held, Starscream prepares to dump it into space. When [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] reminds him that the Autobots use it to choose their leaders, Starscream declares that with Megatron incapacitated, he will use the Matrix to lead the Decepticons to victory once more. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

Though the Decepticons have been defeated and mostly driven off-planet, Earth is largely in ruins. More than a billion people have died worldwide from the invasion, and most major cities are left utterly devastated by the Decepticons. Military assets begin hunting for Decepticon stragglers; as part of these early missions, Spike defeats Ravage, but is injured. Faced with a persistent Decepticon threat, Skywatch is heavily reorganized, going from a clandestine paramilitary organization into a international peacekeeping unit designed to hunt down and eliminate rogue Transformers on Earth, wielding reverse-engineered Cybertronian technology. Sparkplug is made head of Skywatch and recruits Spike to work for him. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|The Man of Steel}} This new incarnation of Skywatch does not differentiate between factions, and hunts both Autobots and Decepticons indiscriminately. Bumblebee briefly breaks cover to save some humans and is injured for his efforts. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 16|Hidden}}

[[File:SeasonsInFlight thundercracker discovers tv.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Eight years later and we still haven't gotten him off the couch.]]
Over the next two years, humans and Cybertronians alike struggle to recover from the Surge. With their infrastructure across the galaxy in shambles, many Autobots seek shelter on Earth. Humanity slowly repairs the damage caused by the invasion, but are enraged at the Cybertronians that remain on their planet. After witnessing a defenseless [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] executed by a group of police officers, Prowl decides that with their numbers so reduced by war, all Cybertronian life—even Decepticons—needs to be protected. {{storylink|Ride-Along|Spotlight: Prowl}}

Thundercracker survives his ordeal, but is badly damaged and unable to transform or fly. Stranded in the ruins of New York, Thundercracker takes refuge in an abandoned building and watches [[television]] to pass the time until he's rescued. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

[[File:Crashsuitsandtransports.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Geronimo!'']]
Skywatch continues its anti-Transformer operations, reverse-engineering Cybertronian technology to produce new weapons to safely combat rogue Transformers on Earth; this initiative culminating in the development of the unit's signature [[crash suit]]s. What Skywatch doesn't know is that this technology is secretly being provided to Skywatch via Spike Witwicky, whose disregard for the rules drives him to cut a deal with [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}} [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] are amongst those captured. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}}

[[Dominus Ambus]], now a mole within the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], reports that the Decepticons have lost contact with [[Garrus-9]] and DJD scouting parties do not return. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] authorizes [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] to assemble a new team of [[Wrecker]]s. Their mission is twofold—to rescue any Autobot prisoners and to download data from the [[Aequitas]] supercomputer. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} {{storylink|Bullets}} At some point after this, the other four members of the DJD discover the mole in their organization and subject Dominus to "[[domestication]]", reducing him to a feral "Pet". Another Decepticon thus steps up to become the next "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]". {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}}

Still marooned on LV-114, [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] discovers a Decepticon shipwreck with surviving crewmembers [[Spectro]] and [[Spyglass]] ([[Viewfinder]] alas, didn't make it.) He saves an [[Varta|alien]] from them and in the process blows them and his escape ship to pieces. And so, he waits... {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

At some point after Gorlam Prime's transformation, the malevolent Dead Universe entity known as the [[D-Void]] lures the entire population of the planet into his domain and devours their [[spark]]s. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

===2010===
[[File:Ongoing Issue 1-Optimus Surrenders.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Botkind, well, that was another story.]]
Thundercracker is rescued by a rag-tag team of Decepticons led by [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]]. He discovers, however, that he has lost his taste for fighting, having come to respect humanity and its culture. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}}

Prowl is captured by Skywatch, and Hot Rod's rescue mission leads to Ironhide's death. Depressed, Optimus Prime resigns as Autobot leader and surrenders to Skywatch. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}} Frustrated by recent events, Hot Rod and a group of like-minded Autbots make preparations to leave Earth. They decide to join forces with Swindle's Decepticons, while the other Autobots chose to remain on Earth, and Bumblebee is elected the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 1: "New Arrivals, Old Encounters"|New Arrivals, Old Encounters}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-newrecruits.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cue the A-Team [[theme song|theme]].]]

Eight months after Dominus Ambus's report, the [[Wrecker]]s—bolstered by new recruits [[Verity Carlo]], [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]], [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]], [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]], ascended fanboy [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], and lead by a returned Impactor—arrive at Garrus-9 and begin their assault. Overlord retaliates by ordering the death of all Autobot prisoners upon the Wreckers' arrival save Grimlock, who has vanished. The Wreckers take heavy casualties over the course of their mission, but succeed in capturing Overlord and securing the data from [[Aequitas]]. Overlord is captured and the remaining Decepticons scatter, glad to be free of Overlord's oppression. The [[data slug]] that contains the various records from the Aequitas trials are entrusted to Prowl. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers}}

After dropping off the Wreckers on Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus arrives on Earth to investigate the death of Ironhide and surrender of Optimus Prime. Afraid of being arrested by Magnus, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] and Blurr leave to join Hot Rod, but all except Blurr are captured by Skywatch and used as leverage by Spike for Optimus Prime to talk. Magnus leaves to find Hot Rod. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 2: "A Rude Awakening"|A Rude Awakening}}

Bumblebee's feelings of inadequacy, combined with the derision he faces from his fellow Autobots, pushes him into making a reckless deal with Colonel [[Gordon Horiuchi]]. Horiuchi promises the Autobots protection from Skywatch if they capture Decepticons, but at the price of being immobilized if they disobey. Skywatch quickly forces Bumblebee's troops to capture other ''Autobots'', starting with [[Blurr (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Blurr]]. After Bumblebee's immobilizing badge is damaged, he locates the [[Sanjay Bharwaney|creator]] of the badges and personally destroys them, defeating Skywarp and proving his worth as leader of the Autobots in the process. {{storylink|The Transformers: Bumblebee}}

Ultra Magnus shows up and tries to arrest Swindle, but Rodimus defends his ally. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 3: "Seasons in Flight"|Seasons in Flight}} Ultra Magnus takes several Autobots from Bumblebee's group with him to help him detain Swindle and the rebellious Rodimus. Swindle uses the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticon]]s to test some experimental [[combiner]] technology, and when Ultra Magnus arrives Swindle betrays Rodimus and unleashes [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] to kill the Autobots. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 4: "Enemies of the System"|Enemies of the System}}

Spike releases Optimus Prime to battle Menasor, but the combiner is undone after the Stunticons fail to unite their minds into a workable gestalt. The battle prompts Spike to realize that the Autobots are not part of the problem. Skywatch forges a new alliance with Bumblebee's Autobots, while Rodimus steals Ultra Magnus's spaceship and strikes off on his own. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 5: "Earthworks"|Earthworks}}

The space-bound Decepticons fare little better than their Earth-bound counterparts; Starscream's poor leadership, combined with dwindling fuel sources, leads to the collapse of the Decepticon faction. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} On a desolate asteroid, the Decepticons scrounge for fuel and cannibalize each other for Energon and parts, {{storylink|All His Engines‎}} a barbaric practice encouraged by [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] general [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]], who travels to space following a failed combiner experiment. {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} The other Predacons remain on Earth, where they eventually join the government of [[China]] as border guards. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawk Among the Sparrows}}

[[File:Ongoing Issue 13 - Megatron.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Well, I'm back, back Well, I'm back in black Yes, I'm back in black'']]

Tiring of Starscream's bungled leadership, Soundwave and Shockwave revive Megatron in a new body equipped with [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]-derived [[Space bridge|spacebridge]] technology. His old body is used to create replicas of his old gun mode, which contain small pieces of the Decepticon leader's consciousness. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Rodimus arrives at the Decepticons' asteroid base, intending to retrieve the Matrix. He succeeds in stealing it back from Starscream, but is confronted by the newly upgraded Megatron who blasts him and the Matrix into space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

In his new body, Megatron retakes leadership of the Decepticons {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} and sends the Megatron guns to Earth, where they quickly spread amongst unsuspecting humans with anti-Transformer sentiments. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

Spike disobeys orders and goes rogue, hunting down and executing [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] in an attempt to prevent Devastator from ever being formed again. {{storylink|Scrapper (issue)|Scrapper}}

On Cybertron, Alpha Trion continues his project to clean the desolate world, though these efforts are threatened by the increasingly ravenous Insecticon swarm. Trion decides to resurrect a copy of the one Autobot most suited for the job: Ironhide. The confused duplicate lacks all of Ironhide's memories from the war, but does his job well. He also recovers Sunstreaker, having survived his sacrifice years earlier. Alpha Trion and Metroplex take off for parts unknown, leaving Ironhide and Sunstreaker on the planet to finish off the Swarm. Over the course of their campaign, Sunstreaker adopts one of the failed clones as a pet, which he nicknames "[[Bob (IDW)|Bob]]". {{storylink|The Transformers: Ironhide}}

As Rodimus floats through space, the Matrix bonds with him, saving his life. He crashes on the planet [[LV-118]], where he meets Wheelie. Together with him and the alien [[Garnak]], Rodimus steals a ship and heads to Cybertron. {{storylink|Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination|The Stars My Destination}}

[[File:TFInfestation2-BrittKup.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Alas, neither a pirate nor a ninja.]]

Galvatron frees himself from the solar pool, fully fused with the Darkness. He tracks down the Dead Universe Transformers trapped on Gorlam Prime, Cyclonus and Scourge. Using his new powers, he revives Scourge, using him to create a personal guard in the form of the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 14|Rebirth}} They investigate the planet's missing inhabitants, {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 1|Heart of Darkness #1}} and upon learning about the D-Void's plans to destroy all Transformers, set out to raise an army to oppose it.<ref>The point at which Galvatron escapes the solar pool is never made explicit, but it can be inferred from several pieces of evidence: it occurs after ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' (per ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'''s epilogue), Autobot guards are present on Garrus-9, and it has been "years" since Galvatron's defeat.</ref> {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 2|Heart of Darkness #2}}

Galvatron and his men discover a block of ice in space, unaware that it contains a [[zombie]] virus brought from another dimension by the extradimensional vampire-zombie [[Britt]]. Several of Galvatron's crew members are infected by the zombie virus, and his ship crash-lands on Earth in [[Las Vegas]], forcing the Autobots and Skywatch to pitch in and contain the infestation. Kup is infected by the virus and transformed into a zombie, but uses Prowl's mental link to thwart the swarm and warp Britt, her virus, and himself through time and space to the dawn of the Dead Universe. The Autobots refuse to join Galvatron's army. {{storylink|Infestation (IDW)|Infestation}}

Though physically unharmed by his experience, Kup is stranded within the Dead Universe and spends the next several billion years on a barren asteroid. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} He encounters the similarly stranded Nova Prime, who tries and fails to turn his body into a space bridge back into the living world. {{storylink| No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6|No Exit}}

Galvatron takes his new army to Cybertron, declaring it the first line of defense against the D-Void. Rodimus also arrives on the planet where he meets Ironhide and Sunstreaker and learns of Galvatron's presence. The assorted Autobots leave Cybertron to warn Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Heart of Darkness issue 4|Heart of Darkness #4}} {{storylink|Space Opera Act 2: Out of the Silent Planet|Out of the Silent Planet}}

Four months later, [[North Korea]]n leader [[Kim Jong Du]] strikes a deal with three of the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]], providing them with energon in exchange for their services. Under his orders, the Combaticons attack [[South Korea]], prompting the United States government to declare the employment of Cybertronians equivalent to the use of weapons of mass destruction. {{storylink|International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"|The Land Ironclads}} Skywatch and the Autobots move out to defeat the Combaticons. To keep the public from learning that the US also employs Cybertronians, the Autobots remain in their vehicle modes throughout the battle, and are easily defeated. {{storylink|International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"|Ranks of Bronze}}

[[File:TheDemolishedMan-BumblebeeGetsShot.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED. ''EVVVVER''."]]

Bumblebee meets with Thundercracker, who is now only interested in watching TV, and convinces him to help them. [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] hacks the spy satellites above Korea, allowing the Autobots to fight in [[robot mode]]. Backed up by these resources, the Autobots defeat the Combaticons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawks Among the Sparrows}} As the Autobots are attacked by the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], who have a similar contract with [[China]], Skywatch agent [[Sandra (G1)|Sandra]] breaks the encryption on one of the satellites. The secret alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots is revealed to the world, and [[Russia]] attempts to nuke the Transformers, though Cosmos saves them. The energon factories in North Korea and China are destroyed, ending the threat from the Combaticons and Predacons. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}}

The incident turns into a PR nightmare for both Skywatch and the Autobots. Bumblebee holds a press conference, but fails to contain the unruly crowd and is grievously injured by [[Joe Gladki]]. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}} Megatron's Decepticons return to Earth, attacking the Autobot-Skywatch base and freeing the Decepticon captives within. The plane carrying Optimus Prime, Spike Witwicky and the rest of the Korea team is shot down over the Pacific Ocean. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}} Ultra Magnus takes charge and has the base evacuated. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} He and his troops attempt to regroup, but are defeated by Megatron himself. Meanwhile, Starscream tries and fails to convince Thundercracker to return to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}}

After two days, Optimus Prime's team emerge from the oceans alive. Prime confronts Megatron, who is holding Magnus hostage, and causes him to flee by injuring Soundwave. Jazz is forced to kill [[John Powell|a human]] in order to save his comrades, furthering Autobot distrust among human civilians. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} After another meeting with Prime, Megatron surrenders himself so that he can watch from the inside as the Autobots are crushed by the humans they protect. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}
{{-}}

===2011===
[[File:PoliceActionPrologue-Prowl.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Prowl discovered his "Summon Leggy Dame" spell had failed.]]
Six weeks later, Rodimus and his crew arrive on Earth and return the Matrix to Optimus Prime. Learning about Galvatron's invasion of Cybertron, Optimus takes most of the Autobots and Megatron with him, Prime leaves Earth on Omega Supreme. Bumblebee, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and several others remain behind to investigate Megatron's claims that Spike murdered Scrapper. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}}

Prowl investigates Spike by following him around. {{storylink|Police Action: Part 1}} While investigating the site of Scrapper's death, he is attacked by [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], but defeating and interrogating yields nothing about his motives. The Autobots bring in Sandra, who enlightens them on Spike's sociopathic past. {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Bumblebee and the other Autobots keep busy by tracking down rogue Decepticons, and Bumblebee singlehandedly takes down a Decepticon plot to activate a space bridge. {{storylink|The Question}} The defeat proves so humiliating that [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] quits the Stunticons forever. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}}

After four months of investigation, {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} Spike shamelessly admits to killing Scrapper, but Prowl's fair share of questionable actions makes him unsure on what to do about it. During an attempted arrest of anti-Autobot pundit [[Ben Simpson]], the Autobots learn that he was a [[Facsimile construct|facsimile]] created by Swindle. Under interrogation, Swindle reveals that he had been selling weapons to Skywatch via Spike for years. The alliance between Skywatch and the Autobots quickly dissolves and Spike becomes an international fugitive. {{storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}}

En route to Cybertron, Optimus Prime must choose life imprisonment or execution for Megatron's punishment in anticipation of his future trial. He tries to talk to his nemesis, but is only goaded into torturing him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} When he asks Megatron what he would choose, Megatron chooses death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

Cyclonus and the Sweeps take over [[Kimia Facility]]. The Autobots arrive on Cybertron, where Optimus Prime again declines to join Galvatron's army, causing Galvatron to responds with violence. {{storylink|Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} In order to reach Cybertron's core, Galvatron uses Kimia to fire on the planet's surface until the facility is destroyed from within. As the Autobots fight Galvatron's army, Megatron escapes from captivity and powers himself up using his Megatron-guns. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}}

[[File:Deceptigod Chaos part3 Kings.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Deceptigod?]]

Megatron uses the space bridge technology in his body to summon his Decepticon army to Cybertron. The D-Void, acting through Galvatron's [[Darkness (G1)|Heart of Darkness]], mind-controls them into combining with Galvatron's troops to form the "[[Deceptigod]]". {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} While Megatron fights and defeats the Deceptigod, Galvatron reaches [[Vector Sigma]] and inserts the Heart of Darkness into it, hoping this will stop the D-Void from entering the universe when in truth it does the opposite. Optimus Prime stops the D-Void from turning Cybertron into a portal to the Dead Universe by opening the Matrix of Leadership into the planet's core, emptying the artifact completely. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}
Galvatron and his forces are defeated, and the cleansing of Vector Sigma has the unexpected side effect of "resetting" Cybertron back to a living, primordial state. Though the planet is habitable once again, it is also wild and untamed, and all indications of Transformer civilization have been lost. Every Cybertronian in the universe receives a simple message, courtesy of Vector Sigma: "come home". With the Decepticons in shambles and Megatron missing, the Great War is considered over, though the Autobot victory proves pyrrhic. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Over the next three weeks, Bumblebee's team returns to Cybertron, taking care to remove every piece of Cybertronian technology they can find on Earth before they depart. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}} Joining up with the other Autobots on Cybertron, they successfully inter the weakened and disoriented Decepticons within the wreckage of the Kimia satellite and plant them with [[Inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] to keep them docile. Before they can begin rebuilding society, however, they are joined by tens of thousands of neutrals, deserters, refugees, and other assorted noncombatants. Prowl dubs the hordes of civilians "[[NAIL]]s".

[[File:DoOP matrix bequeathed.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Remember to share, kids. Peace, I'm out.]]

Tensions between the three groups grow until Optimus Prime, having inadvertently time-jumped three weeks forward following his defeat of Galvatron, arrives in the shantytown that was once Iacon. The Autobots bring him up to speed, though ex-Autobot [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]], ''de facto'' speaker for the NAILs, makes it clear that his people want neither the Autobots nor Decepticons on "their" planet. When riots break out in the streets due to his presence, Prime departs the planet and entrusts the empty Matrix halves to Bumblebee and Rodimus, who are split on whether to stay and rebuild Cybertronian society, or go in search of the [[Knights of Cybertron]] in the hopes of starting anew on [[Cyberutopia]] . Prime leaves, and declares that, without the Matrix, he is "Orion Pax" once more—and that Optimus Prime is dead. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Though the Cybertronians have left Earth alone for the time being, the effect they have on the shellshocked planet is profound. Embroiled in controversy, Skywatch is considered defunct and is shut down by the United States government. Several operatives are shunted into its successor, the international [[Earth Defense Command]], headed by [[Marissa Faireborn]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} Determined not to let another invasion happen on her watch, Faireborne and the EDC reverse-engineer what technology they can find, producing new anti-Cybertronian weaponry such as [[mind bomb]]s and particle-based warheads. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} Around this time, eccentric tech industrialist [[G.B. Blackrock|Garrison Blackrock]] comes to prominence, head of the [[Onyx]] software and engineering firm. Unbeknownst to anyone on Earth—including ''himself''—Blackrock is a false identity constructed by [[Sovereign]]. As "Blackrock", Sovereign succeeds in collecting dozens of Transformer artifacts from their recent conflicts on Earth, including the corpses of [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] and [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] and the Enigma of Combination. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} From the former two artifacts, he creates an army of [[Seeker clone]]s for the EDC, which are augmented to combine through the energies of the Engima. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|I Dream of Wires}}

[[File:SecretRaiders-GIJoe.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."]]

Among their many anti-Transformer initiatives is "Project Spectrum", a series of experimental weapons designed to use the Transformers' chameleonic natures against them. Following the mysterious loss of Cornelius Trakker, Adventure Team alumni [[Miles Mayhem]] steps up and refines it into the "[[M.A.S.K.]]" program. {{storylink|O Ship of State|Matt Trakker profile in Revolution #3}}

The Transformer war is soon overshadowed by a new crisis on Earth: the threat of [[Cobra]], an omniscient human conspiracy centuries in the making. Joe Colton becomes the head of a [[G.I. Joe (team)|special missions team named in his honor]]. G.I. Joe's victory turns pyrrhic when their conflict leads to the nuclear devastation of [[Nanzhao]], remembered as second only to the destruction of New York in modern history. Though Cobra is no more, G.I. Joe is mothballed shortly afterwards, with some operatives like [[Ayana Jones]] transferred into the ranks of the EDC. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}
{{-}}

===2012-2013===
[[File:Mtmte-01-liarsatod-p19-panel345-boom.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wait for it...wait for it...]]
Rodimus gathers a crew of two hundred Autobots and purchases the ''Unitrex-1'' during the [[Festival of Lost Light]]. The event inspires him to rename the vessel the ''[[Lost Light]]''. Hoping to learn more about the secrets behind creating [[Phase Sixer]]s, Prowl manages to convince Rodimus to take Overlord with them in the hopes of using [[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]]'s [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgical]] skills to probe the Decepticon's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} Before they depart, Chromedome, his [[Conjunx Endura]] [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], and Ratchet discover Tailgate and take him aboard. The ''Lost Light'' departs Cybertron shortly afterwards... but the quantum engines malfunction shortly after the ship launches due to a mishap involving Overlord's slow cell {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}, and the vessel vanishes in a fiery explosion. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

[[File:TheAutonomyLesson-spaceport.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."]]
The loss of the ''Lost Light'' causes ructions between the Autobots, Decepticons, and NAILs; the latter faction believing that the Autobots are now publically discouraging anyone from leaving their shantytown. Having made the difficult choice to release the Decepticons to help keep the peace, Bumblebee is forced to put down [[Horri-Bull]] when the Decepticon oversteps his authority. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}}

Around this time, war hero and all-around do-gooder [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] decides to strike out on his own search for the Knights of Cybertron aboard his own ship, the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]''. He discovers the lost colony of [[Caminus]] and recruits three of the inhabitants—[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], and [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]—to join him on his quest. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}}

An attempt on Bumblebee's life via [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] leads to the latter's death and prompts Starscream to start working with Bumblebee's Autobots in their efforts to rebuild a functioning government. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] secretly continues Shockwave's old combiner experiments, which results in Prowl, at the end of his tether and increasingly emotionally closed-off, seemingly executing him. {{storylink|Devisive}} Ironhide salvages the situation by petitioning to have the [[inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chips]] installed in the Decepticons deactivated. {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}

After [[Barrel Roll]] dies, [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] and his crew of [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] leave Iacon to start anew in the wilderness beyond. {{storylink|Stick Together}} Ironhide then recruits the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] to try and find the missing fliers; they discover that the lands beyond Iacon have a disorienting effect on Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|Dinobot Hunt}}

[[File:Sparkeater rips The Chaos of Warm Things.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''HEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!'']]

Meanwhile in space, the ''Lost Light'' rematerializes, ''twice''; the peculiar quantum engines mean that the explosion creates a duplicate ''Lost Light'', one on-course and one off-course. The on-course ''Lost Light'' and its duplicate crew embark on a series of improbable adventures that ends when the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], on the trail of the traitorous Overlord and tipped off to his location by conflicted double agent [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]], kill everyone aboard save Rewind. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

The ''other'' ''Lost Light'', however, materializes near the edge of the galaxy, where the crew meets Skids and contends with the Sparkeater. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} The Sparkeater's rampage accidentally damages the [[slow cell]] containing Overlord, which alerts paranoid security director Red Alert to the stowaway. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

[[File:MTMTE ROE Grimlock.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Grimlock in stained glass.]]

On Cybertron, Wheeljack investigates a mysterious time machine brought to the planet by [[Turmoil]]. {{storylink|Interference Patterns}} This has repercussions across the galaxy; far away from Cybertron, Orion Pax, Hardhead, [[Garnak]], and Wheelie discover that Jhiaxus, Bludgeon, and Monstructor are carrying out a part of Shockwave's Regenesis program to alter the future using the chronologically-destabilized world of [[LV-117]], a plan involving Turmoil's time machine. Thought they thwart Jhiaxus's scheme, the planet is destroyed. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}}

On the planet [[Clemency]], a [[Scavenger (group)|band of misfit Decepticons]]—the former Foragers—stumble on [[Fulcrum]], a cowardly [[K-Class]] suicide bomber. Together, they investigate an anomalous [[Worldsweeper]] ship containing numerous strange experiments and a brain-damaged Grimlock, whom they reactivate to battle the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. The Scavengers reluctantly take him on. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Shortly afterwards, the ship chances on the planet [[Theophany]], former home of the now-missing [[Circle of Light]]. The crew discovers [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and help the struggling Titan return to Cybertron by using Brainstorm's [[mass-displacement gun]] to shrink him to a manageable size so he can safely teleport away. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

[[File:RID16 heavyisthehead.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Spoiler: this won't end well.]]

Metrotitan materializes within the ruins of [[Crystal City]], where his arrival interrupts the search for the missing Autobots. Starscream investigates, and the Titan proclaims him the "chosen one" before his destabilized molecules explode and teleport him away {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}} to [[Monument Valley]] on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}} Before Starscream can use his new standing to tip upcoming elections in his favor, Iacon is thrown into chaos when Megatron returns. {{storylink|City on Fire}}

Having experimented with [[combiner]] technology in the wake of the D-Void's defeat, Megatron has secretly collaborated with several Decepticons to perfect the process and create a new, more powerful Devastator from the remaining Constructicons... and using Prowl, who has been under Bombshell's mind control all along, as a guinea pig. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

The new Devastator lays waste to Iacon, but is defeated by Ironhide, the Dinobots, and the Aerialbots, the latter group having accidentally combined into a new combiner named [[Superion (G1)|Superion]]. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} Wheeljack sacrifices himself to neutralize Megatron, while Superion helps defeat Devastator and return Prowl to his senses. Starscream kills Metalhawk to exploit the NAILs and uses the political leverage to declare himself as the sole ruler of the "[[Republic of Cybertron]]", casting both Autobots and Decepticons out into the wilderness. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}} Starscream recruits [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] as his second-in-command and finds a useful stooge in the religiously-inclined [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] {{storylink|Three Monologues}} after taking custody of the comatose Superion and secretly placing Wheeljack into stasis. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head|Heavy Is The Head}}

A subsequent stopover on [[Hedonia]] {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}} brings the ''Lost Light'' crew into contact with a group of [[Ammonite]]s, and a game of one-upmanship goes wrong when [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] annihilates [[Terradore]] commander [[Imperius Drax]]. With Drax's successor pushing the Terradores towards a dangerous conclusion, the Ammonites join forces with Shockwave. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Megatron's defeat pushes Shockwave into accelerating the development of his Regenesis program—having evolved into an ambitious plan to end the universe so Cybertron can live forever. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

Not far away, Metroplex detects [[Ore-7]], and Shockwave dispatches his Ammonite army to reclaim the sample. The Ammonites prove incapable of bringing the Titan down, but ''are'' successful in incapacitating him with a sample of [[Ore-2]]. Having contracted an [[alchemical virus]] from exposure to the deadly ore, a grievously wounded Metroplex jettisons his thumb and the Ore-7 sample before splashing down beneath the oceans of [[Hydrophena]] to recuperate. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

Metroplex's thumb impacts the ''Lost Light'', leaving a reluctant [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] to fight off [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] and his crew of [[Titan Hunter]]s. {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}} Meanwhile, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] and a crew of Autobots cope with a leftover [[phobia shield]]. {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}

[[File:ThisCalamitousLife-legislatorfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|";"]]

When Rewind is grievously injured in a battle on [[Temptoria]], the possibility of losing his beloved sends Chromedome into a grief spiral that eventually sees him tapping Overlord's memories. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Unfortunately, Chromedome accidentally allows Overlord to escape, and Rewind has to sacrifice himself to jettison the monster from the ship. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}} Not wanting to jeopardize a great destiny he has forseen for Rodimus, Drift volunteers to take the fall for the incident and is exiled from the ship. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} Overlord's drifting body is found and taken in by the [[Galactic Council]], who rebuild and recruit him into their service. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}}

Ultra Magnus is also fatally wounded in the battle, but his body disappears from the ship's Medibay. The crew track the Magnus Armor and discover lost moon of [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} where they discover Chief Justice Tyrest, who has gone rogue and constructed a [[universal killswitch]] designed to eliminate all Transformers who were constructed cold in an act of religious genocide, helped by mad doctor [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] and knight Templar [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. The crew discovers the secret of [[Minimus Ambus]] and eventually defeat Tyrest by using their half of the Matrix to overwrite the killswitch, sacrificing their map to Cyberutopia in the process. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} Tyrest escapes, managing to teleport himself to the other side of Luna 1, where he is found and repaired by the Grand Architect. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness}}

[[File:BurningBright-Windblade.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Windblade and the Brain One is a Titan, the other's a plane!'']]

Alpha Trion makes contact with Thunderclash and persuades him to send his Camien crew members to Hydrophena, where [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] uses her [[cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] talents to tend to Metroplex's many injuries. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}}

Believing that Shockwave's plans will involve the [[Enigma of Combination]], Alpha Trion correctly deduces it to be on Earth. He travels there to retrieve it, but his vessel is shot down by the [[Earth Defense Command]] and he is taken hostage to forward the development of the EDC's weaponry. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

With his pieces in place, Shockwave puts the final pieces of his plan into play. At the request of his old student, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] manipulates Orion Pax into awakening a Titan slumbering beneath [[Gorlam Prime]] and transports it to Cybertron, transforming it into a [[zombie|undead]] "[[Quintessa (IDW)|Necrotitan]]" that lays waste to Iacon by unleashing a "death plague" that brings the dead back to life, including Metalhawk. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:BlackPlanet-bigfight.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Good; then we will fight in the shade."]]

Shockwave creates a portal to the [[Dead Universe]] to summon Nova Prime and his ancient Cybertronians. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} Bumblebee makes an alliance with Soundwave to stop this, but their strike on Shockwave's base proves only partially successful, as Galvatron reemerges before they can close the gate. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}} Gorlam Prime collapses into a Dead Universe portal, and Orion and his crew are saved by the ''Lost Light''. Orion and Hardhead venture into the rift to stop Shockwave's plot. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} Though Hardhead perishes, Orion succeeds in rescuing both Nightbeat and Kup from the thrall of the Dead Universe. In the ensuing fight against Nova Prime, Prime finally kills his villainous predecessor and retakes the title of "Optimus Prime". {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

With the ''Lost Light'' on Jhiaxus's tail, the ship makes a detour to [[Hydrophena]], where they encounter Metroplex's body, {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} his Camien caretakers, {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} and an army of Ammonites. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The crew use their ship's engines to power up the Titan and return him to Cybertron. In the ravaged remains of Iacon, Bumblebee and Megatron form a strange alliance, {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} and the Decepticon leader uses his internal space bridge to teleport Metroplex's thumb back to its rightful owner, giving Metroplex the energy to kill the Necrotitan and counter the plague. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

Unfortunately, all of this plays right into Shockwave's metaphorical hands; having lured all of the elements in his final plan to Cybertron—and having eliminated Nova Prime's control over the Dead Universe—Shockwave begins his final endgame, using Jhiaxus's [[chronal drive]] and the power of all fourteen ores to collapse all of reality into a singularity that will feed Cybertron for all eternity. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|thumb|right|250px|WHAT.]]

Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron confront Shockwave beneath Crystal City {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} while Metalhawk sacrifices himself once again to destroy the Ammonite army. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Shockwave shoots Bumblebee {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} but the Autobot's sacrifice moves Megatron—having slowly realized the error of his ways—to announce that he is changing sides. Shockwave's incredulity breaks the shadowplay, and, horrified at what he has become, he allows Optimus Prime to put him down. Crystal City collapses into a singularity and drags Bumblebee's body with it. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} Unbeknownst to anyone, however, Shockwave is not dead, instead having been sent [[#12 million BCE|twelve million years back in time]], to the dawn of Cybertronian civilisation. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

Though the Transformers have saved reality, the events of the crisis have changed Cybertron forever. In the aftermath, Autobot Megatron allows himself to stand trial for his crimes against the species, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} while the three Camiens struggle to adjust to their new lives. With the Decepticons left betrayed and rudderless, a new warrior steps up to take command... [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}
{{-}}

===2014===
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cast in the name of Primus.]]
Megatron's trial in the [[Raskol Arena]] lasts for five months, and though Megatron initially pleads guilty, Starscream's blustering testimony convinces him to change his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} The ex-Decepticon escapes immediate sentencing on a technicality. Requesting to be judged by the Knights of Cybertron, he joins the crew of the ''Lost Light'' as co-captain alongside an annoyed Rodimus. Before leaving Cybertron, he announces that the Decepticon cause has failed and that all active Decepticons are to stand down. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}

[[File:DetonationBoulevard-galvatronandedc.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Awkward!'']]

Those Decepticons still loyal to the cause rally under Galvatron's new banner. Soundwave joins Galvatron's splinter group, announcing that they will follow the ''true'' Decepticon path and seek peace. Galvatron leads his new troops to [[Earth]], where they meet with [[Sparkplug Witwicky|General Witwicky]] and [[Marissa Faireborn|Director Faireborn]]. The neo-Decepticons convince the skeptical humans of their good intentions by telling them that Megatron has defected to the Autobots, though Galvatron openly chafes under the idea of working alongside humans. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} In exchange for aid against the Autobots, G.B. Blackrock sponsors the construction of [[Sanctuary Station]] in orbit around Jupiter, which will house the new Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

As the Autobots and their new allies settle in, Optimus Prime decides to lead a small crew of Autobots (and Prowl's Constructicon hangers-on) back to Earth aboard the ''[[Ark-7]]'' in search of Alpha Trion. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}

Metroplex transforms into his city mode and links up with the ruins of Iacon, providing housing, power, and infrastructure for any in need. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} In time, a "ghetto" of Decepticons springs up around his outskirts, while the Autobots and NAILs live inside the Titan. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} Though alive, Metroplex is barely functional, and over several months Windblade slowly nurses him back to health. {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} As Metroplex recovers, he begins searching for his Titan brethren, scattered throughout the galaxy. Eventually, he locates [[Navitas]] on [[Velocitron]], [[Chela]] on [[Eukaris]], the remains of the [[Devisiun (Titan)|dead Titan]] on [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} and [[Vigilem|Carcer]], disguised as Metroplex’s lost brother [[Tempo]]. {{storylink|Rubicon}} Though most of the colonies have survived their millennia of isolation unscathed, one world is not so lucky: [[Micronus Prime]]'s colony world of [[Mini-Con]]s is sterilized by the robophobic [[Black Block Consortia]]. The sole survivor, a young female named [[Nickel]], joins the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] when they happen on the planet days after the attack. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

[[File:ABotAndHerCity-metroplexsbrain.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''They're Windblade and the Brain Yes, Windblade and the Brain Their robotic campaign, is easy to explain'']]

[[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] comes to the conclusion that Cybertron is too dangerous for Windblade to stay, and engineers a public crisis that will allow her access to Metroplex's space bridge by surreptitiously bombing districts within Metroplex. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} Windblade investigates and repeatedly clashes with Starscream {{storylink|A Long Way Down}}, who has by this point established the [[Badgeless]] troopers as enforcers of his will. {{storylink|Windblade issue 3|Windblade #3}} Windblade is horrified when she learns the truth, but strikes an uneasy deal with Starscream in the name of the greater good: in exchange for keeping Chromia's crimes hidden, Windblade will allow Starscream to contact the ''other'' lost colony worlds, help her impoverished home and rebuild the Cybertronian empire with himself at the helm. Though her friend walks free, Windblade is left conflicted by her friend's duplicity and her own moral compromise. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}}

[[File:Full Fathom Five Alpha Trion.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Old Primes never die, they just get to be lab rats.]]

Entering Earth's orbit, the ''[[Ark-7]]'' runs up against post-invasion humanity, who deploy sophisticated orbital defense systems derived from Cybertronian technology against them. Sneaking to Earth aboard Sky Lynx, Optimus, Kup, and Jazz encounter [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]], who has gone native on Earth and turned his love of television into a career as an aspiring screenwriter. Thundercracker and his new pet [[Buster (IDW)|Buster]] are bait, however, and the Earth Defence Command arrives to arrest the Autobots. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} The Autobots flee to the town of [[Poverty Flat]], where Prowl and the Constructicons deploy Devastator against their foes. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}} The Autobots escape custody and return to their ship, where they trace the development of the "[[mind bomb]]" to an EDC base on [[Marshall Islands|Bikini Atoll]]. The Autobots manage to infiltrate the facility, where they discover and free Alpha Trion. In the conflict, Galvatron kills General Witwicky. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

Trion explains the sordid history behind the Enigma of Combination, prompting the Autobots under Prowl's command to search for it {{storylink|The Crucible}} while Optimus returns to Cybertron. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches|Signals, Calls, and Marches}}
A globetrotting chase across the world ensues as Prowl's Autobots race Galvatron's Decepticons to find the artifact before the Decepticon leader can destroy it. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|Vs.}} {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} As they close on the Enigma, Prowl and his Constructicons form an unlikely alliance with Spike Witwicky to infiltrate Blackrock's Onyx facility in [[China]]. Devastator's hatred of Spike jeopardizes the mission and causes him to lose control of the Enigma to the Decepticons… who in turn, lose it to Starscream's double-agent Scoop, who has been working within the Decepticons as a mole. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} {{storylink|The Onyx Interface Conclusion: The Obliterati|The Obliterati}}

[[File:TheRoadNotTaken-ChromedomeRewind.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''[Feels intensify]'']]

In deep space, Megatron continues to grapple with his legacy while dealing with the less-than-accepting crew of the ''Lost Light'', including his old nemesis [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} A freak transmission and a mysterious coffin causes the ''Lost Light'' and its crewmembers to start disappearing, a phenomenon caused by their approach to the quantum duplicate of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The ''Lost Light'' crew investigates the wreckage of the ship and discovers the "other" Rewind, who is reunited with his beloved Chromedome. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} {{storylink|Slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} Immediately afterwards, Brainstorm, who has been perfecting the development of a portable [[time case]], takes the ''Lost Light'' crew out of commission and escapes backwards through history with the intention of talking Megatron out of starting the war and saving [[Quark]] from his eventual fate. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} A team of Autobots chase Brainstorm across time to prevent a [[Functionist Universe|alternate timeline]] from overwriting reality entirely and succeed in preventing the increasingly desperate scientist from killing Megatron at the moment of his creation—but not without creating some critically important time loops along the way. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

[[File:ThePermanentRevolution-goingtowar.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Good god, y'all.]]

Ratchet decides, after some soul-searching, to leave the ''Lost Light'' and go off in search of his friend [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} He tracks the wayward Autobot to the outer rim of the [[galaxy]], and joins Drift in confronting his old commander [[Megatron (RID)|Gigatron]] and [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]] over an [[Stone Army|army of ancient automatons]]. Ratchet agrees to help Drift, but only if he promises to return to the ''Lost Light'' at the conclusion of their adventure. {{storylink|The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|Drift: Empire of Stone}}

Learning of Megatron's defection from a postwar edition of his [[Towards Peace|manifesto]], Tarn briefly despairs, but his grief hardens into a resolve to kill Megatron, whom he considers a traitor. He joins forces with [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s troops in preparation for all-out war against Megatron. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

With Windblade's repairs on Metroplex nearing completion, Optimus arrives on Cybertron and helps bring Autobot serial killer [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], who has been exerting vengeance on war criminals who went unpunished, to justice. {{storylink|The Transformers: Punishment|Punishment}}
{{-}}

===2015===
[[File:TheSumAndItsParts-OptimusMatrix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Starring: Space Jesus, Space Peter, and Space Judas.]]
Starscream resuscitates Wheeljack to help repair Superion with the help of the Enigma and aid Windblade on Metroplex's space bridge. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}} Having established a stable link between the two worlds, Cybertron prepares to make official "first contact"with Caminus after millions of years of mutual isolation. Starscream uses both Menasor and Superion to stage a combiner attack on the planet to win them over, but discovers that the Camiens, like most colonists, consider Optimus Prime to be a divine being, and immediately fall behind him on learning of his existence. {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} Caminus's leader, the [[Mistress of Flame]], comes to believes that Optimus is the "Arisen", the legendary Thirteenth Prime, a belief not held by Pyra Magna or her Torchbearers. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}}

[[File:Optimusmaximus.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"You have failed. We will find another way."]]

Windblade and Optimus collaborate to undermine Starscream's imperialism from within, and manipulate him into announcing the formation of the "[[Council of Worlds]]", a democratic parliament where Cybertron and its colonies will all have an equal voice. {{storylink|The Possible Light}} Infuriated by news of Starscream's scheme, Prowl and the Constructicons arrive on Cybertron to forcibly cut the planet off from the rest of the galaxy, but Starscream stops them by creating [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] from the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], a group of ''Lost Light'' delegates. {{storylink|Mistakes and Mayhem}} Starscream takes custody of Devastator and rebuilds him to incorporate Scoop, forcing the combiner into obeying him. Rattrap, who is secretly a double agent working for Prowl, releases Prowl from prison and gives him the Enigma. {{storylink|You, Me, and the Universe}}

When Devastator and Menasor go berserk, Prowl uses the Enigma on himself, Prime, and several other Autobots to create [[Optimus Maximus (G1)|Optimus Maximus]], who battles Devastator in a fight that spans across the lost colonies. Swindle leads a riot at Metroplex's space bridge; he is shot and presumed dead,{{storylink|All That Remains}} but Rattrap and Wheeljack secretly hide the brain-damaged Cybertronian, knowing that he has incriminating information on Starscream. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} The rogue combiners are defeated, paving the way for the creation of the Council of Worlds. Across the other colonies, the inhabitants are alerted to the fact that Cybertron still exists, and prepare for their own first contacts with their ancestral homeworld. {{storylink|All That Remains}} Optimus visits Prowl to try and reconcile, but the increasingly unstable tactician rejects his attempts. Their disagreement escalates into a full-on fistfight, and Rattrap has no choice but to spirit Prowl's broken body to safety. On Earth, Galvatron and Arcee arrange a clandestine meeting, where Galvatron reveals the otherworldly source behind [[G.B. Blackrock]]'s Onyx operating code. {{storylink|Now and On Earth}}

[[File:TheWillOfTheFew-councilofworlds.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bots of the Square Table.]]

Arcee travels to Cybertron and steals the Enigma, hoping to ensure that nobody else can be changed against their will. Windblade and Chromia track her to the [[Rust Sea]], where they encounter Pyra Magna's group of Torchbearers. An accident leads to the creation of [[Victorion]], the first Camien combiner. The Enigma is returned to its proper place, with Starscream none the wiser, while the Torchbearers opt to remain in the Rust Sea. {{storylink|An Uneventful Night}} Starscream and Windblade race each other to try and recruit more colonies into the Council of Worlds; after some adventuring, they succeed in convincing the citizens of [[Velocitron]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Eukaris]], and "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]" to join. {{storylink|The Will of the Few}}

In space, a visit to the Vis Vitalis for Thunderclash's "pre-wake" sees the legendary Autobot, and the Camien medic [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]], join the Lost Light's crew after they save the other ship from an infestation of "[[personality tick]]s". {{storylink|The Frail Gaze}} A series of whimsical events leads to the ''Lost Light'' crew braving the holographic "[[Swearth]]" in search of Swerve {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}}, which, in turn, leads them to the [[Necroworld]], where they meet [[Mortilus|Censere]]. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} A discussion regarding the Necrobot's passivity inspires Censere to use one of Brainstorm's discarded [[time case]]s to start travelling back in time and rescuing the "Disappeared" before they can vanish from history, storing them in stasis pods before they can overcome their timesickness. Among those brought to the present are [[Anode]] and [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]]. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Come into my Noisemaze, said the spider to the bot.]]

At some point after this, Prowl is kidnapped by his old comrade [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]], who has escaped from the [[Noisemaze]] and recruited [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], a post-war terrorist group sporting experimental biomechanical [[beast mode]]s, to capture a terminally ill [[Verity Carlo]] and [[Stakeout (G1)|Stakeout]] for the Aequitas data they carry. Prowl's capture necessitates the return of the Wreckers, who assemble to rescue the disgraced strategist. Their mission takes them into the Noisemaze, where Prowl rejects Tarantulas's offer of an alliance. The Wreckers manage to free Prowl; Kup and Arcee finally sever ties with him and return to the ''Ark-7''. {{storylink|The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers|Sins of the Wreckers}}

Aboard the ''Lost Light'', crewmember [[Getaway]] decides that enough is enough and makes a move to incriminate Megatron by grooming Tailgate into performing a suicide mission. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}} In case this fails, he also plans a large-scale mutiny, taking advantage of the crew's resentment of Megatron's presence and Rodimus's increasingly erratic leadership; Getaway also convinces them that the captains plan to have him locked up on trumped-up charges, which results in the crew having doubts when he is imprisoned for his attempt to manipulate Tailgate into his death. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} A subsequent encounter with [[Froid]] and [[Sunder (G1)|Sunder]] results in a super-powered Tailgate, while Megatron decides to permanently lay down arms in the name of pacifism. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}
{{-}}

===2016===
[[File:AHO-earthannexed.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Got tired of whining A grander scheme with silver lining For every boy and girl'']]
The formation of the Council of Worlds brings great changes to Cybertron; Transformers from all five colonies start immigrating to Iacon, and the mix of cultures and traditions bolsters the rebuilding city. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Choose Me}} This new optimism has little effect on the increasingly frazzled Starscream, who starts experiencing recurring hallucinations of Bumblebee—who, unbeknownst to anyone, still lives within the Crystal City singularity. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Unsure of his place in this rapidly changing society, Optimus Prime finds a sympathetic ear in [[Aileron]], a young Camien who persuades him to seek out the Torchbearers. They do so, and Pyra Magna vows to build the agnostic Optimus into a worthy Prime. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} At the same time, Galvatron begins recruiting new Decepticons on Cybertron, intending to restart the war on Earth via the space bridge network. {{storylink|The Transgressors}}

The Dinobots accept a secret mission from Camien-turned-Decepticon sympathizer [[Swift (G1)|Swift]]: transporting a payload of Sparks into the Cybertronian wilderness. They contend with [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s latest wave of experiments and succeed in reigniting [[Alyon]]'s old hot spot, gaining [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] as the newest member of their team. {{storylink|The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption}}

[[File:RageRage-Megatronappears.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The old man's back again.]]

The faith the colonists place in Optimus pushes him into making ever more reckless decisions, and when Galvatron launches a unilateral attack on Earth, Optimus responds by using his authority to annex Earth into the Council of Worlds, permanently placing it under Cybertronian protection {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} His actions throw both worlds into chaos; on Earth, the Earth Defense Command forms an alliance with the [[People's Liberation Army Mecha Force]] to prepare for total war against the Cybertronians, while on Cybertron, Starscream galvanizes the Council against Prime's actions. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}} Blackrock, his status as a mechanical imposter fully revealed, forges an alliance of convenience with Galvatron's Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 4: It's Beginning To And Back Again|It's Beginning To And Back Again}} Seeking a new advantage, Optimus travels to Sanctuary Station and blackmails Soundwave's Decepticons into joining him and taking down Galvatron. The Autobots battle the Decepticons underwater, where Galvatron uses the powers of the Enigma against his foes before Superion sacrifices himself by de-combining for good to neutralize Blackrock's Enigma code. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above... So Below}}

On Earth, events come to a head in [[Monument Valley]], where Optimus, at Alpha Trion's urging, uses his control over Titans to summon Metrotitan. Optimus summoning a holy Titan convinces the colonists that Prime is, indeed, the Thirteenth Prime, and that Earth is a lost colony of Cybertron, which swings public opinion back his way. Prime, Arcee, and Soundwave subsequently pursue Galvatron to [[Jupiter]], where Prime finally kills the ancient warrior. Hoping to repair relations with humankind, Optimus orders Metrotitan to transform and dubs the Titan "[[Autobot City (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Autobot City]]", an embassy for Cybertronians on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

In space, the mutinous crew of the ''Lost Light'' make their move against Rodimus and his crew by luring them to the [[Necroworld]] under the guise of a psychic attack and stranding them there. What they ''don't'' know is that Getaway has made a deal with the [[Galactic Council]] to hand over Megatron—and even he is unaware that the Decepticon Justice Division has finally tracked down Megatron, and that the Decepticon forces have assembled to take out the traitor and his allies. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} The Galactic Council arrives and deploys their new asset Overlord against Megatron. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} With the help of the returned Ratchet and Drift—and through Skids's own self sacrifice—the crew manage to repel Deathsaurus's troops; Megatron renounces his pacifism and takes up arms once more to finally put down the DJD for good. In the aftermath, the crew discovers the fate of the time-hopping "Disappeared". Megatron is finally reunited with his old friend [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]... moments before a GC [[geobomb]] detonates inside the planet. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

On the Lost Light, the crew are shocked to learn both about Getaway's deal with the council and that he used his nudge gun to erase the memories of those who would not agree to the coup. Getaway pacifies them by lying that the council promised not to harm anyone but Megatron, but his subsequent efforts to alter the terms of the deal ends in failure. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

[[File:ModesOfProduction-tractorbeam.jpg|thumb|left|300px|They're heeeere!]]

The detonation of the geobomb shunts the entire Necroworld into an [[Functionist Universe|alternate reality]] created by Brainstorm's time-travel misadventures. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising|Bad Moon Rising}} Rodimus and a small crew of Autobots attempt to teleport back to Cybertron, only to find themselves on the wrong Cybertron! {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} The [[Functionism|Functionist]] Cybertron stands on the brink of extermination, and the arrival of the Autobots threatens to push the uneasy peace completely over the brink. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} The [[Functionist Council]] eventually deploy their [[Moonbase Two|ultimate weapon]] against Cybertron, and Megatron steps up to lead the counterattack and rallies the [[Anti-Vocationist League]]. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} Most of the Autobots return to their home universe, but Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron joins the League and begins again, this time basing his revolution on "peace through empathy". On Necroworld, Anode—having been hallucinating Lug still being alive thanks to her timesickness—manages to resurrect her using the widowed metal "snowflake" and traces of Lug's spark energy in Necroworld's flowers. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

On the "real" Cybertron, Windblade and the other Council members continue to keep the peace {{storylink|07:00:00}} while Starscream hires exiled [[Eukaris|Eukarian]] [[Fateweaver]] [[Airachnid (G1)|Airachnid]] to search for Swindle's body in the hopes of permanently silencing the loose end. {{storylink|The Price of You}} {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Increasing tensions between the [[Badgeless]] and the civilians prompt [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to step up and reform Cybertronian security. {{storylink|Applicable Skills}} Chromia and Windblade continue to search for Swindle's body as Airachnid surreptitiously racks up a mnemosurgical murder spree, while [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] joins the Badgeless to bring down their organization from within. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Their inquiry ends when Rattrap and Wheeljack reveal the location of Swindle's body. The Combaticons use the Enigma to probe Swindle's mind and merge into [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], who attacks Iacon. Ironhide's new recruits bring down the combiner, but in the aftermath Chromia confesses to her old crimes and is sent to jail. {{storylink|The Line Between Us}}

Prompted by Getaway, Perceptor manages to find "the [[Warren]]", a series of quantum tunnels that the Lost Light crew can use to reach Cyberutopia, but this "victory" is stymied by the Lost Light finally receiving the "last will and testament" of the crew, broadcast from Necroworld, which reveals their apparent imminent deaths at the hands of the Decepticon Justice Division. Despite Getaway's flustered insistence that the transmission is a fake, the crew is horrified and wants to go back for them, leading Getaway to use his nudge gun to memory-wipe Thunderclash and Riptide, though—unbeknownst to him—it fails on the latter. Getaway has Froid and Sunder released from the ship's brig so that Sunder can use his remote mnemosurgery abilities to trap Thunderclash in a memory loop and make the crew forget the transmission; though Getaway initially balks at Sunder's demand for twenty-five [[life cord]]s to feast on in exchange, he quickly comes around. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}}

The [[President of the United States]], furious at the EDC's recent failures, dissolves the organization in favor of [[Joe Colton (Dire Wraith)|Joe Colton]], leading a revitalized team of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] veterans. {{storylink|White Light}} What she doesn't know is that Joe Colton and several G.I. Joe troopers have been replaced by [[Dire Wraith]]s. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The real Colton, having survived the Dire Wraith attack, takes on the identity of Baron Ironblood and joins up with Garrison Kreiger, intending to solve the Cybertronian problem by other means. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[File:WhiteLight-bodyjackinginfinitus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"SHUT UP, DAMMIT!"]]

Metrotitan broadcasts a message to the galaxy at large... a message that reaches Cybertron and awakens [[Infinitus]] from his long slumber beneath [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]]. Disgusted at what Cybertron has become, "Sentinel Prime" returns to life and rampages through Iacon before bridging to Earth. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}} There, he captures G.B. Blackrock and forcibly awakens his "Sovereign" persona {{storylink|White Light}} before leaving for Prion with Soundwave and Optimus. Claiming to be the herald of Onyx Prime's return, Sentinel attempts and fails to convince Optimus to stand with him. {{storylink|White Light}} Subsequently, Infinitus and Sovereign travel to [[Moonbase One|Luna One]], where Infinitus uses his powers to reactivate the Titan graveyard and send them to "cleanse" Cybertron. Infinitus perishes and Fortress Maximus, Red Alert, and Prowl manage to send his fleet of Titans off-course so that it will take months for them to reach Cybertron. {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}}

On Necroworld, the stranded ''Lost Light''ers prepare to attempt re-contact with Cybertron using a [[Skip|convenient alt-mode]] they found amongst the dead Decepticons. Tailgate accepts treatment for his [[Outlier|hyperactive spark]], but a vengeful [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]] buries him for another six million years {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|After Megatron}} before taking control of Necroworld with his fellow Decepticon Disappeared, until Fortress Maximus and his team arrive in response to Team Rodimus's "last will and testament". {{storylink|Sardines}}

The "Rod Squad"'s first stop is [[Troja Major]], where they seek to obtain a new map to Cyberutopia from [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]'s contact [[Agonizer]]; however, Nautica has an ulterior motive for travelling to the planet, seeking to use the [[Carthasian]] [[Mengel]]'s Resus Cradle to resurrect Skids from his brain module. Meanwhile, Anode and Lug meet up with her old co-worker [[Wipe-Out]], but soon find themselves under attack from both the Black Block Consortia and the forces of the [[Adaptus|Grand Architect]], led by [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]]. {{storylink|An Axe to Break the Ice}} Anode, Lug and Wipe-Out escape, and Flame's troops instead pursue their more important target—a newborn Transformer known as the "[[Infinite]]", capable of turning into anything—to Mengel's lab. Nautica manages to break out of Mengel's siphon and escape from the Grand Architect's men before losing her friendship with Velocity, which Mengel had demanded as payment for Skids's resurrection, but loses her emotional connection to her memories of Skids in the process. Flame and his men recover the Resus Cradle, which is actually the Magnificence, and deliver it to Scorponok. {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}} The Grand Architect moves his plans into their final phase, using the Black Block Consortia, which he has infiltrated and taken over, to clear the Benzene cluster of life so that he can use its threadbare space to banish the threat he had seen so long before. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}}

Around three weeks into Skip's journey, tensions start to flare during a prank war between the bored Swerve and Anode; things come to a head when the crew recieve news from Fortress Maximus on Necroworld that Tailgate has apparently spontaneously combusted, leading a grief-stricken Cyclonus to inadvertently wound Rewind with his Great Sword. As fighting breaks out aboard the ship, Skip's [[Size changing|mass-shifting]] begins wearing off, causing the dead Decepticon to shrink, threatening to crush the crew. {{storylink|Sardines}} Ten, having apparently gained the ability to speak—in reality, the Omega Guardians manipulating the crew by speaking through him—attempts to rally the other Autobots to save the de-materializing Ratchet by plotting a course through the Warren to Mederi.<ref name="LLTimeline">The Lost Light timeline relative to the rest of the universe takes... a lot of {{w|No-Prize|No-Prizing}} to figure out. Despite [https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1062091397271089152 ''Crucible'' taking place simultaneously to ''Unicron''], the characters indicate that from their perspective it was only four weeks between ''Dissolution'' and ''Crucible'', rather than ''two years''. This can be fixed by assuming that the characters' various trips through the Warren took them through time as well as space... but we're also going to assume that Scorponok's transmat portal had similar time-bending consequences, as otherwise, timeline crossover means we'd have to conclude that it took years for Mirage and the Protectobots to catch up with the ''Lost Light''. James Roberts encourages us not to try and do the mathematics.</ref> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

[[File:TheNewColossus-thisendsnow.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Behold the power of brand synergy*! (* [[Synergy]] not included.)]]

Several months pass, and humanity and Cybertronians uneasily coexist on Earth in spite of the Autobot's continued humanitarian efforts. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} All this changes when extradimensional warlord [[Baron Karza]], hailing from [[Micronus Prime]]'s dying dimension of [[Microspace]], sets his sights on Earth's ample supplies of [[Ore-13]], which he can use to save his universe. {{storylink|The New Colossus}} He cuts a deal with the [[Dire Wraith]]s and [[Miles Mayhem]] and begins transporting supplies of the ore into his dimension, which has the side effect of destabilizing the ore on Earth and threatening the planet with nuclear annihilation. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} Believing the Cybertronians at fault, “Colton” seeks out Miles Mayhem, who gears up to deploy [[M.A.S.K.]] in the field by using his captive [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] as a source of scientific development. {{storylink|Secret Raiders: A Revolution Prelude|Secret Raiders}}

Colton deploys G.I. Joe in [[Portland]] against Jazz and Arcee; during the battle, [[Rom]] arrives and immediately kills the false Colton. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} The Autobots pursue Rom while [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] relocates to Earth to deal with the malfunctioning Metrotitan, and a [[Cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] session catapults her into Microspace. {{storylink|Informed}} Thundercracker defends the President from a Dire Wraith incursion {{storylink|Thundercracker & Buster Save the World}} while [[Action Man]] leads a daring heist to rescue Kup from MASK captivity. {{storylink|The Modern World}} The heroic [[Micronaut]]s cut a deal with their nemesis Karza and travel to our dimension. {{storylink|The New Colossus}}

[[File:ValleyForge-MonsterKarza.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"''Enerchange''."]]
The Scavengers briefly stop by Earth, where they befriend washed-up G.I. Joe recruit [[MP3]] and Crankcase's [[CONS4EVA|online boyfriend]]—in reality a pacifistic Dire Wraith—as part of a mystical "[[Crossover]]". {{storylink|Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!}} Abandoned by Galvatron's Decepticons, Skywarp throws his lot in with the newest incarnation of G.I. Joe, a grudging alliance until the humans can repair the Seeker's onboard teleportation systems. {{storylink|D.T.A.}}

Miles Mayhem, M.A.S.K., and the Dire Wraiths launch an assault on Autobot City, which turns into a free-for-all when Baron Karza arrives. Only by teaming up do the heroes manage to force the villain back into Microspace and neutralize Earth's remaining stores of Ore-13. In the aftermath, Optimus Prime and his new allies realize that they will have to defend Earth together, as equals. {{storylink|Valley Forge}}

[[File:Desperate Times - Depth Of My Pettiness.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Nothing more need be said.]]

Windblade returns to Cybertron just in time for Sentinel Prime's fleet of [[zombie|undead]] titans to make planetfall on Cybertron. The Republic of Cybertron musters its defenses and prepares to fight back… {{storylink|Ping}} but their efforts aren't enough, and as a result Starscream orders his troops to storm [[Vigilem|Carcer]] against the wishes of its commander [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] and force the Titan to transform. {{storylink|Desperate Times}} Windblade joins the infiltration team, but is horrified when she learns she has awoken Vigilem after years of slumber. {{storylink|Desperate Measures (Till All Are One)|Desperate Measures}} Vigilem destroys the zombie Titans, but proves too much for Windblade to control. Metroplex releases Chromia to help her, and Elita One manages to kill the Titan… but not before Vigilem disgorges Liege Maximo, the Prime teleporting away to places unknown. {{storylink|Rubicon}}

Baron Karza, having built a new army after being sent back to Microspace, invades Earth to create a new home for his people; Enerchanging with Micronus Prime's body, Karza uses its power to defeat and capture Optimus Prime, Arcee and Jazz, while his forces neutralise M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 1|Wrath of Karza #1}} Though his armies almost manage to conquer the planet, he is stopped by the Micronauts, who release the Autobots from Karza's orbital prison to fight him. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 4|Wrath of Karza #4}} Karza is forced to team up with the Autobots when his wife, [[Shazraella]], starts using the power of the Entropy Cloud that has consumed Microspace, but they are unable to defeat her. Shazraella is eventually stopped when the Micronauts' leader, [[Oziron Rael]], ascends to become one of the Time Travelers and separates her from the source of her power; the Time Travelers arrange to have spacebridges created between Microspace and Earth, with Optimus pledging to help welcome any ambassadors of Microspace to the planet. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 5|Wrath of Karza #5}}
{{-}}

===2017===
[[File:ToWalkAmongTheChosen-NewAutobots.jpg|thumb|right|250px|They'll let anyone be 'chosen' these days.]]
Optimus Prime's adventures prove inspirational enough to recruit a whole new generation of idealistic Autobots, recruited from the colonies and religiously devoted to their leader. With his new recruits, Prime and the Autobots continue their mission of global peacekeeping while preparing Earth to join the Council. This uneasy status quo is thrown into doubt when the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s arrive on Earth, hoping to rebuild their world using Earth's supplies of Ore-13. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}} A series of mutual misunderstandings caused by Prime's increasing ruthlessness escalate the crisis to the point of all-out war between the Transformers and Junkions, as Soundwave uses Megatron's ''original'' words to turn the Junkions' servant [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] against their masters, {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost|Future Glories Lost}} but Optimus salvages the situation at the last moment by convincing his troops to lay down arms. {{storylink|New Cybertron End: Feel Safe Without Regrets|Feel Safe Without Regrets}}

The Junkions relocate to an abandoned EDC base to start the construction of "[[Little Cybertron]]", but [[Slide]], who has lost her brother [[Oiler]] in the hostilities, is unable to forgive the Junkions and finds herself being groomed by an increasingly ambitious Pyra Magna, who has grown tired of Prime's leadership, {{storylink|What It's Really Like}} even as Optimus and Pyra tentatively bury their hatchet...for now. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Jazz, in an effort to increase understanding between humans and Cybertronians, agrees to an interview with [[Hector Ramirez]], but the interview is used as a trap by G.I. Joe, who seek to apprehend him for his killing of John Powell years before. Jazz escapes thanks to a tip-off from Optimus Prime. {{storylink|What It's Really Like}}

[[File:LostLight12 smite the abomination.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Who would win? a) A powerful gestalt being formed of six Autobots through mystical and ancient technology b) One sword-wielding boi]]
After months in space, the Protectobots and [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] finally catch up with the ''Lost Light'' where they are all, First Aid in particular, caught off guard by the change in command and the resulting changes aboard ship as well the myriad of suspicious activities and attitudes. At a private meeting, they are approached by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] who confesses the truth behind the mutiny against Rodimus and his role therein. Simultaneously however, Getaway and his loyalists corner them forcing the Protectobots into a running firefight to try and escape the ship only to be subdued and placed within a memory loop, {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 1): Full Circle|Full Circle}} while Riptide is forced into the ship's oil reservoir, which has been filled with [[scraplet]]s. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 2): Filling in the Blanks|Filling in the Blanks}} To secure his control of the ship, Getaway contacts Star Saber, hiring him as an enforcer.

As the ''Lost Light'' makes multiple trips through the Warren, in order to deal with his co-conspirator [[Atomizer]]'s growing doubts, Getaway forces him to execute the comatose [[Rook (Generations)|Rook]] to prevent the Protectobots from forming Defensor; however, Riptide, who survived his dip in the oil reservoir, awakens the comatose Autobots to help them escape. The Protectobots retrieve the corpse of Ambulon from the ship's morgue to use as the combiner's leg, but even the combined might of Thunderclash, Mirage and Defensor is no match for Star Saber, who cuts them down where they stand. Thunderclash, Riptide and First Aid are able to escape the ship thanks to Atomizer turning on Getaway, but the captain murders Atomizer with his bare hands in response before the ship emerges from the Warren at its destination.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}}

During a misadventure on the planet [[Frayus]], the Scavengers are caught in a three-way fight between the Galactic Council, the Black Block Consortia, and Deathsaurus and Nickel's Decepticons. They are rescued by Agonizer, who uses a portal to bring them to Troja Major, with Nickel inadvertently being brought with them. {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} Agonizer hires the Scavengers to retrieve the Magnificence from Flame on the planet [[Confluence]], but after they arrive they are captured by Flame's master Scorponok; {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} however, the group is able to escape after Nickel and Spinister manage to treat the symptoms of Grimlock's brain damage, restoring the Dinobot to his "old self". Discovering that Scorponok has created an organic baby called the [[Firstborn]], the first of a race of "organic Decepticons" containing Cybertronian sparks, the Scavengers take the baby and the Magnificence and flee; Grimlock takes the Firstborn and fights his way out, while the other Scavengers and the Magnificence are sent through Scorponok's transmat portal.<ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} Grimlock is picked up by First Aid and crew, who drop the Firstborn off at Troja Major and repair Thunderclash before setting off in search of the Lost Light on a ship chartered from [[Wipe-Out]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 1): A Dance Before Dying|A Dance Before Dying}}
[[File:Salvation - Trypticon.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, he pulls the spitting high-tension wires down.]]
On Cybertron, Starscream—increasingly "haunted" by the "ghost" of Bumblebee {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}—picks up the pieces from the leftover Titan crisis; as part of a deal between himself and the Mistress of Flame, he releases Chromia into the Mistress's custody so that she can hunt down and kill Liege Maximo. {{storylink|Heavy}} He subsequently has Airachnid alter the memories of the Combaticons and turn them into loyal bodyguards for his own purposes. {{storylink|The Price of You}} Meanwhile Bludgeon reawakens Trypticon, intending to lay waste to the galaxy in the name of Cybertron; the Dinobots, Sandstorm, and Trypticon defeat him, sparks Bludgeon had harvested from the Alyon hotspot subsequently developing into a wave of newborn protoforms within the belly of the beastial Titan. Starscream takes Bludgeon into custody, and manages to revive Slug—who was killed by Sandstorm while hunting Bludgeon—using a corrupted Sweep spark. {{storylink|The Transformers: Salvation|Salvation}} {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

[[File:StrangeVisitors-CenturionMeetsTheAutobots.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Remember me, from two-thirds up the page? I still exist!]]

In the country of [[Schleteva]], G.B. Blackrock investigates the Talisman and provokes a crisis aboveground when his recklessness transforms civilians into Dire Wraiths. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} He, [[Action Man]], [[Ayana Jones]], and Kup team up to chase the Talisman across the globe and beyond in the hopes of returning Ayana's G.I. Joe comrades to normal, encountering a villainous alliance—the [[Iron Ring]]—of foes such as [[Joe Colton|Baron Ironblood]], the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]]s, {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} and [[Centurion (IDW)|Centurion]], the last of the living Maximal Autobots... even as the frozen corpse of Domitius Major is examined by the forces of Ironblood and [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]]. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} The Revolutionaries break into Kreiger's [[Project Ice Man]] compound and capture Kreiger while also reuniting with the time lost [[Sgt. Savage]]. {{storylink|Power and Glory}} Before they can transfer the Talisman and Kreiger over to G.I. Joe however, Baron Ironblood attacks with Savage unmasking him as Joe Colton. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Blackrock proves able to use his connection to the Talisman and his Titan Master powers to heal the infected the mutates Verenyans via Metrotitan's Space Bridge, a wave that somehow releases the consciousness of the deceased [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]] into the body of Centurion. Nonetheless, Colton's alliance proves able to escape with the Talisman with it sending another mutagenic wave that the new Centurion shields Action Man from before returning to life and explaining his recovery. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

[[Windblade's doctor]] informs Starscream of his discovery that Vigilem downloaded his mind into Windblade's before his death, and that it is slowly killing her. After some deliberation, Starscream has Airachnid connect his mind to Windblade's so that he can save her, despite the risk to his own life. {{storylink|If I Know You}} Entering Windblade's mind, he intervenes to stop Vigilem from killing her, but Vigilem begins to take control of Starscream's body. However, on looking into Starscream's memories, Windblade sees his creation through cold construction; in response, she "forges" Starscream's spark to create a projection of his"true form"—the form he would have taken had he been forged, rather constructed cold. With Starscream forcing Vigilem back into Windblade's mind, she destroys the Titan within her spark, allowing the two to awaken. {{storylink|Your First Mistake}}

With Sideswipe's health increasingly deteriorating, the Autobots humanely shut down his CR chamber. {{storylink|The Life of Sideswipe}} Soon afterwards, Alpha Trion recounts the origin of the Autobot symbol to Optimus Prime, Starscream and Pyra Magna before the President calls to announce that [[Marissa Faireborn]] has been chosen to represent Earth on the Council of Worlds. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

[[File:FirstStrike6-Merklynn.jpg|thumb|right|270px|"I turned myself into an alien wizard, Colton! Boom! Big reveal!"]]
At the official induction ceremony, Colton's alliance attacks {{storylink|First Strike issue 1|First Strike #1}} before heading into the depths of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] to deploy the Talisman, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} leaving behind their army of [[Iron Grenadier]]s, [[Dreadnok]]s and [[Red Shadows]], with [[Doctor Mindbender]] in the Baron Ironblood costume as a distraction. {{storylink|First Strike issue 3|First Strike #3}} During the attack, the mercenary [[Colditz]] and a trio of Red Shadows are sent to retrieve the Centurion/Mike Power hybrid, who apparently willingly rejoins his side, kidnapping Blackrock in the process. Arcee and the remaining "[[Revolutionaries (team)|Revolutionaries]]" head into the Cybertronian wilderness after them. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dawn}} Centurion actually intends to take revenge on Kreiger, but Colditz has actually been ordered to take him into the wilderness to ensure that he doesn't interfere with the villain's plans with his connection to the Talisman. The Revolutionaries manage to talk the overloading Centurion down, but he is left in [[stasis lock]] and unable to help them against the Iron Ring. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dusk}}

Meanwhile on Earth, [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] and [[M.A.S.K.]] contact [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] to reach Cybertron and stop Colton, {{storylink|First Strike issue 2|First Strike #2}} only to be thrown in jail under charges of suspicion by Starscream. Sunstreaker and Ironhide head underground to try and kill Colton but the human general manages to outmaneuver them and escape Metroplex. {{storylink|First Strike issue 4|First Strike #4}} Optimus Prime breaks the Joes out of prison, to Windblade's disappointment, and—along with Soundwave and a returning Arcee—head to the core of Cybertron, managing to beat the villains there. {{storylink|First Strike issue 5|First Strike #5}} Despite the intervention of Starscream, Elita One and Obsidian, who attempt to arrest or kill everyone present, Colton's alliance is prevented from reaching the core; however, Kreiger—actually the alien wizard Merklynn—activates the device where they are, using it to magically alter the whole planet's energon and transform a portion of Cybertron into [[New Prysmos|a replica]] of his lost homeworld [[Prysmos]], from which he intends to conquer the galaxy. A broken, defeated Colton and his allies are taken into custody on Cybertron. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|First Strike #6}}

In response to Merklynn's actions, Cybertron uses almost half its energy to beam a signal—"Welcome. Death."—into space, where it finds its target in the orbit of a black hole: [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. {{storylink|First Strike issue 6|The Signal}}

[[File:OP13 prowl and the gang.jpg|thumb|left|150px|There's a war going on! And it's time that you knew Every lad in this land has his duty to do.]]
While G.I. Joe and the Cybertronians deal with Colton's attack, [[Aileron]] leads a team of colonists to search for the missing Jazz on Earth, eventually finding him under attack by humans in [[Oaxaca]]. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 1}} Though Jazz and the colonists succeed in tracking the Cybertronian weapons the humans were using to their source ([[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]], posing as humans via [[holomatter]] avatars), Jazz is angry and upset that Optimus Prime didn't attempt to find him or deal with the weapons, and heads off on his own once more. {{storylink|Primeless, Part 2}} Meanwhile, other villains take advantage of the absence of G.I. Joe and Autobot City's leadership, such as [[V.E.N.O.M.]] (now under the employ of Cobra) {{storylink|G.I. Joe: First Strike}} and the Dire Wraiths. {{istorylink|Micronauts: First Strike}}

Discovering from Centurion that protoforms once again exist on Cybertron, Optimus and his allies confront Starscream over his knowledge of the active hot spot. Starscream takes Prime to see the resurrected Slug, who agrees to help track down the Dinobots and the protoforms; however, when Optimus's team finds Centurion, the Dinobots and Sandstorm in the wilderness, Bludgeon uses his [[Void Scepter]] from afar to drive Slug into a murderous rage over his teammates working with his killer. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}} After Slug is calmed down, Trypticon, wishing to protect the protoforms, emerges from the ground to demand an end to the fighting; this prompts Optimus to declare Trypticon to be the Earth embassy on Cybertron, preventing him from having to turn the protoforms over to Starscream's government. Meanwhile, Prowl and his allies rescue the surviving Throttlebots on Regalis V from Onyx Prime's beast army in the ''[[Peaceful Revolution]]'', acting on intelligence provided by Pyra Magna. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 2 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 2}}

{{-}}

===2018===
Thundercracker's attempts to write a biopic of G.I. Joe agent [[Chuckles]] are interrupted by Starscream, who asks Thundercracker to make a film about his life. Thundercracker eagerly sets to the task, though he is stymied by the seemingly impossible task of portraying Starscream both positively and honestly. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:TheChosenOne-imsorry.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Spoiler: this didn't end well.]]
On returning to her seat on the Council of Worlds, Windblade is outraged to learn that the council have not yet told the public about Liege Maximo's escape, and informs the planet of the truth herself. Though she is expelled from the council, when Starscream calls free elections as demanded by Elita One, she agrees to run for office. Starscream, meanwhile, is haunted by his experience within Windblade's mind and the vision of what he could have been, and when the electoral debate comes, he confesses to his crimes in full for all to hear. Starscream, along with his co-conspirators Airachnid, Rattrap and the Combaticons, are all arrested, and Windblade goes on to win the election and be declared the "first delegate", the new ruler of Cybertron. {{storylink|The Chosen One}}

Thundercracker, on learning of Starscream's arrest, is not dissuaded from his filmmaking, seeing it as the perfect ending to the movie. Not wanting the fairly-accurate-but-kind-of-terrible film released, the imprisoned Starscream has a message sent to two Badgeless, who attempt to kill Thundercracker to prevent the film's release. Thundercracker manages to kill his two attackers, and returns to Earth... where he finds out that all interest in the film is dead in the water. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[File:OP17 Everything is Shockwave's fault.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|"IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT'S ME, OPTIMUS! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, OPTIMUS! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT—HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER! EVEN [[Liege Maximo|MY FAMILY]]—EVEN [[The Fallen|MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY]] BOUGHT IT!"]]
Optimus Prime, Marissa Faireborn and the President of the United States inaugurate an Ore-13 mine in Kentucky, staffed by human, Cybertronian, and Junkion alike; the ore is refined into energon and shipped to Cybertron, compensating for Merklynn's magical tainting of their fuel supply. However, the arrival of the first shipment is overshadowed—quite literally—by the arrival of Onyx Prime's enormous eyeball-shaped ship [[Nemesis (BWII)|''Nemesis'']] in the skies above Iacon. Onyx Prime, with a chained Liege Maximo at his feet, demands to speak to Optimus Prime, who he calls "the Arisen". {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} While Soundwave attempts and fails to read the mind of Liege Maximo, arguing breaks out between Onyx, the Council of Worlds, and Optimus; things reach a head when Soundwave enters the council chambers, and is enraged to see Optimus defending Onyx. Just as Alpha Trion realises the truth of Onyx's identity, an explosion rips through the [[Spire]] and kills Trion, which Onyx blames on Soundwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}} Liege Maximo vanishes from captivity in the chaos, while Onyx stokes dissent and confusion by impugning Optimus's allies, revealing the truth that Soundwave killed Horri-Bull to the furious Decepticons.

With fighting breaking out in the city streets, Onyx boards his skiff to return to the ''Nemesis''; meanwhile, Devastator forms to forcibly "rescue" Starscream from prison, while Metrotitan travels from Earth to Cybertron and submits to the command of the "chosen one", firing on Onyx's vessel. As the situation gets further out of control, Metrotitan refuses to obey Optimus's orders to stand down and fires on him and Windblade, sending Optimus falling to the ground; Onyx catches him aboard the skiff and has the ''Nemesis'' return fire, knocking Metrotitan to the ground. After subduing the furious Optimus, Onyx tears his "face" off, revealing his true identity as Shockwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|The Ground}}

Explaining what happened to him and how he became "Onyx" to Optimus, Shockwave has the ''Nemesis'' take them to the Crystal City singularity and throws Optimus in so that he may share Shockwave's enlightenment. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} With the discovery of his "true self" and the prophecies surrounding him seemingly adding up into a chance to become the savior Cybertron needs, Starscream has Devastator carry him to the fallen Metrotitan, where for one moment he believes he really ''does'' have some grand destiny... only for Shockwave to show up and mock him with the revelation that the entire prophecy was the result of his manipulations to place a fool like Starscream on the throne of Cybertron, before murdering Metrotitan. Within the singularity, Optimus — now finding himself in [[infraspace]] once more — reunites with Bumblebee, whose ghostly form is dragged away from Starscream to meet with his old leader. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}}

[[File:Schismatic-KupDies.jpg|thumb|Or: How Not To Sell Fans On A Crossover.]]
With Shockwave's machinations having sowed chaos across Iacon, Scoop's religious faith drives him and the other Constructicons on as Devastator, taking on Victorion out of a sheer single-minded intent to prove that Starscream is a reincarnation of the treacherous [[The Fallen|Megatronus]]. In the meantime, Optimus devises a means of escaping from Infraspace, using the Matrix as a means of generating an escape back to the real world. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}} Ultimately, Arcee succeeds in killing Liege Maximo, Victorion triumphs over Devastator, and the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee come to inhabit Pyra Magna's body; Shockwave is taken prisoner, and Pyra is treated to disentangle the minds of Optimus and Bumblebee from her own. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

During Optimus's convalescence, Ironhide and Kup are sent to attempt diplomatic negotiations with the [[Prysmosian]] inhabitants of [[New Prysmos]]. While Wheeljack discovers that the Talisman is tunnelling towards Cybertron's core and threatening to finish what Merklynn started, a faction of Visionaries called the [[Darkling Lord]]s—covertly urged on by Merklynn—attempt to conquer Cybertron for themselves, their leader [[Virulina]] murdering Kup with magic. [[Leoric]] and his [[Spectral Knight]]s oppose Virulina's plan, and ally with Ironhide's team to stop them; though they succeed in preventing the Darkling Lords' conquest, a reaction between [[Galadria]]'s magics and Wheeljack's bomb rockets New Prysmos to the surface of Cybertron and surrounds it with a swathe of organic grass. Merklynn is imprisoned for his misdeeds, and is left dejected and fatalistic by his realisation that all he did was for naught, as his actions have summoned Unicron. {{storylink|Transformers vs. Visionaries}}

Learning of Kup's death, Springer and Verity Carlo attempt to meet up with Impactor, but are embroiled in Mayhem's anti-faction scheme in the process — which, in turn, causes Verity's kidnapping by Overlord, who has been working on Earth with Tarantulas on the [[Timemaze]], a gateway allowing access to other times and alternate timelines. Though Impactor sacrifices himself to save Springer and Verity, Overlord is dealt with by sending the two halves of his body into different time periods, and Tarantulas dies in the arms of his "son". Leaving a message to the surviving Wreckers and their allies asking that they make sure nobody has to do what the Wreckers did again, Springer departs into the Timemaze in the hope of changing history for the better by preventing the war. {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}}

The Lost Light's final Warren jump brings them to what they believe to be Cyberutopia; {{storylink|The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|Journey's End}} however, the paradise world is actually [[Mederi]], an ancient medical facility designed to allow terminally ill patients to die happy through an telepathic "happy ending". {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Due to a lack of a cohesive idea of what Cyberutopia "should" be, however, the crew finds the planet empty; when they are subsequently attacked by the Grand Architect's fleet, Getaway strikes a deal, allowing Scorponok to transform the crew into sparkeaters in exchange for a position among the Grand Architect's followers. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} Scorponok's transmat portal also brings the Scavengers to Mederi, the illusion causing them to perceive the facility as Grimlock's cell in Garrus-9. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}
[[File:LL20 Rodimus saves Getaway.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|After the [[Contrivance Engine]], Brainstorm's next invention was an Incredibly On-The-Nose Symbolism Engine.]]
Skip's travel through the Warren to Mederi is interrupted when the mass-displacement fails and the Autobots are exposed to the [[compressed space]] outside, causing them to crash on the artificial moon; because of Cyclonus's desire to see Tailgate again, the facility presents itself to them as the [[Transformer afterlife|Afterspark]], complete with illusory versions of their dead friends to welcome them. <ref name="LLTimeline"/> {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (1): Metastasis|Metastasis}}

However, the Mederi illusion is imperfect; Nautica's loss of her connection to Skids allows her to walk into the Scavengers (causing the illusion to fail when they see conflicting environments), while Ratchet's scepticism leads him, Rodimus, Drift and Ultra Magnus to the device controlling the illusion, which they destroy. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War}} {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Realizing where they are, Rodimus's group figures out what happened, and Rodimus comes to the conclusion that Mederi ''is'' Cyberutopia, the dying Knights having been fooled by the illusion into believing that they had found a new, perfect Cybertron. Ultra Magnus manages to inform the crew of the truth in time to prevent all of them except for Nightbeat and Ten from being killed by "ascension", causing all of the "ghosts" to fade away — except Tailgate, who had been secretly teleported to Mederi from Necroworld by the Omega Guardians — but as soon as the three groups reunite with the intention of returning to Cybertron, they are set upon by the Sparkeater army transformed from the ''Lost Light'' crew. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}}

Joined by Grimlock, First Aid and their team, the combined group comes flees the Sparkeaters, only to be attacked by the ''Lost Light'' itself, under the command of the Grand Architect's forces; under Rodimus's direction, the majority of the crew barricades themselves in Mederi's Ward Zero to find a cure for the Sparkeaters, while he and a small team board the ''Lost Light'' aboard Wipe-Out's ship. Rodimus and Cyclonus confront Star Saber and Getaway, killing the former and preventing the latter from committing suicide by destroying the ship in a [[nucleon (fuel)|nucleon]] explosion; Getaway instead tries to stab Rodimus in the back, but is killed by the oil reservoir scraplets, under the control of the scraplet colony that Whirl had previously bonded with.
[[File:LL22 Functionist Primus.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Oooh, 'e's a big 'un!]]
Though the medics on the ground manage to cure the sparkeaters through "concussive medicine", as everything else is going on, a giant rift is formed in space, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}} pulling Mederi and the ''Lost Light'' through to the Benzene Cluster, now home to the five false Cybertrons created by the Grand Architect. Rodimus persuades the Grand Architect to let his entire team come aboard the Architect's Worldsweeper, angering Scorponok, who has Sunder attempt to probe the Architect's mind; however, the Grand Architect is able to force Sunder out, and kills Scorponok in response. The God Gun is activated with the intent to form an interdimensional portal to banish the Architect's foreseen threat through, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} but in fact, the false Primus that the Architect had seen so long ago was the Cybertron of the Functionist Universe, transformed and controlled by the Functionist Council, which used the portal to enter the mainline universe — with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fleeing ahead of it.
[[File:LL24 Matrix Opening Pt2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Now, light our second-darkest hour!]]
Split up between the Worldsweeper and Megatron's ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the ''Lost Light''ers have both the Functionists' plan and the true history of the Guiding Hand revealed to each other; {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}} the latter prompts the enraged Solomus to kill Adaptus, though he is fatally wounded himself. The crews of the ''Lost Light'' and ''Last Light'' reunite on the former ship to plan a way to stop the Functionist Primus, currently laying waste to the replica Cybertrons; the Magnificence proposes having Rung create three Matrices as bombs to destroy the planet, but instead, the crew propose using ''twelve'' Matrices to destroy Vector Sigma and the Functionist Council while leaving the planet unharmed. The Magnificence, angered, reveals its "wisdom" to actually be the voices of the Omega Guardians, who want Primus destroyed to blow the Benzene rift open wide enough for them to return and "eat everything"... so Nickel smashes the Magnificence, stopping their plans short. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Rung uses his alternate mode to create twelve Matrix replicas, but the effort kills him in the process. To forcibly transform "Primus" back to planet mode, Fortress Maximus and Red Alert — on the instructions of a future Rodimus — pilot Luna 1 through the Warren, back in time and into the back of the robot's neck, forcing transformation and ensuring the crew can use the planet's hot spots to channel the Matrix energy. The crew land on the hot spots, but thanks to the [[morality lock]], are unable to open the Matrices until an encouraging speech from Rodimus gives them the self-belief they need to do so — though Megatron remains unable to do it, forcing Rodimus to open his Matrix instead. The released energy obliterates the Functionist Council for good before radiating back out, igniting the Luna 1 hot spot and giving life to a new generation of sparks; together, they form the shape of a message from Rung: "DON'T FORGET ME". {{storylink|Crucible (Part 6): A Spark Among Embers|A Spark Among Embers}} Tragically, within a matter of days, the crew give into information creep and lose all their memories of Rung. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
[[File:Unicron4 Unicron Arrives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Yes, ma'am, Earth is literally under siege by planet fragging Jupiter."]]
On Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are revived to help against Unicron, now in the process of consuming Cybertron's colony worlds. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} Though Prime and his allies are able to save much of the populations of Elonia {{storylink|Our Darkest}} and Caminus, they are unable to find a way to stop Unicron within the monster-planet, and are forced to retreat. {{storylink|Unicron issue 1|Unicron #1}} Starscream's plan, to have Bludgeon's "[[Decepticon Vengeance Division]]" trap Unicron in a [[stasis web]], proves a miscalculation; Bludgeon has changed loyalties to Unicron, and allows his fleet to be corrupted and transformed by the chaos-bringer. Meanwhile, Bumblebee seeks out Omega Supreme, who was part of the original invasion of Antilla, for answers; the comatose Omega Sentinel projects a vision of Unicron's origins into Bumblebee's mind before dying, just in time for Unicron to appear over Cybertron, transforming into a robot mode in the image of Cybertron's mythical Uncreator, gained from the integration of the Titan Nemesis and its transformation cog. {{storylink|Stranger Eons}}
[[File:Unicron6 Spirits of the Dead.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Press F to pay respects.]]
The fleet rallies to defend Cybertron while its leaders debate what to do; Victorion attempts to break into Unicron's interior and kill the planet-eater from the inside, but is stopped by Monstructor, who — under Bludgeon's command — tears [[Stormclash]] in half and breaks the Torchbearer combiner apart. Starscream advocates having Metroplex space bridge to Earth so that a ''portion'' of the population can survive, but is convinced to allow Windblade to execute an alternative plan: {{storylink|Our Finest}} appealing to the Visionaries and their magic for help. Using the Talisman, the Visionaries use a wave of magic to teleport the Cybertronians and refugees to Earth, though only the sacrifice of Blurr and a suicide attack on Unicron by Elita One lets everyone get to safety. The Transformers and Elonians are teleported to Earth, moments before Unicron tears Cybertron in two and consumes it, {{storylink|Road's End}} while the Visionaries themselves are sent back in time to the earliest days of Prysmos. {{istorylink|A World and a Future}} Meanwhile, a confrontation between Slide's colonists and the Dinobots at Mount Rushmore ends in the death of Gimlet and G.I. Joe agent Mainframe. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}}

Shockwave — teleported to [[Toronto]] to begin his conquest — is horrified to realise Unicron has survived the destruction of Cybertron, and contacts Bludgeon to initiate his backup plan, unaware that his agent and the Maximal army have switched their loyalties from Shockwave to Unicron himself. Sanctuary Station is evacuated in light of the approaching Maximals, with a small number of its residents laying down their lives to buy time. {{storylink|Road's End}} Putting aside their history and enimities, all of Earth's heroes and villains join together to hold the attackers back, with Destro's M.A.S.S. device allowing Trypticon, Metroplex and a full army of Cybertronians to teleport into the midst of Bludgeon's fleet. {{storylink|Unicron issue 5|Unicron #5}} Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker carry Optimus Prime, Arcee and the Talisman down to Unicron's surface, but Skywarp and Thundercracker are waylaid by Maximals, preventing Skywarp from teleporting them into the planet-eater's interior; instead, Starscream chooses to give up his life to activate the Talisman, which burns its way down into Unicron. Optimus and Arcee follow it into the interior where it enters the black hole at Unicron's core, with Optimus jumping in after it.
[[File:Unicron6 The Last Hug.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The power of love might just save your life.]]
On Earth, Shockwave is betrayed by his follower [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], but is "rescued" by Prowl, who has Stardrive use her Dire Wraith powers to link with Shockwave's mind; in turn, Jetfire connects her to Soundwave, wielding the Enigma of Combination in conjunction with Superion and the Earth Enigma. Victorion, who uses the Enigma energies to combine with Slide as a replacement limb, kills Monstructor while the Dinobots sacrifice themselves to kill Bludgeon and destroy his Worldsweeper; but Soundwave's true intent is to unite the spirits of those who have fallen with Shockwave's memories and send them through to Optimus to give him the strength he needs, though Soundwave crumbles to dust as he uses its power. In Infraspace, Optimus encounters the spirit of Unicron's creator, whose rage and grief animates the superweapon; rather than fight him, however, Optimus owns up to the legacy of Cybertron and the Primes, and offers the Antillan peace and compassion instead. Remembering his daughter who was killed so long ago, the scientist allows the Talisman to consume Unicron; the giant collapses into its own singularity, which settles in as a second, dark sun for Earth.

{{anchor|QuantumJump}}
[[File:Unicron6 Peace At Last.jpg|thumb|left|And they all lived happily ever after.]]
In the aftermath, the survivors take stock. Arcee celebrates with her love on Earth's moon, while Thundercracker carries Skywarp back to Earth and reunites with Marissa Faireborn and Buster. Windblade and the President of the United States begin making plans for a future for Cybertronian and human alike; the surviving Dinobots are rescued from the ruins of the White House; and Pyra Magna takes up the mantle of the deceased Mistress of Flame, inviting the remorseful Slide to serve as one of her new Torchbearers. {{storylink|Ceremony}} Prowl makes contact with the ''Lost Light'' crew on "New Cybertron", where he insists that Megatron face trial once more, with the Galactic Council presiding in lieu of the long-dead Knights of Cybertron. In order to increase the planet's energon reserves and bring the new generation of sparks online, he also requisitions the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> quantum generators; Rodimus reluctantly agrees, on the condition that he and the crew are allowed one last trip aboard the ship before it's decommissioned. After a one-day "victory lap", the crew returns to Cybertron, but not before the scientists propose attempting to recreate the quantum accident that duplicated the ''Lost Light'' at the beginning of their quest, shunting the "duplicate" ship into another universe so that they can continue their quest on their own terms. With the agreement of the crew, they do so — and though the version of the crew that returns to Cybertron is unaware, they are successful in the attempt, their duplicates setting out on a new adventure.

The "main universe" Megatron is tried by the Galactic Council, and — despite Rodimus lying on his behalf by claiming that Megatron was able to open the Matrix — he is sentenced to either death or permanent solitary confinement. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}} The trial marks the start of a better working relationship between Cybertronians and the Council: Bumblebee is selected as the Transformers' ambassador, accompanied — unbeknownst to anyone but him — by the spirit of Starscream, who has traded roles with Bumblebee to become a "ghost" only he can see.

Life goes on. A funeral is held for Optimus Prime, with Windblade reflecting on his flaws and virtues alike, and opining that the most important thing about him was his willingness to challenge himself. Transformers, Elonians and humans alike help to rebuild on Earth. Pyra makes an effort to settle into her new role as a spiritual leader. Buzzsaw hunts down human poachers in Soundwave's name. Thundercracker's film, ''[[Last Laugh: The Life and Death of Chuckles]]'', is nominated for "Best Original Screenplay" at an awards show. Shockwave is imprisoned in ''Lemuria'', left immobile to reflect how his lack of faith led to his failure. Aileron and her colonist allies take to the stars to explore. And Arcee becomes a mentor and teacher to a new generation of three races on Earth, using the story of Optimus Prime and his life to inspire them to build a better future. {{storylink|Post}}
{{-}}
[[File:LL25 - Ratchet's funeral.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|"I was here at the start of it all, Miss Carlo. I'm not going to miss the end."]]

===Many years later===
Years pass. Minimus Ambus, having destroyed the Magnus Armor at Megatron's urging, helps with resettle the new "[[Lunarian]]" 'bots born from Luna-1, unaware that they all resemble Rung. Swerve's becomes a franchise, but eventually its owner is forced to close all but one location. Rewind's quest to learn all he can about the Functionist Universe causes him to contract [[Delta's Malady]] and becomes stuck as a mass-shifted data stick, though he and Chromedome continue to live happily together. Brainstorm, injured in a lab accident, adapts his briefcase as a mobile life support system. Whirl, directionless, ends up in and out of prison for various crimes. Rodimus signs onto the crew of Thunderclash's new ship, the ''[[Exitus]]''. Nautica writes a memoir of the crew's travels. Ratchet and Drift become conjunx endurae, and share many years together.

Eventually, Ratchet dies of age-related burnout; his components are sent to medical centers across the planet, and a funeral is held for him on the Rivets Field of the Functionist Cybertron. The crew reunites after many years, catching each other up on what has become of them. Cyclonus and Tailgate, concerned by what has become of Whirl, invite him to live with them when he is released; and, when Whirl is offered Ratchet's hands by Drift to replace his own lost ones, refuses, as he doesn't consider himself broken. Drift and Rodimus reflect on whether their attempt to duplicate the ship so long ago worked before going their separate ways, promising to keep in touch. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Alternate timelines==
===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage prime stabbed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Megatron's greatest mistake was in ever allowing you to ''live'', Prime!"]]
The [[Decepticon]] [[Mirage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Mirage]] tracks the ailing Autobots to the [[Pegasus Star Cluster]], where he briefly succeeds in taking Optimus Prime hostage before perishing. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}

{{note|The issue is vague on whether this sequence of events is merely a dream by the "real" Mirage or a supernatural glimpse into a true alternate timeline. [[Mistakes and Mayhem|A later issue]] would go on to explain Mirage’s hallucination as a side-effect from a long-running medical condition. However, in that same issue, he experiences several accurate premonitions of future events, which leaves the original question up in the air.}}
{{-}}

===Hail and Farwell===
====2008====
Two years after becoming a Headmaster, [[Hunter O'Nion]] continues to have adventures with his partner Sunstreaker, their minds permanently fusing into a new, singular entity. {{storylink|Hail and Farewell}}

{{note|"Hail and Farewell" was declared canonical when it was first published online. However, the subsequent truncation of author [[Simon Furman]]'s intended story arcs and the subsequent ''All Hail Megatron'' storyline, which among other things, saw Hunter horribly tortured and killed, means that this sequence of events is incompatible with the mainstream timeline.}}
{{-}}

===Pax Cybertronia===
====15 million CE====
[[File:PaxCybertronia-IronhideAndKids.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And stay off his lawn.]]
In a far-distant future, the Great War is over and the Decepticons have perished. An ancient [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]], the last surviving veteran of the Great War, tells war stories to a [[Autobot youth|new generation]] of Cybertronians on [[Gorlam Prime]] alongside [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}}

{{note|This sequence of events was later established to be a vision that both Ironhide and Jhiaxus experienced during the reformation of Cybertron following the events of the ''Chaos'' miniseries, calling into question if it was a definite glimpse of the future or merely a vision of what might be. The apparent destruction of Gorlam Prime in the main timeline suggests that this particular future may not ever come to pass.}}
{{-}}

===Functionist timeline===
{{main|Functionist Universe}}
====5 million BCE====
[[File:AWorldMisplaced-TheTakeover.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause."]]
Megatron perishes on the date of his cold construction. Without Megatron's writings to upheave Cybertronian society, the Senate grows increasingly controlling, and eventually clashes with the Functionist Council regarding the use of Nova Prime's spark stockpiles. When the Senate seals [[Vector Sigma]] behind a wall of impenetrable [[ununtrium]], the Council overthrows the Senate, kills Nominus Prime, and institutes hardline Functionism across Cybertron, {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} periodically altering the [[Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy]] to declare "[[mass recall]]s" of "obsolete" Transformers. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2014====
Following the dissolution of the [[Primal Vanguard]], Minimus Ambus returns to Cybertron to find [[Dominus Ambus|his brother]] an [[empurata]] victim. Rewind dies in a mass recall. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

====2016====
[[File:ThisMachineKillsFascists-GiantRung.jpg|thumb|left|Rung digs giant robots.]]
A [[geobomb]] accident sends the crew of the ''Lost Light'' to Functionist Cybertron. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} They battle the forces of the Council with the [[Anti-Vocationist League]] in their quest to return home, as the Council deploys [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]] to "harvest" Cybertronians for reforging into [[M.T.O.|crusaders]] to cleanse the universe of everything not having a role in the eyes of Primus. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} The crew manages to return to the main timeline victorious, but the Functionist Universe Rung is killed and Megatron and Terminus are accidentally left behind. Megatron takes command of the League and prepares to start his revolution anew, as it always ''should'' have been. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

Despite the loss of Luna 2, the Council continues their plans, instead turning Cybertron itself into their weapon of genocide, augmenting it with a robot mode in the image of Primus after Megatron thwarts their plans one time too many. Over centuries, the Council — now merged with Vector Sigma — carry out their campaign of "sterilization", with Megatron and the Anti-Vocationist League fighting them at every turn. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}

====2833====
After centuries, the Council pursue the ''[[Last Light (ship)|Last Light]]'', the AVL's ship, through a rift in space; this brings them to the present-day Benzene of Megatron's native universe, which [[Twelve-of-Twelve]] declares to be a gift from Primus in the form of a new universe to purify. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}}
{{-}}

===Quantum jump universe===
[[File:LL25 It Never Ends.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And to all, a good night.]]
====2018====
Having pulled the "magic trick" of [[#QuantumJump|duplicating themselves into another universe]], the ''Lost Light'' crew finds themselves in completely uncharted space, further than they've ever been. Jubilant, the crew sets out to chart the new universe, an adventure that could well take forever. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{-}}
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Chronologies]]
[[Category:Generation 1 history]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1| ]]

An Explosive Situation

2018-10-07T20:05:46Z

Prowl245: /* Differences with Car Robots */

{{episode|
|series=RiD
|ep=2
|title="An Explosive Situation"
|japanese=高速バトル! ゲルシャーク
|romaji=Kōsoku Battle! Gelshark
|translation=High Speed Battle! Gelshark
|image=Explosive Situation Skybyte bomb.jpg
|caption=Nom nom nom
|production code=
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]], [[Studio Gallop]]
|written by=[[Junki Takegami]] (Japanese) [[Tom Wyner]] (English)
|director=[[Yoshiaki Tsutsui]], [[Akira Katō]]
|animation studio=Studio Gallop
|airdate=[[April 12]], [[2000]] (Japanese) [[September 10]], [[2001]] (English)
|continuity=
}}
'''Predacons need fuel.''' 
'''So they steal it from a car.''' 
'''[[Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom|Sound familiar?]]'''

==Synopsis==
A nighttime delivery of a power cell is ruined by [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]], who devours the truck and steals away the cargo. But the energy he consumes doesn't satiate the [[Predacon (RID)|Predacon]]'s hunger.

[[File:Explosive Situation Kojitai.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|No Koji, this doesn't count as sex.]]
[[Koji Onishi]] receives a message from [[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] and rushes outside to be retrieved by the [[Autobot]] leader, who brings Koji to the Autobots' secret underground headquarters. Prime introduces Koji to the "proactive cybernetic interface program" called [[T-AI]], the Tactical Artificial Intelligence. The two become quick friends, despite T-AI's lack of a solid body. Optimus explains that the Predacons have been responsible for various battery thefts. The three [[Autobot Brothers|Autobot brothers]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], [[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]], and [[X-Brawn]], patrol around in hopes of discovering a crime in progress (although Side Burn is easily distracted by his need to "rev up his engine").

[[File:Explosive Situation Predaconbatteries.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|They had to visit five Wal-Marts to collect this many.]]
Underwater, in his own hidden base, [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] mulls over his energy concerns. The Predacon trio arrives with a proposed solution: flashlight batteries. Megatron is unimpressed at how small his henchmen have been thinking. Sky-Byte uncloaks and presents his own, much better idea for powering the Predacons' base: They simply need to recover an energy bomb that some terrorists have hidden in a red sports car in [[Metro City]].

[[File:Explosive Situation Kellyprowl.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Have you considered buying a hybrid?]]
At the docks, [[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]] is taking delivery of the last red sports car, which naturally contains the bomb. She takes it for a test drive, and before long is located by Sky-Byte. Unsurprisingly, Side Burn quickly arrives to hit on the car, prompting Sky-Byte to begin his attack. Prowl and Side Burn block the fish, but he swims/flies away and meets with the Predacon trio, who are trying to take the credit for recovering the bomb for themselves. Sky-Byte bites into the car to take it from [[Dark Scream]], shattering the car's structure. Trying to save the automobile, Side Burn unintentionally saves Kelly from certain death. Prowl apologizes to Kelly for letting the Predacons ruin her day.

With the explosive device in his teeth, Sky-Byte gradually floats back towards the Predacon command center, but X-Brawn steals the bomb right out of Sky-Byte's mouth. The rough handling causes the device to arm, and Sky-Byte warns X-Brawn of the impending explosion. Koji suggests taking the bomb somewhere high up, and X-Brawn uses his grappling hook to swing from building to building to the radio tower where he begins his ascent.

[[File:Explosive Situation Skybyteinspace.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|His bosses didn't like him so they shot him into space!]]
Realizing that the blast radius would be larger than the tower is tall, Optimus Prime rushes out of the base. In the city, X-Brawn tosses the bomb from the top of the tower as far upwards as he can. Using his "Power Stream" attack, Prime fires a blast of water at the bomb, carrying the explosive (and Sky-Byte) out of the Earth's atmosphere. Miles above the Earth, Sky-Byte triggers the explosive. The explosion fills the city's sky with a yellow glow, but no buildings are destroyed.

Once he's recovered, Sky-Byte begins a study of human culture but is frustrated by the combined power of the works of [[Dickens|Charles Dickens]] and [[Shakespeare|William Shakespeare]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (RID)|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[T-AI]] (6)
*[[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]] (7)
*[[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]] (9)
*[[X-Brawn]] (10)
|h2=[[Predacon (RID)|Predacons]]
|c2=
*[[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] (3)
*[[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] (11)
*[[Slapper (RID)|Slapper]] (12)
*[[Dark Scream]] (13)
*[[Gas Skunk]] (14)
|c3=
*Truck Driver (1)
*Truck Passenger (2)
*[[Koji Onishi]] (4)
*[[Kelly (RID)|Kelly]] (8)
*[[Dorie Dutton]] (15)
}}

==Quotes==
"You've wasted your time, Megatron. One of those flashlights is brighter than the three of them combined."
:—'''Sky-Byte''' on the Predacon Trio.

"Here's a tip for you: Never ignore a warning from a shark!"
:—'''Sky-Byte'''

"Sorry, ma'am. I do apologize for the inconvenience. Are you all right?" 
"For someone who's been attacked by a giant flying squirrel and a huge toad, a maniacal shark and a monstrous skunk...sure, I'm just fine."
:—'''Prowl''' and '''Kelly'''

"What sort of nonsense is this? 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'? Best or worst, make up your mind!"
:—The subtleties of human literature are lost on '''Sky-Byte'''.

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Car Robots''===
*As Koji comes running out of his house at the start of the episode, ''Car Robots'' has him calling Optimus Prime on his communicator, while ''Robots in Disguise'' flips the scene, and has Koji responding to a summons from Prime.
*''Car Robots'' is set in [[Tokyo]], while ''Robots in Disguise'' is set in the fictional [[Metro City]]. As such, ''Robots in Disguise'' has to refrain from naming the tower X-Brawn scales, which is quite plainly the famous [[Tokyo Tower]]. Later in the episode, T-AI gives the tower's height as 500 feet; Tokyo Tower is actually 1093 feet tall (333 meters).
*In ''Robots in Disguise'', X-Brawn merely scales the tower to get a better vantage point, and grumbles about his shocks as he takes the stairs in [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]. In ''Car Robots'', on the other hand, he is actually just goofing around, and ''enjoys'' the "rough terrain" of the stairs. This is just how X-Brawn is in ''Car Robots'', as shown as early as last episode.
*In ''Car Robots'', the police seized every red sports car because all of them had bombs in them (one of which had already gone off previously). In ''Robots in Disguise'', there is only one bomb, so all of the cars were seized to be searched for the one bomb (unfortunately, it was in the one car that wasn't seized: Kelly's car).
*In ''Car Robots'', Slapper, Gas Skunk and Darkscream are confused as to why humans would need such a high-powered bomb, thinking humans are mysterious and unpredictable. In ''Robots in Disguise'', they're more concerned with the bomb going off prematurely.
[[File:Rid ep2 cutscene.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1|G-G-G-G-Ghost shark!]]
*''Robots in Disguise'' cuts out two shots of Sky-Byte pursuing Kelly, probably because they involve the slightly confusing use of a "ghostly" image of Sky-Byte, to show the audience that he is underneath the bridge. A few moments later, though, the show extends the chase scene by repeating footage of him chomping at Kelly's car's tail.
*In ''Car Robots'', Sky-Byte doesn't realize Prowl and Side Burn are Autobots until they transform. In ''Robots in Disguise'', he recognizes them on sight.
*In ''Car Robots'', Side Burn extends his arm to catch Kelly and her sportscar ''before'' they fall. ''Robots in Disguise'' reorders the scene to place this shot after she starts plummeting.
*In ''Car Robots'', rather than say she's okay after she's caught by Prowl, Kelly bemoans her fate as "The most miserable woman in the universe". Sorry, dear, this is just the start of it...
*''Robots in Disguise'' combines some pieces of footage to create a new scene of Prowl telling X-Brawn to take the bomb to the top of the tower; in ''Car Robots'', X-Brawn comes up with this plan on his own initiative.
*''Car Robots'' has X-Brawn turn his head and spot Optimus Prime just after Prime rolls up. ''Robots in Disguise'' moves the scene to just before the audience sees Prime arrive.
*In ''Robots in Disguise'', the Predacons make fun of Sky-Byte for reading human books and not understanding them. In ''Car Robots'', however, they're actually quietly impressed at his ability to survive the explosion, but they then giggle when Darkscream points out he's still a show-off (the implication being that Sky-Byte reading books is nothing new, and the failure to comprehend them being a creation of the dub). ''Robots in Disguise'' also extends the scene by repeating the shot of Sky-Byte leaning over his book and grumbling in the middle of the Predacons' whispered exchange.
*Scenes lengthened in ''Robots in Disguise'' by looped and repeated footage include:
**Koji's introduction to T-AI, allowing the show to make its well-known "daughter of [[Teletraan I]]" reference
**Sky-Byte's explanation before he plays Dorie Dutton's news report
**Slapper and company's worries about the bomb
**Sky-Byte's warning to Prowl
**Kelly and Prowl's exchange after he catches her
**X-Brawn and Sky-Byte's argument over the bomb

===Animation or technical errors===
*Megatron pronounces the Transformers' preferred [[energon|fuel source]] as "ener-gone," which is closer to how it is traditionally pronounced in Japanese.
*The colors of most of Prowl's Autobot [[insignia]] are inverted when he catches Kelly, and full-on miscolored yellow-orange when tries to think what to do about the bomb.
*The white on Sky-Byte's [[beast mode|shark mode]] upper jaw is erroneously colored over by blue when he's shot into space, shown in the above image.

===Real-world references===
*As Sky-Byte approaches the rear of the truck and begins to take bites out of it, the soundtrack starts playing ''Jaws'' music.
*The book Sky-Byte reads from is ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. It's also ''Hamlet'' by William Shakespeare. Even the book can't make up its mind!

===Transformers references===
*T-AI introduces herself as the daughter of the [[Teletraan I]] program. She mispronounces it "Teletron" in typical [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'']] style.
*The Predacon base is powered by [[Transwarp]] cells.
*Megatron requests that the batteries be converted into [[Energon cube]]s.

===Trivia===
*This episode about terrorist bombs in cities first aired the day before [[September 11|9/11]]. It SO never aired again.
*Sky-Byte's dramatic entrance inside the Predacon base suggests a power of invisibility or teleportation, or both. Whatever it was, he never used it again.
*The truck delivering the fuel cell has a license plate G39-20.
*Kelly's car which is destroyed at the beginning of the episode has a license plate J38-57.
*Kelly's custom XZ-12 sports car, which she seems surprisingly willing to drive considering it's "the only one left that hasn't been searched" for a bomb, has a plate number J-68-85 (and sometimes J68-85).
*Side Burn is able to extend his arm while in vehicle mode.
*Optimus Prime's "[[Super Mode|battle mode]]" debuts in this episode, though he announces "Optimus Prime, Optimize!". For future episodes it's standardized to "Battle mode!"
*The highway damaged by Sky-Byte's entrance mysteriously disappears.
*X-Brawn seems quite skilled at swinging around the city on his winch line like a [[Spider-Man|certain friendly neighborhood superhero]] while in vehicle mode. We don't really see this talent again.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Transformers: Car Robots'' — Vol. 1 ([[Pony Canyon]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Volume One ([[Maximum Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 1 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Battle Protocol (Maximum Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Special Edition 2-Disc Set (Maximum Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise / RoboCop: The Animated Series / M.A.S.K.'' (Maximum Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Season One (Maximum Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)

==External links==
*[http://www.ridforever.info/episode-transcripts/rid-episode-02-an-explosive-situation "An Explosive Situation" transcript on RiDForever.info]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Explosive Situation}}
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2001) episodes]]

Alpha Trion/Generation 1

2018-10-03T15:16:10Z

Prowl245: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{factions|autobot|autobotg2|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Alpha Trion}}
:''Alpha Trion is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:AlphaTrionG1-Legendsartclean.jpg|300px|right|thumb|I'm sure I'm just a wise old sage and nothing any more complicated or cosmic than that!]]
'''Alpha Trion''' is one of the oldest living Transformers, and with that age comes a nuanced understanding of his race and their place within the universe. In his youth, he went by the name '''A-3''', and in this time, he helped lead the enslaved Cybertronians in their rebellion against their cruel masters, the [[Quintesson]]s. As a result, he was instrumental in first establishing [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as an independent planet.

In his older years, he has found a comfortable role in serving as advisor to other Transformers. Though not taking part in the battles of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], he is firmly on the side of the Autobots, serving as a mentor and guide, especially to [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]]. He is an enigmatic old robot, though he is known to be the guardian of [[Vector Sigma]] and the custodian of its [[Key to Vector Sigma|circuit key]]. His sage-like manner paints him in almost a mystic tone, and possible connections between Alpha Trion, [[Primus]], and the history of Cybertron itself have boosted him into legendary status.

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[John Stephenson]] (English), [[Corey Burton]] (English, "War Dawn"), [[Tony Pope]] (English, "Forever Is a Long Time Coming"), [[Osamu Saka]] (Japanese), [[Toshio Ishii]] (Japanese, "War Dawn"), [[Hiroshi Naka]] (Japanese, "The Rebirth")|[[Chen Chun]] (Chinese), [[Wolfgang Mascher]] (German, "The Return of Optimus Prime" pt. 2 and "The Rebirth" pt. 2), [[Alejandro Abdalah]] (Latin American Spanish)}}

[[File:YoungA3.jpg|left|thumb|Silverbolt never misses a chance to check out A-3's rugged mustache.]]
11 million years ago, a mechanoid named A-3 was part of the [[Autobot Rebellion|rebellion]] against the [[Quintesson]]s on a [[Cybertron (planet)|factory world]], creating a device called the [[Coder Remote]] that would stop their [[Dark Guardian]]s. Due to a timerift created by Quintessons from the future, he was briefly pulled from his position in the [[Empty Lands]] into the year 2006. Fortunately, his partner [[Beta (G1)|Beta]] managed to start the rebellion as scheduled, and A-3 was soon returned by future [[Autobot]]s to fulfill his role in Cybertronian history. {{storylink|Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming}}

[[File:Alphatrionagesbackwards.jpg|thumb|He grew a beard, picked up the Matrix, shaved his beard, and then built Optimus, apparently.]]
Years later, he would be given the [[Matrix of Leadership]] by the dying [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], but Alpha Trion himself did not become Autobot leader. It would sit in his possession, unused, until the coming of the next Autobot leader. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}} In the meantime, Alpha Trion developed plans to rebuild Autobots to better combat the escalating [[Decepticon]] menace.

The next Autobot leader would actually come to ''him'' when a [[Aerialbot (G1)|group of time-travelers]] lugged a dying youth named Orion Pax to his repair center. Reluctant at first, Alpha Trion sensed a strong spirit in Orion Pax, and decided to rebuild him entirely... into [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]. When Prime asked if Alpha Trion could rebuild his fallen girlfriend Ariel as well, Alpha Trion agreed, and mused that [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] would be a good name for a female warrior. {{storylink|War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn}}

[[File:AlphaTrion.jpg|left|thumb|Alpha Trion has secret liquor stashes in the strangest of places.]]

Over the intervening millennia, Alpha Trion's two greatest creations, whether by design or coincidence, forgot their relationship to the ancient Autobot. Five million years after his creation, Optimus Prime was lost when his spacecraft crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, but Alpha Trion kept in contact with Elita One, acting as a sagely advisor to her team of [[Female Autobots]] as they spent the following four million years stealing [[energon]] from [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. Eventually, in the Earth year 1985, Shockwave caught the Female Autobots in the act and tracked them back to their headquarters, prompting Elita One to consult with Alpha Trion on a course of action. Trion suggested they move their headquarters, telling Elita to scout for a new location alone, but in the event that she encountered the Decepticons, warned her not to use her life-draining time-freezing power. Alas, Elita was captured, and used by the Decepticons to lure Optimus Prime into a trap. To save her beloved's life, Elita used her fatal power, and the Autobot leader was forced to track Alpha Trion to [[Alpha Trion's base‎|his secret base]] in hopes that he could save her. Alpha Trion repaired her to the best of his ability, but revealed to Optimus Prime that only Prime could save Elita by interfacing to her with his power filter. An astonished Optimus Prime stated that only his creator could know that! {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}

[[File:Ktvs prime and trion.jpg|thumb]]

A short time later, while he was looking for a [[10.2 ultra-drill|misplaced tool]], Alpha Trion was attacked in his workshop by [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] and his Decepticons, who demanded that he hand over the [[Key to Vector Sigma]]. Trion pled ignorance, but Megatron knew better, and the elderly Autobot was soon overpowered while the Decepticons made off with the key. Alpha Trion was rescued from the chunk of metal the Decepticons left him stuck in by Optimus Prime and the Autobots, and after his injuries were repaired by [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], he journeyed with them into Cybertron's depths, leading the way to Vector Sigma's chamber. Their way, however, was barred by [[Centurion droid]]s that Megatron used the Key to command, and Alpha Trion helped reactivate some discarded worker robots to fight the droids off. The droids had done their job, however, and prevented the Autobots from reaching Megatron before he used Vector Sigma to bring his newest Decepticons, the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] to life. To combat these new land-based Decepticons, Optimus Prime hit on the idea of creating some new aerial Autobots, and Alpha Trion set to work reconstructing some Cybertronian aircraft. {{storylink|The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1}} When the work was done, Alpha Trion professed that he had another key to Vector Sigma "on him," and he would use it to reactivate the computer so that it could bring the jets to life. His "key," however, was his own life force: as a first generation product of Vector Sigma, his computation matrix could interface with the computer and bring it back online, at the cost of his own continued existence. Optimus Prime tried to stop him, but Alpha Trion refused to listen, reminding Prime that he was his creator and insisting that the jets were more important that he was. Prime relented, and Alpha Trion merged with Vector Sigma, which activated and brought the new [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] to life. Before Prime and the Autobots departed for Earth, Alpha Trion spoke to them through Vector Sigma, warning them of a fact merging with the computer had revealed to him: on Earth, the Key to Vector Sigma had even greater power. {{storylink|The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2}}

Many years later, when the [[Hate Plague]] was raging throughout the universe in the year 2006, Optimus Prime entered the Matrix to consult the ancient Autobots within on a possible cure. Alpha Trion was the first Prime spoke to, but he had no information to give, save a warning that Prime should take care on his journey into the Matrix, lest he be unable to return. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

The following year, after the Decepticons stole the [[Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber]], Optimus Prime used the Matrix to reactivate Vector Sigma so that he could converse with Alpha Trion, hoping that the old sage knew something more about what was going on. Alpha Trion revealed to Prime that Vector Sigma had ''allowed'' [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] to become aware of the key's existence, as the chamber was key to the dawning of a new [[Golden Age]] for Cybertron... as was the merging of an [[Cerebros (G1)|Autobot]]'s life with that of a [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|human]]'s. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 2}} Alpha Trion appeared to Optimus one final time, urging him to preserve the key at all costs, as it would be vital in fulfilling Vector Sigma's prophecy. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}

====Japanese cartoon continuity====
=====''The Headmasters'' cartoon=====
{{voiceactor|[[Masaharu Satō]] (Japanese)}}
{{note|The events of the Generation 1 cartoon occur in the Japanese timeline as described above, except that the events of 2006 take place instead in 2010, and "The Rebirth" does not occur. Japanese continuity inserts many additional stories into the timeline, only one of which features Alpha Trion.}}

[[File:AlphaTrionGhost.jpg|thumb|Alpha Trion's Spooooooky Ghost]]
In the year 2011, one year after Optimus Prime released the energy of the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, Vector Sigma began to destabilize as a result. Optimus Prime voyaged into the planet's depths to try and bring the computer back under control, but the mission seemed doomed to failure, as he did not have the Matrix to help him. While the other Autobots searched Earth for the Matrix, which had been hidden away to recharge, the spectral form of Alpha Trion appeared to Optimus Prime to help lead him through the many dangers blocking the path to Vector Sigma's chamber. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}} When they finally reached their goal, however, it turned out the Decepticons had beaten them there. [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] was not far behind, with the recovered Matrix in his grasp, and when the young Autobot arrived, Alpha Trion instructed him to hold the talisman aloft. Trion's ethereal form flowed into the Matrix, completing its recharging process and transforming [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] back into Rodimus Prime, who joined Optimus in thrashing the Decepticons. {{storylink|Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime}}
{{-}}

=====Wars manga=====
The incorporeal Alpha Trion sensed a threat to [[Vector Sigma]] from inside the Matrix, and rematerialized on the physical plane to address the problem. He discovered [[The Fallen]] attempting to steal and assume the power of Vector Sigma for himself. Downplaying his own importance, Alpha Trion attempted to advise [[Shouki]] and the other Autobot defenders present. {{storylink|Train Wars}}

Upon recovering Vector Sigma from the Fallen, Alpha Trion once again sacrificed his physical form to merge with Vector Sigma, giving it the drive necessary to reformat Shouki into a "train bazooka" mode, powerful enough to defeat the Fallen. {{storylink|Train Wars 2}}

=====''G-2'' story pages=====
[[File:G2StoryPageReconfigurationMatrix1.jpg|200px|thumb|left]]
When Optimus Prime was fatally injured in battle with Megatron, the spirits of Alpha Trion and former leaders residing within the Matrix activated its [[Reconfiguration Matrix]] mechanism, reviving Prime as Battle Convoy. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|G-2 Part 5}}
{{-}}

=====''Legends'' comic=====
Alpha Trion and the Matrix—possibly the Reconfiguration Matrix again—had a hand in Rodimus Prime's transformation into a [[Micromaster]]. {{storylink|Transformers 2015 Tailgate/G1 Micron Chapter|Tailgate/G1 Micron Chapter}}

To counter the rise of [[Galvatron II]], Battle Convoy contacted the spirit of Alpha Trion within the Matrix and requested his help in reviving [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. Locating Magnus among the spirits of former leaders residing in the Matrix, Trion convinced him he was needed in the world of the living and entered his chest, using his unique connection with the Matrix to act as a substitute Matrix and bring both himself and Magnus back to life. Trion was restored in a tiny body that popped out of Magnus's chest. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue#Resurrection Chapter|Resurrection Chapter}} Granted the ability to predict the future by his merging with Vector Sigma, Alpha Trion then foresaw that Megatron would return to his evil ways in the [[Legends World]] he had settled in. Seeking to stop this, the sage himself traveled to this other universe, using his diminutive body to disguise himself as a janitor at the [[Axalon Trading Company]] while waiting for Megatron to make his move. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 14|Bonus Edition Vol. 14}}

When the employees of Axalon Co. got curious about Metroplex—who'd ended up as their new office building after getting summoned into the Legends Universe—Alpha Trion taught them about the city-bot's past. He accidentally blew his cover by explaining he knew this much because he was from "the other world", though fortunately(?) the employees wrongly assumed he meant the world of the dead. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue#The Mysterious Knowledgeable Grandpa Chapter|The Mysterious Knowledgeable Grandpa Chapter}} Alpha Trion was present when Megatron made his move, teaming up with [[Megatron (Armada)|Armada Megatron]] to conquer the Legends World. {{storylink|LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue#The Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter|The Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter}} In response, he cast his disguise aside and used an [[10.2 ultra-drill|ultra-drill]] to summon Ultra Magnus from their home universe. At first Magnus told Trion to get back in his chest, but the sage assured him he no longer needed Trion's Matrix power but had to rely on his own strength. After the Megatrons were defeated by Magnus, Alpha Trion confirmed to a curious [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] that he could indeed predict the future, and had had a vision of the imminent arrival of [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird Shadow]], [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]], and [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]] as well. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 14|Bonus Edition Vol. 14}}

Alpha Trion later confirmed to a curious Rattrap that his new body was a [[Mini-Con]]-type one, though he got defensive when asked to display the third weapon mode Mini-Cons are supposed to have. Transforming into his hovercar mode, he claimed it was ''clearly'' a shield and displayed its usefulness by shielding Ultra Magnus from a barrage of lasers. Unfortunately his size meant he only took a fraction of the blasts, and Magnus was gunned down. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Sequel#Alpha Trion Chapter|Alpha Trion Chapter}} Armada Megatron later bought an Ultra Magnus toy in order to examine it for the Autobot's weaknesses, defending his purchase of a non-Mini-Con toy to [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Armada Starscream]] by pointing out the Alpha Trion accessory. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Sequel#Armada Megatron Chapter|Armada Megatron Chapter}}

Thanks to Alpha Trion's premonitions, the Autobots were prepared for Slipstream's arrival in the Legends World and easily defeated her. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 16|Bonus Edition Vol. 16}} While doing janitor work at [[Tera-Kura Co.]], he overheard Megatron talk about his plan to steal energy from people, and summoned [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] into the Legends World as reinforcement. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 17|Bonus Edition Vol. 17}} When [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Armada Starscream]] attempted to sacrifice himself to prevent [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] from destroying the Legends World, Alpha Trion opened a portal to Starscream's home universe and brought forth [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] to stop him. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 18|Bonus Edition Vol. 18}}

Alpha Trion was later contacted by the [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] of his home universe, who requested to be brought to the Legends World. {{storylink|LG19 Sprung Prologue}} Following Springer's arrival, Trion had his ultra-drill stolen by a jealous [[Tigatron]]. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 19|Bonus Edition Vol. 19}} He was later caught up in Megatron's attack on the city when the Decepticon briefly returned to being Galvatron. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}} Aware that Alpha Trion contained the power of the Matrix, [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] had [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] capture the sage as part of a bid to take over Tera-Kura, but he was freed when the Matrix energies overloaded and exploded Scourge's [[transtector]]. He went on to teach Scourge and his [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] how to be proper janitors. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When Tera-Kura purchased Metroplex from Axalon, Alpha Trion joined the Decepticon company so that he could stay with Metroplex. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}}

Alpha Trion was pretty careless with his ultra-drill; after Tigatron, it was also stolen by [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 33|Bonus Edition Vol. 33}} and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] to serve their own needs. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}} He was present when [[Ginrai (human)|God Ginrai]] tried to force his way into Tera-Kura Co., {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 42|Bonus Edition Vol. 42}} and later had his drill nabbed again by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]]. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. EX (Magna Convoy)|Bonus Edition Vol. EX}} When Weirdwolf's Decepticon faction attacked Tera-Kura to nab Metroplex's [[transformation cog]], Alpha Trion did his best to fight off [[Apeface]]. {{storylink|LG43 Trypticon Mobilization Chapter: Decepticon Civil War|Decepticon Civil War}} Weirdwolf used the cog to rebuild [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], so Trion responded by summoning [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]], who had previously bested the monster. Following Trypticon's defeat, he also called for the [[Disaster Relief Team]] to rebuild [[Akihabara]]. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 43|Bonus Edition Vol. 43}} Alpha Trion was later kidnapped by [[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]], [[Triggerhappy (G1)|Triggerhappy]] and [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], who forced him to summon the six [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]] partners lost in the G1 World. He did as instructed only to find that the Targetmasters were emitting lethal amounts of [[plasma energy]], so he instead put the drill in reverse and scattered the six across the Legends World for everyone's safety. {{storylink|Mutant Targetmaster Birth Chapter}}

During a battle between Ultra Magnus and [[Sixshot]], Alpha Trion entered Magnus's chest to lend him his power. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 50|Bonus Edition Vol. 50}}

====''Wings Universe''====
{{Wingsnote}}

[[File:BattleLines6-stasishibernationpods.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67]]

After the ''[[Van De Graaff]]'' was shot down on [[Beta-Nine]], the proemial Alpha Unit of the [[Elite Guard]] managed to retrieve its cargo. The [[Matrix of Leadership|mysterious item]] was then delivered by [[Magnum]] to its custodian, Alpha Trion. {{storylink|Wings of Honor}}

Over the next ten years, the Decepticon insurrection became more fierce. Councilor Magnum continued to champion his Elite Guard, a series of strike teams dedicated to hunting down the [[Decepticon Warlord]]s to cut the many heads off the serpent. Councilor Alpha Trion, however, favored his own Prime Initiative, a general of sorts who would oversee the entire Autobot army as a unified force against the Decepticons. {{Storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 2}}

Despite their political differences, Alpha Trion and Magnum worked together as the situation called for it. When a group of civilian scientists and historians needed demolitions assistance at a dig site in [[Median]], Alpha Trion requested the help of Magnum's Elite Guard for the job. Of course, he neglected to mention some of the finer points of the mission, but such is politics. {{storylink|Flames of Yesterday}}

After [[Dion (G1)|Dion]] and [[Magnum]] were injured in a Decepticon attack, they were taken to Alpha Trion. He was only able to save one of them, rebuilding the survivor into [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. As the war drained Cybertron's energy to dangerously low levels, Optimus left the planet on a mission to find more energy. Alpha Trion prepared stasis pods within which most of the remaining Autobot population would hibernate. As they placed the other Autobots in the pods, he warned [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] that remaining online during periods of low energy as he intended to do would greatly accelerate the aging process. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 6}}

When Optimus Prime and the other Autobots aboard the Ark were considered lost, Alpha Trion set about uniting the divided Cybertronian through other means. Using the remains of a Decepticon deep-space shuttle, he built [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and brought him to life with the power of Vector Sigma, instructing the super-computer to imbue him with a need to unite Cybertron under one banner. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 44|''Wings Universe'' Jhiaxus profile}}

Centuries later, after the [[Great Reformatting]], [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] dedicated himself to interfacing with the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]] in search of guidance from [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]]. After many failed attempts, Cheetor finally succeeded, instead meeting with Alpha Trion. Trion told Cheetor of his true destiny: to lead Cybertron into a new age of peace. Cheetor accepted his destiny and thus merged with Alpha Trion, becoming Alpha Trizer. {{storylink|Hoist the Flag|Alpha Trizer's profile}} In [[2984]] C.E. as Alpha Trizer engaged in combat against the [[Star Seeker]]s, the faces of Optimus Primal and Alpha Trion flashed through his mind. {{storylink|Hoist the Flag}}

====''Deviations''====
In an alternate timeline where [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] killed [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] in the [[Battle of Autobot City]], [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] ended up sacrificing himself to defeat [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megascream]] and [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. In the following [[Autobot]] celebration, Optimus Prime saw a vision of Alpha Trion and Rodimus Prime as equals within the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] and swore to never question its ways. {{Storylink|Transformers: Deviations|Deviations}}

===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Letters page continuity====
[[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]] confirms the events of ''War Dawn'' totes sounds like it happened, though he's "never heard of this Alpha Trion character but then who am I?" {{storylink|Flashback!#268's Dread Tidings}}

===3H comics===
[[File:DepartureBetrayal-AlphaTrion.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb|Alpha Trion was various lions for all of two seconds, in one person's mind.]]
In the distant past, during the Cybertronians' rebellion against their Quintesson oppressors, A-3's mettle was tested in an encounter with a [[Dark Guardian]]. {{storylink|Disclosure}}

During [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s rule of Cybertron, Alpha Trion was seemingly resurrected and/or reformatted as a lion by the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]] to guide [[Primal Prime]] and his [[Wrecker]] in much the same way as he aided many previous Autobot leaders. {{storylink|Departure}} It is unclear whether this new form ever existed physically; its only appearance was as a vision in Primal Prime's head. {{storylink|Betrayal}} The ancient Autobot reached out and made contact with Primal Prime's spark, but his messages came through garbled and incomplete. Of the small amount of information he was able to transmit to Primal Prime was the fact that the Wreckers should believe in Primus's vision, and that their creator sometimes worked in mysterious ways... {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Alphatrionuniverse.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He said he was reformatted into a [[beast mode]], but he was lyin'.]]
Alpha Trion did not make a physical appearance after this enigmatic reintroduction until [[Unicron]] posed a new threat to the balance of the multiverse. Alpha Trion, though technically still merged with [[Primus]]/[[Vector Sigma]]/Whatever, was again in his original body (but now with a cape!). He/they pulled Cybertron's greatest hero, [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]], back from the dead in order to rescue recently abducted Cybertronians from the center of the Chaos Bringer. {{storylink|Abduction}}

Thoug Primal was at first taken aback by the enormity of the task he had been assigned, Alpha Trion's pontification goaded him on in accepting the mission. When Primal succeeded at this monumental task, {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}} he confronted the [[Maximal Elder]]s with one of his overblown speeches and was thrown in jail. Alpha Trion sent [[Snarl (BM)|Snarl]] to stage a small rescue of his own, and Primal was returned to the center of Cybertron. Here, Alpha Trion presented Primal with a window into the past, present, and future of the [[Transformer afterlife|Allspark]], from which he could pluck any warrior, whether they be living or dead. Primal chose [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depthcharge]] and [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], the former of whom rejected Primal's calling. Alpha Trion quieted Primal's disappointment, letting Depthcharge go, expecting him to return of his own accord. To take his place, Alpha Trion pulled [[Omega Prime]] from [[Viron 903.0 Beta|a Viron universe]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}

{{-}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:Alphatriondw.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Most people kill their prizes before hanging them on their wall. Shockwave is not most people.]]
Eons ago, Alpha Trion kept watch over the Transformers when Primus entered his eternal sleep to hide Cybertron from Unicron. However, a nomadic alien race eventually conquered Cybertron, and Alpha Trion was forced into hiding. Thousands of Transformers were slaughtered, and Alpha Trion was unable to act. {{storylink|Transformers: The Ultimate Guide}} Alpha Trion performed actions that would make him known as the savior of his race. {{storylink|Cold War (issue)|Cold War}}

Alpha Trion was attached to the supercomputer Vector Sigma, and was its caretaker from the [[Golden Age]] to the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. He was considered the only Transformer capable of accessing all of the computer's functions. In his position, he disagreed with the [[Council of Ancients]]' esoteric mysticism, wishing to make the Transformers' place in the cosmos more known. {{Storylink|Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye #8}} Despite this, he was a secret guiding force behind the Council and its selection of Primes. He was fond of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], both with whom he had a special bond. {{Storylink|Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye #1}}

After the [[Great Shutdown]], [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] was awakened. Soon after, he met [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], who somehow led the [[Decepticon]] to Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion was incapacitated and hung on a wall in Shockwave's laboratory for analysis, to assist Shockwave in his attempt to control Vector Sigma. The ancient Cybertronian constantly foiled his attempts to analyze him; nevertheless, Shockwave swore that the savior of their race would become its "greatest destroyer". {{storylink|Cold War (issue)|Cold War}} As Shockwave's plans reached fruition, the last remaining "ancient program" for him to decode was Alpha Trion. However, Shockwave's machinations were foiled by his apparent and untimely demise. {{storylink|Revelation (War and Peace)|Revelation}}

Alpha Trion's last days were recorded to be deep within Cybertron, preparing the Transformers and Cybertron for their darkest hour. {{Storylink|Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye #1}}

===''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''===
[[File:Historyofcybertron.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Trukk... and munky?]]
When [[Serpentor|Serpent O.R.]] downloaded some of [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]'s memories, he saw Alpha Trion and his role in the [[Cybertronian Civil Wars|rebellion]] against the [[Quintesson]]s. {{storylink|The Art of War issue 1|The Art of War #1}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
:*''First Appearance:'' [[Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3]] (cameo); [[Any Old Iron|Transformers: Ironhide #3]] (full appearance)

[[File:OriginMyths-ThePrimes.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

In the years that followed the departure of the [[Knights of Cybertron]], Alpha Trion emerged as one of the [[Prime (rank)|Prime]]s, leading one of the [[Thirteen Tribes]] some twelve million years ago. He was well-known as a chronicler and record-keeper of Cybertronian history; {{storylink|The Crucible}} though he did not have the same heroic reputation as the other Primes, he was a well-versed historian, librarian, and orator. {{storylink|White Light}} In his youth, he studied some of the mythical [[Artifacts of the Primes|artifacts]] that would come to be wielded by the Primes, such as the ancient [[Enigma of Combination]], {{storylink|The Nothing Man}} and learned as much as he could about the primitive tribes that inhabited prehistoric Cybertron. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}

Alpha Trion would join forces with four other Primes: [[Alchemist Prime|Alchemist]], [[Vector Prime|Vector]], [[Solus Prime|Solus]], and [[Nexus Prime]], and together they established a village they called the [[Crystal City]]. As a storyteller and keeper of legends, Trion encouraged the tribes to work together by regaling them with tales of [[Primus]] and the [[Guiding Hand]], believing that the kernels of truth passed down through his tales could inspire others to perform great deeds.

[[File:OriginMyths-AlchemistPrime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"Go home Alchemist, you're drunk."]]

Their early efforts were threatened by the advancing armies of the [[Darklands]]; shortly after the Darklanders slaughtered [[Septimus Prime]] and sacked [[Protihex|Protohex]], another Prime, going by the name of "[[Onyx Prime|Onyx]]", arrived to propose an alliance, bringing with him his comrade [[Liege Maximo]] and an army of [[Beast mode|bestial]] warriors. "Onyx" professed scorn for Trion's belief in the Guiding Hand, but Trion spoke to him privately and made him see the inspirational power that his stories possessed. Onyx pressed him to convince the other Primes into allying with him; once united, their forces took to the field against the Darklanders. As the battle raged, events took an unexpected turn when three [[Titan (IDW)|Titans]] emerged from the depths of the planet. In the impromptu ceasefire, Onyx was able to reach the enemy leader [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] and convince him to lay down arms and agree to a proper truce. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

The other Primes never learned the truth about Onyx Prime: the bestial Prime was an identity of convenience assumed by a time-travelling [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]]; using Megatronus as a catspaw, he had deliberately engineered the war between the Darklanders and the Crystal City in order to bring the Primes together under a single banner, one of many historical paradoxes he would engineer using his foreknowledge of Cybertron's long history. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

In the ensuing celebration, Trion soon became wary of his new ally: "Onyx" had begun telling "stories" of his own, thus seeding history with more paradoxes, including the "[[Dark Cybertron (prophecy)|Dark Cybertron]]" prophecy that his younger self would one day study and attempt to bring about. Trion's concerns were echoed by the Darklander warrior [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]], who believed that the Primes would eventually grow drunk on their own superiority and become tyrants. Trion solemnly told Arcee that it would be the job of their followers to keep the Primes in check. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

[[File:OmegasConundrum-Metroplex.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Because he's the wise sage Cybertron deserves, but not the one it needs right now.]]

Determined to see as much of his planet as he could before it all changed, Trion befriended the Titan [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], and the pair set off to explore and chart Cybertron. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} Over the next two million years, the initial coalition of Primes were joined by five more, and thus united the Primes became the alliance known as the [[Thirteen]], led by [[Prima]]. {{storylink|Heavy}} In the ensuing era of peace, Trion became known as "The Trion" and developed his famed reputation for storytelling. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} Other Primes had grown arrogant, however and began spreading rumors that only a Prime could kill another Prime, to ensure their reign would last forever. {{storylink|The Crucible}} None of the twelve Primes ever suspected that "Onyx Prime" had continued to manipulate them, and, as he had once brought them together, planned to tear them apart once more. Indeed, "Onyx" soon realized that he could permanently keep Trion's suspicions at bay simply by spinning one convincing story after another.

"Onyx" set his plans in motion by encouraging Prima to commission an interstellar mission of goodwill, designed to share the "enlightened" civilization of Cybertron with their neighbors. Alpha Trion joined the voyage as its official record-keeper, and joined by [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and his [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinels]], the Cybertronian expedition set off. Their peaceful voyage ended in disaster, however: the inhabitants of the first world they visited were hostile, and took up arms against the Transformers. Over the course of this brief war, "Onyx"—despite Trion's misgivings—announced that this world now belonged to Alpha Trion, the first of Cybertron's thirteen "colonies".

On returning to Cybertron, "Onyx" continued to secretly sow discord, and manipulated events so that a furious Megatronus would slay [[Solus Prime]] in an attempted coup against Prima. Alpha Trion agreed that Liege Maximo, who had seemingly masterminded the coup that had led to her death, had forfeited his right to live on Cybertron and watched as his fellow Primes imprisoned Liege Maximo aboard [[Vigilem]].

Determined to bring Solus Prime's killer to justice, Alpha Trion joined "Onyx" and Prima aboard Prima's Titan, [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]]. The three Primes tracked Megatronus to the barren world of [[Tsiehshi]], but Trion stayed behind while the other two Primes went to confront Megatronus in a final duel. Only "Onyx Prime" returned, informing the record-keeper that Prima had sacrificed himself to end Megatronus's life. The reality was more complicated, however: "Onyx" had simply let Megatronus kill Prima, then, his usefulness at an end, killed Megatronus. Trion was once more swayed by "Onyx Prime's" well-told tale, and so this account became the "official" version of events that would find its way into the chronicles of Cybertron... and thus, the inspiration for the lie that the time-travelling Shockwave used to cover up the truth.

Returning to Cybertron, Trion and the five remaining Primes watched as Emissary interred Prima's remains within his body and left Cybertron, unaware that his systems had been sabotaged by "Onyx". {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} With the Primes reduced in number and divided from within, they and their followers soon fell to war with one another in the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]], {{storylink|Heavy}} the outcome Shockwave had been aiming for for all along. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} Trion was not an active participant in the war, instead hoping to find a way to end the conflict as bloodlessly as possible. When the warrior [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] slaughtered [[Nexus Prime]] and dispelled the rumors that the Primes were immortal, fear for their own safety prompted the last of the Primes to flee Cybertron, one by one, until only Alpha Trion remained. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:TheMindBomb-TrionAndGalvatron.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Determined to bring the war to an end, Alpha Trion approached Galvatron during the [[Battle of Aegiax]] to request his help in bringing peace to Cybertron—promising the bloodthirsty barbarian whatever he wanted in exchange. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} Trion led Galvatron to the [[Citadel of Light]], former home of [[Prima]] and his tribe, and watched Galvatron and Prima's last follower [[Nova Prime|Nova Major]] defeat the remnants of Onyx Prime's forces. When the battle was won, Alpha Trion introduced himself to Nova, who was not quick to believe Trion's claim to Primehood until Trion pummeled him into submission. Together, the trio made for "Onyx Prime's" castle in [[Kalis]] to verify Trion's belief that the other Primes had disappeared. Their way into the castle was barred by the sole remaining warrior, [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox of the Mournsong]], but he was quickly intimidated into letting them pass. Discovering that "Onyx" had indeed vanished, Nova announced his plan to take control of Cybertron and unify its tribes, and Alpha Trion, feeling this was the best course of action for Cybertron's people, gladly stood aside and let Nova assume the title of Prime.

After taking control of Cybertron, Nova directed his attention to decoding the secrets of the Thirteen, beginning with Nexus Prime's Enigma of Combination. Galvatron was the only one of them who ''didn't'' want to uncover the Enigma, and continually insisted that the Enigma was gone, just like its creator. Trion became curious by Galvatron's claims and pointed out that everyone ''except'' Galvatron talked of the Enigma as if it were merely a concept, but Galvatron spoke of it as a physical object. One look in Galvatron's eyes provided Alpha with all the explanation he needed to arrive at the answer. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Over the next few million years, Allpha Trion was content to let himself fade into the background of Cybertronian life, allowing himself to be "forgotten" after the disastrous fall of the Primes. {{storylink|The Crucible}} When Nova Prime and his crew—which included Galvatron—departed Cybertron six million years ago, Alpha Trion blessed their starship, the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]''. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} Following the disappearance of the ''Ark'', memorial lectures were held in honor of Nova, during which Alpha Trion gave a speech about [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations}} Alpha Trion's various compendiums regarding the early histories of Cybertron were of interest to the younger Senator [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]], and thus would go on to form the basis for many of "Onyx Prime's" manipulations to the timeline. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:MO3 EOOPAT funeral.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Nova Prime, thought dead, would eventually be supplanted by [[Nominus Prime]], and, later, [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]. Unaware that Sentinel Prime was a false identity constructed by the ancient [[Titan Master]] [[Infinitus]], Alpha Trion was known to have stood up against "Sentinel Prime's" increasingly fascistic ideals. {{storylink|White Light}} Four million years ago, as [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s [[Decepticon]] uprising took shape, Alpha Trion attended the funerals of [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}}

Because of Alpha Trion's intimate knowledge of Cybertron's surface, he accompanied Orion Pax and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] on a mission into the treacherous [[Rust Sea|Rust Spot]] to swap Decepticon prisoners for the captured [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]]. This was merely a ruse to draw out Alpha Trion, who the Decepticons wanted in order to help locate Metroplex. Due to Orion Pax's valiant actions, Alpha Trion and the other Autobots escaped with their lives. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} The Autobots did get something out of Alpha Trion though; confirmation that the Titans were indeed real. {{storylink|The Hunting Party (IDW)|The Hunting Party}}

Once Orion Pax had become Optimus Prime, he broadcast a message to all Cybertronians, asking them to join him in the fight against the Decepticons and beginning the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Alpha Trion watched this broadcast with interest from the archives of [[Kutanzuule]]. {{storylink|Broadcast}} He soon came in contact with the young Prime to offer him advice and guidance in his early days as Autobot leader. {{storylink|Derelicts}} When Optimus blamed himself for being unable to stop the [[Exodus (G1)|Exodus]], Alpha Trion assured him that sometimes a leader's role was to let their followers go and make their own decisions. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} Alpha Trion was surprised when Optimus rediscovered the long lost [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], and advised him to accept that the ancient guardian would not easily reintegrate into society. {{storylink|Primacy issue 2|Primacy #2}}

[[File:HelloCruelWorld-AlphaTrion.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

500,000 years ago, Alpha Trion chose to leave Cybertron together with Metroplex, partly to keep the Titan and his technology out of Decepticon hands, but also to investigate [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]]'s [[Regenesis]] plan. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}} After exploring space for millennia, Alpha Trion came to realize that Shockwave had not seeded his miraculous ores randomly—each had been sent to a planet that Shockwave believed one of the Thirteen had gone after they had fled Cybertron, and the thirteenth planet was the resting place of the Enigma of Combination. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

The pair briefly returned to Cybertron in [[1997]]; by this point, the planet had been rendered virtually uninhabitable by war, and so Trion began trying to restore it. Operating out of Metroplex, Trion spent the next decade processing the corrosive elements out of Cybertron's atmosphere, slowly making it habitable again. After 2008, the problem was compounded by a monstrous [[Insecticon swarm]] that had overrun the planet. Requiring the toughest of the tough to obliterate the swarm, Alpha Trion selected [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] to do the job.

[[File:Ironing Out the Details Alpha Trion.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Metal beards are ridiculous! But ''cloth'' beards are super okay.]]

That Ironhide was across the galaxy on Earth mattered little: Ironhide would eventually die some day, Trion rationalized, and so he built a duplicate body on Cybertron into which he could implant Ironhide's spark and memories once he passed on and returned to the "[[Transformer afterlife|core]]". With Vector Sigma having been essentially erased in the event that devastated Cybertron, this took Alpha Trion years and pushed his skills to their limit, but once Ironhide died on Earth in 2010, the ancient Autobot's grand work was complete, and Ironhide returned to life on Cybertron in the new body constructed for him. {{storylink|Any Old Iron}}

Ironhide awoke in confusion, his memories incomplete due to damage he had suffered millions of years beforehand that had disrupted his link to the core, and wandered Cybertron's wastes until Alpha Trion dispatched his [[Scamper|page]] to bring the befuddled warrior to Metroplex's city mode. Alpha Trion took umbrage at the fact Ironhide had never heard of his ancient greatness, and revealed his incredible powers over his own electromagnetic aura by using it to control Ironhide's actions when the ornery Autobot started to get a little rough. Ironhide further tested Trion's patience when he ignored his cautions and ventured out to track down the near-dead [[Sunstreaker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]] (even if Sunstreaker ''had'' heard of him). Finally, Trion relented to Ironhide's constant questioning and explained the reason he had brought him back online: to exterminate the swarm. {{storylink|Ironing Out the Details}} While Ironhide took out of most of the swarm in a brutal battle, Trion busied himself repairing Sunstreaker. After Ironhide returned, Trion announced that he and Metroplex were leaving Cybertron for parts unknown while Ironhide mopped up the remaining Insecticons. Infuriated by the old 'bots condescending attitude, Ironhide slugged him one, but Alpha Trion let it slide, putting Ironhide in his place by telling him he was just a small playing piece in a very large game. Before departing, however, Alpha Trion softened, congratulating Ironhide on saving the entire planet. After all, the only other Autobot would could make that claim... was he. {{storylink|Any Old Iron}}

In 2012, Alpha Trion finally deduced that the Enigma of Combination had landed on [[Earth]]. Hoping to recover it before Shockwave could harness its power for his own ends, {{storylink|The Crucible}} Trion left Metroplex to fend off the next stage of Shockwave's ultimate plan by himself. Trion set course for Earth to retrieve what he called the "holy grail", and was thus unable to turn back and help when his Titan companion was infected with an [[alchemical virus]]. After crossing paths with the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]'', he convinced [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]]'s [[Caminus|Camien]] associates, [[Cityspeaker]] [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] and her compatriots [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] and [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]], to use their [[Cityspeaker|cityspeaking]] skils to aid the Titan in his place. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} {{storylink|A 'Bot and Her City}} Alpha Trion also tasked the three with delivering a simple message for Optimus Prime: "Earth." {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

Shockwave saw Alpha Trion in a vision of things that would come to pass during the Dark Cybertron prophecy. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

[[File:Full Fathom Five Alpha Trion.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Alpha Trion made it to Earth shortly before Shockwave enacted the final stage of his plan; unfortunately for him, however, his ship was shot down by the [[Earth Defense Command]], {{storylink|The Crucible}} and both he and his vessel were interred at the EDC's primary headquarters in the [[Marshall Islands|Bikini Atoll]] for study. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}} After finally meeting Optimus in person, Windblade passed Trion's message along and Optimus and a group of Autobots travelled to Earth to find him. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

A month later, [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jazz]] infiltrated the EDC base and stumbled on him while investigating the EDC's use of Cybertronian tech. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}} Knowing he was hooked up to an alarm and that the EDC's "[[mind bomb]]" couldn't have been created from just ''his'' brain, [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] stopped Jazz from rescuing Alpha Trion immediately in order to investigate further. After deactivating the alarms they took Alpha Trion and fled on [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]], where a merry Trion's reunion with Optimus Prime was cut short by a coughing fit, prompting [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] to take him away and have a look at his injuries. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|I Dream of Wires}}

[[File:TheCrucible MoonMeeting.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

Alpha Trion had Optimus Prime take him to the [[Moon (moon)|moon]], away from prying ears, to share with him why Earth was so important. He told the story about how he brought Galvatron and Nova Prime together, shocking and angering Optimus with the fact that he was one of the Thirteen Primes and let Nova Prime's reign happen, before revealing the presence of the Enigma of Combination on Earth. {{storylink|The Crucible}} They subsequently returned to the ''[[Ark-7]]'', where Jetfire found their trip had worsened Alpha Trion's condition and admonished Prime. When Prime then returned to Cybertron for what he claimed were political reasons, Trion poked fun at him until he admitted he also had a personal reason, namely the anniversary of him becoming Prime. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches|Signals, Calls, and Marches}}

[[File:TheNothingMan-alphatrionwithenigmacode.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

When the ''Ark-7'' came under attack and the Autobots lost control of the ship, Alpha Trion recognized why—its computers had been infected with the source code of the Enigma of Combination. {{storylink|The Nothing Man}} Joining [[Sideswipe (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sideswipe]] and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] as they fought their way through the ship's defenses towards its [[Space bridge|spacebridge]], Trion described the Enigma as one of the "metaphors made real" devised by the ancient Primes and that normal Transformers couldn't fight against it. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 1: Aphelion|Aphelion}} They reached their goal only to be greeted by a group of Decepticons who'd arrived through the spacebridge to capture the ship, {{storylink|Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|Lagrange}} prompting Sideswipe to hide the still injured Alpha Trion away from harm in a storage compartment. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 4: Perihelion|Perihelion}}

After the Decepticons had crashed the ship onto Earth, Trion and the others were recovered by Optimus Prime's forces. Once they'd relocated, he was shocked to hear that Optimus had started a war with Earth in an attempt to annex it, and wondered what his plan was now. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} He was present when Optimus returned after an ill-fated confrontation between [[Aileron]] and the [[President of the United States]]. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 2: Edge of the Earth|Edge of the Earth}} When the Autobots joined forces with [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]]'s Decepticons against Galvatron, Alpha Trion's status as another Prime distressed Soundwave. He remained at their [[Monument Valley]] base caring for [[Buster (IDW)|Buster]] during the actual attack, but an attack on ''them'' by the humans caused the dog to run off with [[D.0.C.]] {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 4: It's Beginning To And Back Again|It's Beginning To And Back Again}} As the battle raged on, Alpha Trion encouraged Optimus Prime to search within himself for the reason he had chosen this particular valley as their base, which led to Optimus realizing [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]] was hidden beneath the surface and awakening him. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above...So Below}}

[[File:WhiteLight-trionandinfinitus.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]

Alpha Trion watched Metrotitan transform into [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], the Cybertronian embassy on Earth. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}} After this he sought another Prime-to-Prime talk with Optimus, but Optimus postponed it in favor of having him coordinate the aftermath of the battle with Galvatron's soldiers. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

While resting at Autobot City, Alpha Trion was confronted by a diminutive Cybertronian who introduced himself as "[[Infinitus]]", decrying Trion as the weakest of the original [[Thirteen]]. Alpha Trion was confused by Infinitus, but as the interloper pontificated about his plan to wipe Cybertron clean of "vermin" and return it to its [[Golden Age]], Alpha Trion realized that his visitor was none other than the 'bot he had once known as [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]! Sentinel Prime deployed a set of blades from his forearms and pounced on Trion, decapitating him. While Optimus and Soundwave were waylaid, Infinitus used his [[Titan Master]] powers to puppeteer Trion's body, escaping in its spaceship configuration. {{storylink|White Light}} After using it to fetch [[Sovereign]], herald of Onyx Prime and fellow Titan Master, Infinitus passed control of the body on to him. When Infinitus and Sovereign confronted Optimus Prime and Soundwave, Soundwave used Alpha Trion's sword to remove Sovereign, and Trion's head and body were recovered. They were returned to Cybertron and reunited by [[Fixit (G1)|Fixit]], who explained that the old Autobot would survive. {{storylink|White Heat}}

Alpha Trion then got an apartment and spruced it up with all manner of literary texts. Prior to Earth officially joining the Cybertronian [[Council of Worlds]], he was visited by Optimus, Pyra and Starscream and recounted the tale of the unification of the Thirteen and the "first face". Once he was finished, he defended himself to a skeptical Starscream, saying he simply told the story. {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

When [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] ran into story difficulties in making [[Starscream: The Movie (film)|his film about Starscream]], he sought out Alpha Trion for his views regarding Starscream being labelled as the "Chosen One". Alpha Trion felt that Metrotitan had been spouting random nonsense in his damaged state with Starscream just having been in the right place to take advantage of it. Nonetheless he gave Thundercracker advice that instead of using his film to spread lies about Starscream, he should instead use the power of stories to present truths that would inspire his audience. {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

After [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] became ruler of Cybertron, Trion met with the [[Mistress of Flame]] who recounted to him an encounter she had with [[Onyx Prime]] on [[Antilla]]. Alpha Trion had also invited [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] to the discussion in the hopes that the highly religious Mistress and the recently atheist Constructicon could each teach the other something. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} Trion joined the subsequent meeting at the [[Spire]], but as tensions mounted between the trio of Primes, the religious colonists, and Soundwave—who refused to let the Primes reassert themselves as leaders—Trion was struck by a devastating epiphany: the 'bot he believed to be "Onyx Prime" was, in fact, Shockwave, who had manipulated him all these years. Before he could warn his allies of "Onyx Prime's true intentions, a powerful blast ripped through the Spire and mortally wounded him. Soundwave rushed to his side, but was unable to do anything more than pronounce him dead. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}}
{{-}}

====Vision of the future====
In a vision of the future seen by Ironhide and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] during the reformatting of Cybertron, Alpha Trion lived on a prosperous [[Gorlam Prime]] fifteen million years from now, telling young Transformers the history of their race and their struggles. His closest friend at this time was an aged Ironhide, who Alpha frequently comforted as Ironhide struggled to find his place in the new civilization. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[Preditron]] remembered Alpha Trion as an inspirational figure, one who exemplified the best qualities of the Autobots. {{storylink|The Predacon Manifesto}}

[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] knew the books of Alpha Trion to hold that countless Cybertrons existed in the multiverse. {{storylink|Alone Together: Prologue}}

While interacting with the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], [[Overshoot]] witnessed flashes of Cybertron's long history, including Alpha Trion wielding his [[Quill]]. {{storylink|Cultural Appropriation}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
As he lay dying, Alpha Trion passed the Matrix of Leadership down to Optimus Prime, an event that would later be plucked from Prime's memories and scrutinized during his [[Quintesson]] trial. {{storylink|Everybody Hates Metroplex}} His spirit passed into the Matrix, where it would later haunt [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] after he'd stolen the artifact. {{storylink|Transformers vs. G.I. Joe issue 12|Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #12}} The spirits of Alpha Trion and other past Matrix holders manifested again when Optimus Prime took back the Matrix. {{storylink|The War Never Ends}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
When questioned if Alpha Trion was [[Solomus]], [[Vector Prime]] just said that he went by many names. Make of that what you will. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01}}

===''Titans Return'' marketing material===
[[File:PowerOfTheTitanMasters-alphatrion.jpg|thumb|right|250px|]]
Alpha Trion was partnered with the [[Titan Master]] [[Sovereign]], who granted him the power of Primus himself. {{storylink|#Generations|''Titans Return'' Sovereign/Alpha Trion toy bio}} On the planet [[Eukaris]], Alpha Trion and [[Grimlock (G1)|Clobber]] discovered an ancient artifact linked to the [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]s and Titan Masters. They were attacked by a contingent of Decepticons intent on ambushing the two Autobots and stealing the artifact for themselves, but [[Apeface]] managed to blow their cover and give the Autobots time to fight back. {{storylink|Titans Return: The Power of the Titan Masters}}

===''Power of the Primes'' marketing material===
Alpha Trion's [[Spark]] passed into the possession of one of the twelve [[Prime Master]]s; hidden within a suit of decoy armor, they safeguarded the abilities of the Primes until the present day. By uniting with a larger Transformer, the Prime Master could channel the powers of Trion's Spark and grant them unique abilities that varied with each new partner. {{storylink|#Power of the Primes|''Power of the Primes'' Landmine / Alpha Trion online bio}}

{{note|For a list of every permutation of Alpha Trion's abilities, see [[Prime Master/Combinations|this link]].}}

{{-}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
[[File:AlphaTrionG1-MegatronOriginLegends.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]
Alpha Trion was one of the oldest Transformers alive. {{storylink|Orion's Gambit}}

Sentinel Prime sent Alpha Trion out to investigate an uprising of working-class robots. Alpha Trion uncovered that Senator Ratbat has shut down a mine, which catapulted into motion the Decepticon movement. He reported his findings to Sentinel Prime, and Ratbat was forced to flee for his life. {{storylink|Megatron Origins}}

[[File:AlphaTrionG1-GoldenAgeLegends.jpg|right|thumb|250px]]

Alpha Trion, alongside Nightbeat and Orion Pax, was to escort the Decepticons Rack'n'Ruin in a prisoner exchange with the Decepticons. Though they encountered [[Slicer (group)|Slicers]] en route, the group eventually met up with Bludgeon. But instead of the agreed upon exchange, Bludgeon and the Decepticons ambushed the Autobots, leading to Alpha Trion's capture. He was rescued and returned to Zeta Prime's protective custody thanks to Nightbeat and Orion Pax's efforts. {{storylink|Orion's Gambit}}

When Orion Pax and Ariel were seriously injured by the Decepticons, the Aerialbots took the pair to Trion, who rebuilt them into [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]]. He also aided the Aerialbots in returning to their own time through the [[Chronogon]] portal. {{storylink|Golden Age (Legends)|Golden Age}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Expanded Universe===
[[File:Alphalion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|You'll never own me.]]
:A redeco of [[Snarl (BM)|''Beast Machines'' Snarl]] was planned as Alpha Trion for the [[BotCon|OTFCC]] ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Wreckers]]'' storyline, but this concept never made it past the paint mock-up stage.

:A redecoed [[Lio Convoy#Beast Wars|Lio Convoy]] was also considered by [[3H Productions|3H]] for Alpha Trion around the same time, and it was sort of this version that briefly appeared in the comic book ([[#3H comics|see above]]). Though the toy [[Prototype|mock-up]] used Snarl, 3H hoped they could finagle the use of the Lio Convoy mold. "Alpha Lion"'s wireframe appearance in [[Departure|''The Wreckers'' #1]] used Lio Convoy's body, but Snarl's head, hopefully allowing 3H to fudge either way, should they come to a decision. They didn't!

::*[http://www.transformertoys.co.uk/resources/review/universe/alpha+trion/3368 Image gallery of the Alpha Trion Snarl redeco purchased from the Hartmans]

{{canceledtoy}}
{{-}}

===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-AlphaTrion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|I'm not evil! Honest!]]
*'''Alpha Trion'''/'''Weirdwolf''' (souvenir add-on, BotCon 2007)
**''Accessories:'' Sword, missile, Cyber Key

: A bagged set of Alpha Trion, [[Beta Maxx (RID)|Beta Maxx]], and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] was released at [[BotCon 2007]] as a souvenir set add-on, limited to 1400 pieces. Alpha Trion was a [[retool]] of ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' [[Vector Prime]], [[redeco]]ed in purple, white, and red, plus a new head.

: Alpha Trion transforms into a large Cybertronian space cruiser with "solar panel" wings. His nosecone has a spring-loaded missile launcher at the tip. Inserting his [[Cyber Key]] (painted gold to resemble the [[Key to Vector Sigma]]) does not activate any sounds, unlike Vector Prime's toy. Alpha Trion has the more flexible translucent plastic parts ([[for safety reasons]]) of the [[Hasbro]] version of the mold.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2007/Autobot/BCAlphaTrion/alphatrion.htm More information on Alpha Trion at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Kre-O===
[[File:KreO-Toy AlphaTrionKreon.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
*'''Alpha Trion''' (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2014)
**''Collection'': '''4'''
**''Bag number'': '''***** 33'''
**''Accessories'': Stand brick, buildable sword/spear-thing

: Part of the fourth Collection of [[blindpacking|blind-bagged]] [[Kreon]] [[Micro-Changer]]s, ''[[Kre-O]]'' Alpha Trion can be rebuilt from a humanoid to a starship seemingly based on the [[BotCon 2007]] Alpha Trion toy (above). His vehicle-mode bits are rebuilt into a massive spear/sword/thing weapon for robot mode. His jet mode is the only Micro-Changer to fully remove the Kreon's arms in alternate mode.

:He uses the [[Jazz (G1)/toys#Kre-O|Jazz]] helmet... which covers his eyes when pushed all the way down on the noggin.

: This Collection was passed by most larger brick-and-mortar stores, appearing at [[Walgreens]] drug stores first and largely being relegated to similar outlets. Later releases of this wave lost the individual bag codes, meaning you either felt parts through the bag or buy blind.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2014/Autobot/Kre-OAlphaTrion/alphatrion.htm More information on Alpha Trion at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|SDCC2015}}
[[File:KreO-Toy AlphaTrionClass85.jpg|right|thumb|200px|There's always that one old guy who hangs out at school long after he graduated...]]
*'''Kreon Class of 1985''' (Kreon figure set, 2015)
**''Set number'': '''B5152'''
**''Voted'': 800th Year Senior
**''Accessories'': Longsword

:This version of Kreon Alpha Trion has more intricate, cartoon-accurate detailing, and uses the ''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (franchise)|Age of Extinction]]'' [[Megatron (Movie)/toys#Kre-O|Galvatron]] helmet. He also comes with the longsword accessory from the ''Kre-O Dungeons & Dragons'' series for... some reason.

:He was only available in the "[[Kreon Class of '85]]" 30-Kreon box set, a [[San Diego Comic-Con]] 2015 [[exclusive]], also sold online through [[Hasbro Toy Shop]] following the convention.

{{-}}

===Legends===
[[File:Legendstoy-LG14-Alpha Trion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|So I'm basically Optimus Prime's brother and father figure? How is that acceptable?]]
*'''Ultra Magnus''' ([[2015]]-[[September 19|09-19]])
**''Japanese ID Number'': '''LG-14'''

:The ''[[Transformers Legends (franchise)|Legends]]'' release of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' Leader Class [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#Generations|Ultra Magnus]] includes a small Alpha Trion figure, which is a redeco of the [[Minimus Ambus#Generations|Minimus Ambus]] figure (as Minimus does not appear in any Japanese-original fiction). He transforms into a Cybertronian hovercar, which can tab onto three grooves on the lower level of Magnus's trailer. In robot mode, Alpha Trion can sit inside Ultra Magnus's robot mode torso, "wearing" the Magnus head like a helmet.
{{-}}

===Generations===
====Titans Return====
[[File:TF-Generations-Titans-Return-Voyager-Alpha-Trion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Destined to be repurposed as [[Cheetor (BW)#Wings_Universe|Alpha Trizer]].]]
*'''Autobot Sovereign & Alpha Trion''' (Voyager Class, 2016)
**''Accessories:'' Sword, [[Sovereign#Generations|Sovereign]] Titan Master, Gun
:''[[Titans Return (toyline)|Titans Return]]'' Alpha Trion transforms from a robot to lion to spaceship. His head transforms into the [[Titan Master]] [[Sovereign]], although his neck socket is compatible with any other Titan Master figure. Both his alternate modes are references to Alpha Trion's previous BotCon toys. He comes with a gun that Sovereign can ride in spaceship mode. As with other ''Titans Return'' Voyager figures, pressing in his chest crystal makes his head adornments spring up to "bulk up" his head. In Australia, Alpha Trion along with his wavemate Astrotrain are prominent shelfwarmers. Curiously, he lacks any Autobot insignia on his body.

:This toy was [[Repurposing|repurposed]] as a body for ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]'' [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]]. This mold was retooled into ''[[Transformers Legends (franchise)|Legends]]'' [[Lio Convoy#Legends|Leo Prime]] and ''extensively'' retooled into ''Titans Return'' [[Broadside (G1)#Generations|Broadside]] and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)#Generations|Tidal Wave]]. The sword was redecoed into ''Legends'' [[Magna Convoy]]'s [[Matrix Sword]].
{{-}}

====Power of the Primes====
[[File:TF-POTP-Prime-Master-Alpha-Trion-with-Landmine.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|''Legends'', ''Titans Return'', ''Power of the Primes''. The trilogy is complete!]]
*'''Alpha Trion''' (Prime Master, [[2018]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''PP-32'''
**''Accessories:'' Landmine decoy armor, cannon

:''[[Power of the Primes (toyline)|Power of the Primes]]'' Alpha Trion is a [[retool]] of [[Vector Prime#Generations|Vector Prime]] that transforms from a small robot modeled after <s>[[Landmine (G1)#Generation 1|Landmine]]</s> [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)#Toys|Metalhawk]]'s inner robot mode into a [[Prime Master]] that can store inside decoy armor modeled after Landmine's [[Pretender]] shell, or plug into any Prime Master shell's weapon form, or replace a ''Power of the Primes'' Leader's [[Matrix of Leadership/toys#Power of the Primes|Matrix]] core. Alpha Trion can also ride Legends Class figures and attach to Deluxe Class figures' chest armor, Voyager Class figures' bucklers, or Voyager Class figures' combined mode.
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Super Collection Figure===
*'''Alpha Trin''' (2002)

: A three-inch-tall [[plastic|PVC]] figurine of Alpha Trion was available in "Act 8" of [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s ''[[Heroes of Cybertron|Super Collection Figure]]'' line. Like all the figures in the wave, it was available as both a standard full-color figure and a metallic-silver "pewter" version, one of each of which was available in a standard case of twelve [[blindpacking|blindpacked]] figures. Additionally, the pewter version of Alpha Trion came packaged with the left leg of the [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] collectible "build-a-figure".

: Alpha Trion was not among the ''Super Collection Figures'' brought over to the West for [[Hasbro]]'s ''[[Heroes of Cybertron]]'' line.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Cybertron/AlphaTrin/alphatrin.htm More information on ''Super Collection Figure'' Alpha Trin at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Cybertron/PewterAlphaTrin/alphatrin.htm More information on pewter Alpha Trin at TFU.info]''

===EX Gōkin===
[[File:EX Gokin Alpha Trion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|You'd be scolding young 'bots too if you had a pole in your aft...]]
*'''Alpha Trin''' (2014)
**''Accessories:'' Two fists, two open hands, two gripping hands, right pointing hand, A-3 head, two A-3 shoulders, display stand

:Produced by [[Art Storm]] as part of their ''[[EX Gōkin]]'' line, this Alpha Trion is a 6-inch tall posable figure based on his cartoon [[character model]]. He comes with a plethora of extra hands and has an articulated cape that splits in two pieces for easier posing. Alpha Trion can (sort of) be turned into his younger self, A-3, by use of an alternate head based on his appearance in "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and two smaller, spike-less shoulderpads.

::*''[http://artstorm.co.jp/exgokin_transformersseries_alphatrion.html More information on ''EX Gōkin'' Alpha Trin at Art Storm's official site]''

{{-}}

==Notes==
[[File:Alpha Trion through the epochs.jpg|thumb|Once you go white, you'll never, er... be right?]]
*Alpha Trion is one of the very few Cybertronians to show signs of aging and [[Facial hair|hair growth]].
*According to a note in Japan's ''[[Comic Bom Bom]]'' magazine,{{fact|source needed}} A-3 was the first successful Cybertronian, [[A1]] and [[A2]] being failures. However, the presence of Cybertronians within the Matrix of Leadership older than Alpha Trion (as seen in "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2|The Return of Optimus Prime]]") makes the actual [[canon]]icity of this questionable.
*Alpha Trion may be named after the {{w|Triple-Alpha Process}}, the method through which carbon is created, which in turn is the reason (human) life came to be. Given that Alpha Trion essentially "created" Optimus Prime, who in turn formed the Autobots, this is actually quite fitting.
[[File:ImAlphaTrionsHovercraftMode.jpg|thumb|"I'm Alpha Trion's hover-craft mode!"]]
*Alpha Trion had a hover-craft [[alternate mode]] designed for his appearance in ''[[The Transformers: Ironhide]]'', but ultimately didn't end up transforming in that mini-series. The vehicle mode was first revealed in the trade paperback's extras, and would eventually be used in-continuity as part of a flashback sequence in "[[Earthfall Chapter 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb]]" and in the ''[[Transformers Legends (mobile game)|Transformers Legends]]'' episode "[[Megatron Origins]]".
*A mock-up of an Alpha Trion toy in the form of a ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Scourge (G1)/toys#Generations|Scourge]] redeco was shown in ''[[Transformers Generations 2014]]'' Vol. 1 as one of ten potential exclusives for Vol. 2. During the fan poll held to determine which of the ten would be produced, Alpha Trion claimed 28.9% of the votes but ultimately came second place under [[Goshooter#Generations|Goshooter]].<ref>[http://millionhero.sblo.jp/article/101898683.html Poll results at Hero-X]</ref>

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Alpha Trin''' (アルファートリン ''Arufā Torin''), '''Alpha Trion''' (アルファトライオン ''Arufa Toraion'')
*''Hebrew:'' '''Alpha Trion''' (אלפא טריון, "Alpha Trion")
*''Indonesian:'' '''Alfa Trion'''
*''Mandarin:'' '''Alpha Tellion''' (Taiwan, 阿法特利昂 ''Ā Fǎ Tè Lì Áng''), '''Tài Shīfù''' (China, 钛师傅, "Master Titanium")

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Thirteen}}

[[Category:Autobot leaders]]
[[Category:Beast Machines Autobots]]
[[Category:Elderly Transformers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Ghosts]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Kre-O Autobots]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Legends Autobots]]
[[Category:Legends Mini-Cons]]
[[Category:Prime Masters]]
[[Category:SDCC exclusives]]
[[Category:The Headmasters Autobots]]
[[Category:Thirteen]]
[[Category:Titans Return]]
[[Category:Triple Changers]]
[[Category:Matrix bearers]]
[[Category:Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]

The Ties That Bind (issue)

2018-02-07T20:16:32Z

Prowl245: /* Continuity notes */

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[The Transformers: Lost Light|The Transformers: Lost Light]]'' #14
|prev=Sardines
|next=
|image=LL14_cvrA.jpg
|title=The Scavengers in: "The Ties That Bind"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[February 7]], [[2018]]
|coverdate=January 2018
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Sara Pitre-Durocher]] (pg. 1-8), [[Brendan Cahill]] (pg. 9-20)
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era]]
}}
'''The Scavengers, accompanied by Nickel, are hired to recover the Magnificence, unaware that it is now in the clutches of Scorponok, who has a deadly connection to their most dangerous member, Grimlock.'''

==Synopsis==
''Several years ago, [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] departs [[Garrus-9]] aboard a small craft with an hand-picked crew of other prisoners, including [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]], [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]], and [[Flywheels]]. Scorponok comments on the strange selections Shockwave has made for his crew, but the reason for his choices soon becomes apparent when the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] hail the ship, having arrived to execute Shockwave. Flywheels and Flame listen in as Shockwave offers the lives of the rest of the crew—all of them on the DJD's [[The List|list]] below him—in exchange for his own, only to be taken aback when [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] turns down this "logical" option and instead activates his lethal ability to shut down Transformers with his voice. The two eavesdroppers alert Scorponok and together, the trio make themselves scarce, jettisoning themselves out an airlock and leaving Shockwave and the rest of the crew to their fate... a premature move, it turns out, as Shockwave is able to save his own life by blasting the radio and cutting Tarn off. Back-up then arrives in the form of Shockwave's agents [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] and [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] aboard their ship the ''[[Torment]]'', and the DJD opt to retreat.''

After stepping through a portal on the planet [[Frayus]], the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] find themselves on the world of [[Troja Major]], where their rescuer, [[Agonizer|The Curator]], offers them a job: recover the [[Magnificence]], recently stolen from his business rival [[Mengel]] by Flame. The Scavengers' unwilling companion [[Nickel]]—accidentally blasted through the portal a moment after them—wants to know what the Magnificence ''is'', so the Curator explains what he has learned of the mysterious, all-knowing artifact's history. It was formerly owned by the [[Omega Guardian]]s of [[Ki-Aleta]], but the fact they did not take it with them when they "ascended" to the "Higher Realms" led the young Senator Shockwave to conclude that this was because it was not of their race, but was, in fact, [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]]. And not merely Cybertronian, but one of the [[Knights of Cybertron]] themselves, the oldest and wisest member of the order whose pursuit of knowledge, legend claims, became so all-consuming that he relinquished his body. The physical similarity of the Magnificence to one of the five heraldic symbols connected to the Knights has convinced the Curator of the possibility the legend may be true, and he wants the Magnificence for his [[Museum of Curios and Rumored Objects|museum]]. Deciding the risk is worth the sizable financial reward, the Scavengers accept, and Nickel—unable to contact [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] and the rest of her troops, and concerned with the rising levels of radioactivity and unstable weather conditions on Troja Major—agrees to accompany them in return for a cut of the profits.

The Curator teleports the Scavengers to their target location on the planet [[Confluence]], where their concerns are immediately increased upon discovering that Flame's ship is a [[Worldsweeper]], like the one they found [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]] in on [[Clemency]]. Worse still, Confluence is supposed to be a desert planet, but instead, they find themselves in the middle of a lush forest... a forest that suddenly comes to life as the trees ''transform'' into robot modes and surround them, just like the wooden robot they also found on the Clemency Worldsweeper! Grimlock tears into the "[[Treecon]]s" as the rest of the Scavengers watch in awe, given cause by Grimlock's display of might to recall his brief time as a member of the Decepticons early in the war. This leads Nickel to absently comment on how Grimlock's return to the Autobots led to a rare instance of a 'bot being bumped up the DJD's list... revealing for the first time to the Scavengers that she was a member of that much-feared organization. The Scavengers all immediately turn on her, but with his opponents dispatched, Grimlock calmly comes to her defense, defusing the tension by coherently speaking a record eight words in a row. Unfortunately, a moment later, Scorponok bursts out of the ground and attacks the group—and when Grimlock charges at him, Scorponok simply waves his claw, orders the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] to "sleep," and Grimlock collapses.

The Scavengers are thrown in a cell aboard the Worldsweeper, which blasts off into space. After they fill Nickel in on their previous adventure on Clemency and the connections they have now made between it and Scorponok, [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] has [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] open up the still-unconscious Grimlock's chest, to see if Scorponok has placed a control device in him. What they find instead is an empty spherical cavity, which Krok initially mistakes for a [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] chamber; a moment later, Scorponok and Flame appear on the other side of the cell bars to correct him, explaining that the cavity was the previous resting place of the Magnificence. After its recovery from Ki-Aleta by the Autobots, the Magnificence was taken to Garrus-9 and stored beneath the [[Aequitas]] computer before being transferred to "the one place in the universe harder to break into": Grimlock's chest. After their escape from the prison, Scorponok and Flame made use of the [[Warren]] to teleport Grimlock out of his cell, and proceeded to torture him until he lost control of his mind and body and released the Magnificence from its tamper-proof chamber, after which they dumped him on Clemency. Krok points out that that doesn't explain how he made Grimlock fall unconscious, but Scorponok doesn't reveal the secret of that particular trick; instead, having confirmed that the Scavengers are ''not'' the agents of an unidentified enemy whose arrival he is anticipating, he waves his claw a second time, and Grimlock awakens. Looking down to see Spinister rooting around inside his open chest, Grimlock flies into a rage and rips the surgeon's arm off. Scorponok and Flame turn and walk away as the Scavengers' screams echo down the halls...

A little later, two of Scorponok's troops enter the brig to investigate a buzzing noise; one of the electro-bars on the Scavengers' cell is shorting out. Drawing nearer, they recoil in horror: Grimlock has dismembered the entire group, and standing amid the gore and seemingly in full control of his faculties once more, he demands to see Scorponok at once.

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]] (24)

|c2=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]]'' (1)
*''[[Flywheels]]'' (2)
*[[Skullgrin]] (4, see Errors)
*[[Finback]] (5, see Errors)
*[[Bomb-Burst (G1)|Bomb-Burst]] (6, see Errors)
*''[[Skip]]'' (7)
*''[[Kakuryu]]'' (9)
*''[[Rairyu]]'' (10)
*''[[Doryu]]'' (11)
*''[[Goryu (Victory)|Goryu]]'' (12)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]'' (13)
*''[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]'' (14)
*''[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]'' (15)
*''[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]]'' (16)
*''[[Dominus Ambus|Dominus Ambus/ Vos/The Pet]]'' (17, see Errors)
*''[[Birdbrain]] (18)
*''[[Bristleback]]'' (19)
*''[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'' (20)
*''[[Scowl (G1)|Scowl]]'' (21)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Icepick (G1)|Icepick]]'' (22)
*[[Nickel]] (23)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (25)
*[[Krok (G1)|Krok]] (26)
*[[Fulcrum]] (27)
*[[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] (28)
*[[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] (29)
*''[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]'' (31)
{{!}}}
|c4=
*[[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]] (3)
*[[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]] (8)
*[[Agonizer]] (30)
*"[[Treecon]]s" (32)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Nickel:''' "Sorry—what actually is the Magnificence?" 
'''Spinister:''' "Finally! Thank you!" 
'''Krok:''' "It's an all-knowing artifact. Ask it any question and you'll get an answer." 
'''Nickel:''' "So it's a search engine." 
'''Crankcase:''' "A '''sentient''' search engine!" 
'''Fulcrum:''' "In the shape of a ball!" 
'''Misfire:''' "A ball with an '''eye''' in it! An eye-ball!" 
'''Nickel:''' "You realize you're making it sound progressively less impressive."

"Remind me why I'm here?" 
"Greed. We offered you five percent if you helped us get the Magnificence." 
"You said '''ten''' percent!" 
"Exactly—ten percent, rounded down."
:—'''Nickel''' and '''Crankcase'''

"Scan for mechanical lifeforms." 
"Right. How do I do that? 
"You've got a scanner, haven't you?" 
"Yeah, but there's not a button for everything! You can't just say 'scan for x' and '''ping.''' You can't say 'scan for racists with a burgeoning interest in physiotheraphy' and ten second later, ta-dah! There you go."
:—'''Krok''' and '''Fulcrum'''

"Spinister's a surgeon—an exceptional one. Don't be fooled by his behavior, his attention span, or his inability to differentiate between day and night."
:—'''Krok'''

'''Scorponok:''' "'''The Magnificence.''' It's what you came for, isn't it?" 
'''Krok:''' "How do you know?" 
'''Scorponok:''' "You know what they say: the trees have ears." 
'''Flame:''' "Also, we've been standing just over there for the last hour."

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Shockwave's departure from Garrus-9 follows the events of [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #3]], in which he was noted to be leaving with a "hand-picked crew."
*Shockwave and Tarn call each other "Senator" and "Damus," respectively," alluding to their shared past as master and student in their past lives, as seen in [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|''More than Meets the Eye'' #11]].
*The Vos who is part of the DJD when they cross paths with Shockwave's group has hooks for hands, indicating that he is meant to be the undercover [[Dominus Ambus]], who was first described to have this particular physical attribute in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|''More than Meets the Eye'' #29]]. The notable absence of "The Pet" (the animal form Dominus would be reduced to when the DJD discovered his true identity) from the scene further validates the idea... but see "Errors."
*Shockwave talks about his "far-extending" plans, which would eventually unfold as "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]." The implication that he was somehow aware that the DJD would show up and planned very specifically for them—that is to say, by picking a crew of entirely DJD-targeted 'bots, and as Kaon observes, arranging ahead of time for Bludgeon and Monstructor to arrive just when needed—is an allusion to the knowledge of the future that Shockwave acquired millennia earlier thanks to the time-transcending [[Ore-1]] of [[LV-117]], which was instrumental in enacting his "Dark Cybertron" plan. We urge you not to think too hard about how this works.
*Nickel and the Scavengers travelled through the portal in [[The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End|issue #12]]. The 'bot responsible for opening the portal is revealed to be Agonizer, who previously appeared in [[An Axe to Break the Ice|issues #8]]-[[Chasing the Infinite|9]], the two-part adventure that also re-introduced Scorponok and the Magnificence and kicked off the events leading into this story.
*The story of the Autobots' recovery of the Magnificence from Ki-Aleta was originally told way back in ''[[Spotlight: Hot Rod]]'', which originally introduced the mysterious orb. The creatures protecting it were identified as the "Omega Guardians" in that issue—monolithic stone golems whose depiction seemed very much at odds with the later claim, made in ''More than Meets the Eye'' #11, that Shockwave was on "speaking terms" with them back in his senator days. This issue clarifies the stone guardians were "throwbacks," left behind by the ''real'' Omega Guardians (the "unknown race" mentioned in ''Spotlight: Hot Rod'' as the ''creators'' of the stone guardians) to protect the Magnificence after they "ascended," and reveals more about Shockwave and the Guardians' connections.
*Crankcase mentions Krok's dream of opening a mental health clinic, previously established in [[Animals|''More than Meets the Eye'' #46]].
*Misfire recalls the Scavengers' brief trip to [[Earth]], as chronicled in [[Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!|the ''More than Meets the Eye: Revolution'' one-shot]]. It was in that story that Grimlock retrieved his sword, which he's wielding in this issue.
*Firmly bringing together all the nuggets of sub-plot we've been fed over the last five years, Scorponok is confirmed to be responsible for the crashed Worldsweeper containing the wooden robot and the damaged Grimlock that the Scavengers found all the way back in their first appearance in [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|''More than Meets the Eye'' #7]].
*Krok notes that Grimlock and Scorponok "have history." The footnote only directs readers to ''[[The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity]]''; Grimlock and Scorponok's feud also spans ''[[Spotlight: Grimlock]]'' and ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]]''.
*The presence of a mysterious treasure hidden beneath Aequitas was previously alluded to by [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] in [[Interiors|''More than Meets the Eye'' #6]] (but that said, see "Errors"). This issue reveals that it was the Magnificence. It's unclear if Overlord ever discovered it had been moved from underneath Aequitas to Grimlock's chest; it's certainly possible that the mental torture he put Grimlock through (driving him to madness by forcing him to watch the pit fits he staged, as explained in ''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #3) could have been an attempt to force him into relinquishing it.
*Scorponok is readying for the arrival of an unknown enemy. His process: "Prepare, confront, repel," the three-word refrain we've previously seen Grimlock write in ''More than Meets the Eye'' #46, and which appeared in Drift's nightmarish vision from [[Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|issue #1]].

===Transformers references===
*This is the first time that the planet on which Garrus-9 is located has been identified in IDW continuity. It is named [[Elba]], and was first given this name in ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II]]''. This was a reference to the ''[[GoBots|Challenge of the GoBots]]'' cartoon episode "[http://gbwiki.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Escape_from_Elba Escape from Elba]", in which the heroic [[Guardian (GoBots)|Guardians]] were shown to maintain a prisony colony of their own on the planet Elba.

===Real-life references===
*The planet "Confluence" takes as it's name the real-life word meaning "the place where two rivers flow together," in reference to the ''confluence'' of major plots and mytharc story elements taking place this issue.

===Errors===
*Among the Garrus-9 escapees that are part of Shockwave's group are [[Bomb-Burst (G1)|Bomb-Burst]], [[Finback]], and [[Skullgrin]]. The group are all drawn based on their Generation 1 toys; Bomb-Burst and Skullgrin, in particular, have clearly been drawn using their main TFWiki article pictures as reference (the center-panel on Skullgrin's chest is offset to his left as a result of the back-of-box artwork being misinterpreted, and Bomb-Burst's proportions and the specific shape of his head are straight from the Dreamwave artwork we use), indicating they were called for by name in the script. The characters have never looked this way in IDW continuity before, having all appeared in ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer]]'' with original designs that hybridized their robot forms with their classic [[Pretender]] shells. Also, ''Stormbringer'' depicted them as all, uh, ''dying'', such that IDW have been using Bomb-Burst and Skullgrin's Japanese counterparts [[Blood]] and [[Dauros]] ever since... but to be fair, the actual death scenes are vague enough that they could easily be retconned to have survived and been carted off to Garrus-9.
*Scorponok mentions Shockwave "letting Bludgeon go on his way," implying that the skeletal samurai escaped Garrus-9 with them then departed. But Bludgeon wasn't ''in'' Garrus-9, having escaped capture after the events of ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'' and going on, in [[All Hail Megatron issue 15|''All Hail Megatron'' #15]], to menace the Autobots with Monstructor during the [[Surge (event)|Surge]], the galaxywide offensive that also saw Overlord capture Garrus-9. It would actually make much more ''sense'' in the wider timeline of Shockwave's complex plan if he ''had'' been in Garrus-9, but [[Shockpoint|''Robots in Disguise'' #21]] previously reaffirmed that he wasn't.
*The Dominus-Vos is drawn as looking very much like the present-day Vos, just with hook-hands. He actually didn't look anything like him, as seen in his appearance in [[The Not Knowing|''More than Meets the Eye'' #44]], and was said to be ''enormous'', contrasting with his fairly dinky successor.
*Back in ''More than Meets the Eye'' #6, when Overlord alluded to the hidden treasure beneath Aequitas, he specifically said the computer "was built to hide" it. There's the whiff of retcon at work here, as that's impossible; Aequitas was constructed, used, ''and'' mothballed ''long'' before Hot Rod ever brought the Magnificence back from Ki-Aleta (which was about ten years ago in-universe).

===Other trivia===
*Originally solicited for release in January 2018, this issue arrives just a smidge late, in the first week of Feburary. It's a noticeable speed-up, though, coming out only two weeks after the already-delayed previous issue.
*Other members of Shockwave's crew include [[Skip]], the Decepticon currently being used as a transport by [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] and company, members of the [[Dinoforce]], who would go on to serve under Deathsaurus, and, named in dialogue but unseen on-panel, [[Howlback (G1)|Howlback]], who has not otherwise appeared in IDW continuity.
*Nickel's remark that Grimlock "broke the face" of a friend of hers indicates that the Dinobot is responsible for Tarn's facial scars.

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oQ_N0hXttk Time For You]" by {{w|Speedy (band)|Speedy}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7hh1BegcOk Adios Amigo]" by {{w|Mick Head|Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loF0bBPF-zY Let It Roll]" by {{w|The Silent League}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Grimlock goes berserk, by [[Jack Lawrence]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
*'''Cover B:''' Nickel flees from Grimlock, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Grimlock amid the flames, by [[Brendan Cahill]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
<gallery>
File:LL14 cvrA.jpg|
File:LL14 cvrB.jpg|
File:LL14 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''Lost Light'' #15
*[[The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|''Optimus Prime'' #15]]
*''Optimus Prime'' Annual 2018
*[[The Chosen One|''Till All Are One'' Annual 2017]]
*''[[First Strike]]'' TPB
*''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade: The Last City]]'' hardcover
*''Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters''
*IDW ''Hana Zuki'' comic
*''[[Jem]]: Infinite''
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]: Forces of Destiny''

==External links==
*[http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2018/02/01/exclusive-idw-preview-transformers-lost-light-14/ Preview]

[[Category: Lost Light issues]]

The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes

2018-01-17T18:26:42Z

Prowl245: /* Synopsis */

{{Comicstory
|series=op|issueno=15
|prev=The Dead Come Home, Part 2 (of 2)
|next=The Falling, Chapter 2
|caption=
|image=OP15 cvrA.jpg
|title="The Falling Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[January 17]], 2018
|coverdate=January 2018
|written by=[[John Barber]]
|art by=[[Kei Zama]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|assistant editor=[[David Mariotte]]
|editor=[[Carlos Guzman]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era]]
}}

'''Shadows of the past rise to haunt Cybertron as Onyx Prime returns at last.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Mistress of Flame]] is troubled by a dream, and visits [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] to share a story from her past with him that she has long kept secret. Long ago, when [[Caminus]] was still a healthy world, and she was merely "Matriarch of Incaendium" (next in line to become Mistress), she accompanied the pilot [[Praesidia Magna|Praesidia]] and linguist [[Magrada]] to the world of [[Antilla]], to investigate a [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]] signal they had detected emanating from there. Upon the planet, they discovered an unnatural, mechanical mountain, the surface of which split open to reveal a colossal eyeball, emitting blazing light that illuminated a figure the Mistress could never have expected to see: [[Onyx Prime]], master of beasts, of the original [[Thirteen|Thirteen Primes]]. Onyx slew Magrada, but the Mistress and Praesidia fled back to Caminus... only for Onyx to follow them there years later, and kill Praesidia as well. The Mistress marvels that she has encountered so many long-thought-legendary Primes in person, especially since coming to Cybertron—Onyx, Trion, [[Liege Maximo]], and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]], who she still believes is the nameless thirteenth Prime, the "Arisen." Also present for the Mistress's story is [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]], invited along by Trion, who scoffs her reverence of the Primes, his own lapsed faith have caused him to long since lose his belief that they are any more special than ordinary Cybertronians. The Mistress is offended, but as she leaves to meet with the other delegates to await a visit from Optimus Prime, she is given pause to reflect on how the myths and legends she grew up worshiping have let her down. Trion reminds Scoop that, for all his bitterness, it wasn't the Primes who let ''him'' down, and suggests he pay a visit to the one who actually did.

On [[Earth]], Optimus Prime, [[Marissa Faireborn]], and the [[President of the United States|President]] cut the metaphorical ribbon at the opening of a new [[Ore-13]] mine in [[Kentucky]], which will be worked by humans and Cybertronians together. Spirits aren't particularly high, however: there are protesters objecting, human workers worrying about the grief they're going to get, concerns about a Cybertronian-human pay gap, and general laments from [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]] matriarch [[Rum-Maj]], even as [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] tries to keep her spirits up. Off to the side, always listening, [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] hears it all...

Overhead, aboard [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], [[Aileron]] and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] chat about the recent goings-on with the [[protoform]]s on Cybertron. But it seems a pleasant conversation can't last long these days; Aileron hears the discontented [[Slide]] once again ranting about how much she disagrees with Optimus's actions, and tries to break up the argument she is having with her fellow colonists—though Arcee's curiosity is piqued by a reference Slide makes to Aileron recently "burying the truth." Before Arcee can press the issue, Optimus Prime returns with the first load of Ore-13 from the mine, to be sent over the [[space bridge]] to Cybertron, and Aileron practically grabs Slide by the ear and drags her out in front of Optimus, daring her to repeat her insults to his face. Prime is already in a downcast mood, disappointed by the problems at the mine, but tries to offer Slide some comforting words. [[Pyra Magna]] intercedes; she tells him he has been removed from goings-on on Earth for too long, and proposes that while he is delivering the Ore-13 to Cybertron, Slide and the other colonists should visit the mine themselves so they can see with their own eyes what Optimus is trying to accomplish.

Optimus takes the Ore-13 through the space bridge, handing it over to the collected delegates of the [[Council of Worlds]], now led by [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] after her victory in the [[The Chosen One|recent election]]. Windblade's own ability to trust Optimus has [[First Strike issue 5|also recently suffered a blow]], but he reassures her that the shipment is the first of many, to be given freely without expectation. With the official matters dealt with, the Mistress attempts to take Optimus Prime aside and ask him about the prophetic dream he had [[All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|soon after annexing Earth]], in light of the dream she had herself, but before their conversation can even begin, it is cut off by a shadow falling across the city...

In [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]'s prison, the recently-incarcerated [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] is enjoying life behind bars. Nobody is relying on him for anything, he tells the spectral form of [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], and though it is now over, his time as ruler of the planet will ultimately be viewed by history as a comparatively positive one. A visitor soon arrives in the form of Scoop, but before the pair can sit down for a conversation to hash out their old quarrels, Bumblebee draws their attention to what is going on outside...

The mountain-sized eyeball seen by the Mistress of Flame on Antilla all those years ago now hovers in the sky over Iacon, blocking out the sun. Windblade believes that the recently-escaped [[Liege Maximo]] has returned to wreak his vengeance, but the Mistress is quick to correct her—Maximo ''is'' one of the figures on the hull of the massive craft, but he is in chains, kneeling at the feet of Onyx Prime. Onyx announces to the people of Cybertron that he has returned to pass judgement on the captive Maximo, and all who transgress against his homeworld. He is met with a reply from Optimus, cautioning him that Cybertron is under his protection, and inviting Onyx down to the surface to talk. Onyx agrees, warning that "Cybertron's reckoning is at hand"... and declaring that such matters are without a doubt Optimus's responsibility, for he is The Arisen!

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (7)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (8)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (10)
*[[Aileron]] (18)
*[[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] (19)
*[[Gimlet]] (20)
*[[Slide]] (21)
*[[Roulette (Universe)|Roulette]] (22)
*[[Bump]] (23)
*[[Midnight Express (RID)|Midnight Express]] (24)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] (25)
*[[Skyburst (G1)|Skyburst]] (26)
*[[Stormclash]] (27)
*[[Pyra Magna]] (28)
*[[Rust Dust]] (29)
*[[Dust Up]] (30)
*[[Jumpstream]] (31)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]]'s "ghost" (40)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] (17)

|c3=
*[[Marissa Faireborn]] (11)
*[[President of the United States]] (12)
*[[Flint (G.I. Joe)|Flint]] (13)
*[[Chameleon (G.I. Joe)|Chameleon]] (14)

|c4=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Mistress of Flame]] (1)
*''[[Magrada]]'' (2)
*''[[Praesidia Magna|Praesidia]]'' (3)
*''"[[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]]"'' (4)
*''"[[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]"'' (5)
*[[Onyx Prime]] (6)
*[[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] (8)
*Various [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] (9)
*[[Rum-Maj]] (15)
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] (16)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] (32)
*[[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]] (33)
*[[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]] (34)
*[[Knock Out (G1)|Knock Out]] (35)
*[[Fireshot (G1)|Fireshot]] (36)
*[[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] (37)
*[[Strika (BM)|Strika]] (38)
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (39)
*[[Liege Maximo]] (41)
{{!}}}
}}

==Quotes==
"[The protoforms] were... '''interesting.''' Seeing these little metal things make '''synaptic connections''' and learn how to walk—to fight... well, I hope that's not '''all''' they do when they grow up. I named one of them '''Sideswipe.''' Which was probably not a good start to avoiding fights, now that I think about it."
:—'''Arcee'''

"Was your speech successful, Optimus?" 
"You'd have liked it, Pyra. Getting the humans to do my '''bidding''', and all."
:—'''Pyra Magna''' gets some unexpected sass from '''Optimus Prime'''

"Any new '''surprises''' today? More '''protoforms?''' Or invasions? Maybe you've annexed the '''[[Solstar Order]].'''"
:—'''Windblade''' offers Optimus some sass of her own

"I killed '''Metalhawk''' and took control of Cybertron under '''false pretenses.''' I '''lied''' and '''deceived''' and did it all for '''glory''' and you know '''what?''' I'm '''still''' the best leader in the history of Cybertron. I didn't '''subjugate''' the populace for eons, I never plunged us into '''four million years''' of '''war'''—I didn't even come back from the grave to try and destroy the world '''multiple times.''' History will see me, at '''worst''', as a step in the right direction."
:—It's true, but '''Starscream''' shouldn't say it!

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The planet Antilla and its connection to Onyx Prime were introduced in [[Ghost Stories|the 2017 ''Transformers'' annual]]. The Mistress of Flame told Pyra Magna of her and Praesidia's visit to the planet, but not of their encounter with Onyx. Here, she also recalls Praesidia's death years later at the hands of Onyx, as seen in the annual.
*A mountain-sized ''eyeball'', you say? Now, [[Unicron|who do we know]] who's hanging around on the fringes of IDW continuity who's ''that'' sort of size...?
*Hey, it's Scoop! Ain't seen him in a while! His green coloration might make you momentarily go "huh--?"; he's only appeared on-panel looking like this once before, in [[All That Remains|''Windblade'' vol. 2 #3]], having been changed from his traditional orange colours when he was merged with the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] to become part of [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] in [[You, Me, and the Universe|''The Transformers'' #41]].
*Scoop's former religiosity formed the basis of his character when he was introduced in [[Three Monologues|''Robots in Disguise'' #20]]. Alpha Trion mentions how he uncovered the "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]" prophecy, as seen in [[Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|''More than Meets the Eye'' #23]]. Bringing this prophecy up again is not likely just an offhand comment; the dream Optimus Prime had in [[All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|''The Transformers'' #50]] (which the Mistress of Flame tries to ask him about in this issue) implied the possibility that the prophecy may have actually referred to Prime and the course his actions have set Cybertron on, rather than the events of the "Dark Cybertron" crossover itself. The dream also added additional lines to the prophecy beyond what was originally spoken by Scoop, all of which allude to the "black star" associated with the Onyx Prime plot thread.
*The events of the [[The Chosen One|2017 ''Till All Are One'' annual]] have taken place between last issue and this one, with Starscream having been locked up, and Windblade appointed the new ruler of Cybertron. Windblade no longer has the trust in Optimus Prime she once did, after they found themselves on opposite sides in [[First Strike issue 5|''First Strike'' #5]].
*Protestors at the Ore-13 mine hold up signs reading "Colton Was Right!" and "Free G.I. Joe!", referring to [[Joe Colton]]'s attempt to destroy the Transformers in ''[[First Strike]]'' and his subsequent incarceration after his plan failed.
*Slide's remarks about "burying the truth" that Arcee zeroes in on refer to the events of [[Primeless, Part 2|issue #12]], in which Aileron and co. caught [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] running guns, but were forced to hush up the matter in the name of the greater good.
*Starscream recalls [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]]'s death at his hands, from [[Heavy Is the Head|''Robots in Disguise'' #16]].
*The hologram Starscream is looking at was given to him by Windblade in the ''Till All Are One'' annual; it shows the image of his "true self," the way he might have looked if he had been forged rather than cold constructed, which first appeared in [[Your First Mistake|''Till All Are One'' #12]].
*Liege Maximo escaped captivity in [[Rubicon|''Till All Are One'' #8]].

===Transformers references===
*Prominent among the shadowy ranks of Onyx's beast army as the unmistakeable figures of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)|''Beast Wars'' Megatron]]. 'Bots resembling either them or their alternate modes have shown up among Onyx's army too many times at this point for it to just be an [[Easter egg]]; these really must be those characters. Primal's impending new toy in the [[Power of the Primes (toyline)|''Power of the Primes'' toyline]] also points toward a full and proper appearance by the character in the near future.
*Also among the shadows are an owl (possibly either [[Prowl II|Prowl II]] or [[Icebird]]), a winged, sickle-handed 'bot ([[Manterror]] or [[Mantis]]?), a pterodactyl ([[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]? [[Lazorbeak]]?), and a rabbit that ''can't'' be the only pre-existing ''Beast Wars'' rabbit, [[Stampy (BWN)|Stampy]], because he already appeared as a regular Cybertronian in ''[[The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers|Sins of the Wreckers]].
*The prominent Autobot standing near Optimus on page 8 is coloured blue, pink, and orange like [[Skram (G2)|Skram]], but beyond having a hood for a chest and wheels on his shoulders, it doesn't look much else like him. Plus, Skram was killed by [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] not long ago in ''[[The Transformers: Punishment]]''.
*With their tan-grey shirts, blue pants, and bright yellow hard hats and boots, the human miners' outfits are modeled by those worn by [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] and his fellow oil-rig workers in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]. None of them can ''be'' Sparkplug, though; [[Sparkplug Witwicky#IDW Generation 1 continuity|the IDW version]] was an Army general who got [[Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|vaporized]] by [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] years ago!

===Errors===
[[File:OnyxPrime cop idw infographic.jpg|right|thumb]]
*Okay gang, we talked about this back in the notes for [[Origin Myths|issue #10]], but let's clear this one up again—Onyx Prime is meant to be a ''centaur''. Four leggies! We've seen this in the 2017 ''Transformers'' annual, and in [[The Iron Klaw|''Revolutionaries'' #4]]. The problem is, the solitary full-body piece of reference art that existed for Onyx before he started showing up in IDW comics—published in [[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]—is hard to read. It depicts the four-legged Onyx rearing up on his hind legs and kicking out his front ones, but the monochrome art means the forelegs get lost against his body, and it's very easy to interpret him as just having the two legs. That's the mistake [[Livio Ramondelli]] made in issue #10 when he drew Onyx as a biped. The way [[Kei Zama]] draws him, meanwhile—both in this issue, and on the cover of issue #10—seems to mistakenly treat "reared up" as Onyx's normal at-rest position, rendering him as standing on two legs at all times with two smaller legs sticking out of his waist, positioned and proportioned in such a way that it doesn't look like it's ''possible'' for him to stand on all four of them.
*Meanwhile, [[Casey Coller]]'s rendition of the character on Cover B of this issue uses Zama's cover for #10 as reference, but misinterprets how she drew Onyx's forelegs; only one was visible on the cover, and Coller consequently renders Onyx with two legs and a ''tail-foot'' sticking out of his butt! See the infographic on the right for a visual explanation of all this.
*Moonracer is looking rather off-color on page 14, appearing in a pear-green instead of her usual mint. She's in her correct hues on page 15.
*In front of Moonracer on page 14, Vanquish is miscolored in two-tone purple-and-white. He and his twin Fireshot are looking a bit more like themselves on page 15, but Fireshot's got blue-black arms (like his toy) instead of the grey-and-blue he normally has in the comics, is missing his distinctive yellow visor and red [[mouthplate]], and the pair both have orange thighs instead of magenta.

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Optimus, the Mistress, and Windblade stare up as Onyx's eye-ball ship stares back, by [[Kei Zama]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover B:''' Our cast, within the silhouette of the Mistress of Flame, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[John-Paul Bove]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Optimus Prime versus [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], by [[Aaron Conley]] and [[Jean-Francois Beaulieu]]
<gallery>
File:OP15 cvrA.jpg|
File:OP15 cvrB.jpg|
File:OP15 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''Optimus Prime'' #16
*''Lost Light'' #15
*''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade: The Last City]]'' hardback collection
*''[[First Strike]]'' TPB
*IDW ''Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters'' comic
*''[[Jem]]: Infinite'' TPB
*CGC comics
*IDW ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]: Forces of Destiny'' comic

==External links==
*[https://www.newsarama.com/38174-onyx-prime-returns-in-optimus-prime-15-preview.html Preview]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falling Part 1: Surfeit of Primes, The}}
[[Category:Optimus Prime issues]]

Bulkhead (Animated)

2017-08-29T15:27:22Z

Prowl245: /* Notes */

{{factions|autobot}}
{{picsneeded|Cartoon and comic 'caps}}
{{disambig3|Bulkhead}}
:''Bulkhead is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:AniBulkheadPromoModel.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.67|[[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] called; he wants his head back.]]

The biggest and strongest of [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]'s crew, '''Bulkhead''' appears to be little more than a big, dumb lummox at first glance. The second and third glances don't do much to improve that impression. Raised on a backwater [[energon farm]], he joined the Autobot academy to achieve the lofty goal of becoming a lowly [[space bridge]] [[Space bridge technician|technician]] rather than a warrior. He also has an unfortunate tendency to break stuff by accident due to his sheer strength and natural clumsiness. He's wrecked major thoroughfares and toppled skyscrapers in his zeal to be ''helpful''; when he gets angry, he's capable of berserker charges that even the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] have learned to respect and fear. His penchant for being a little too eager to please others and getting a little too emotional at times further leads him to act without thinking. Add in a seeming lack of skills beyond "destruction", and it does not paint a pretty picture.

But despite all these shortcomings, one is hard-pressed to find a bot with a bigger spark, and he has astounding (if sometimes well-hidden) depths. He hates being thought of as the clumsy brute of the team, which has bred a certain amount of careful forethought and cautiousness. He's endlessly loyal to and protective of his friends, especially his best buddy [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and the [[human]] girl [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]], even if their impulsive behavior is sometimes annoying. Since coming to [[Earth]], he has discovered a love of art and the urge to express his true feelings through it. He's not very good at it, but he keeps trying anyways. Perhaps most surprising of all is that he is [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s foremost expert in space bridge technology, even though he may not be able to build one himself without accidentally breaking at least half the components.

{{quote|You guys got it easy. All people want me to do is break stuff. I've got a sensitive side too, you know... but breaking stuff '''is''' kinda fun.|Bulkhead meditates on his lot in life|"[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
{{voiceactor|[[Bill Fagerbakke]] (English), [[Kenta Miyake]] (Japanese)|[[Alexander Kovriznyh]] (Russian), [[Tilo Schmitz]] (German), [[Ireneusz Załóg]] (Polish), [[Lorenzo Scattorin]] (Italian), [[Fábio Moura]] (Portuguese), [[Rolando Silva]] (Latin American Spanish, seasons 1 and 2), [[Ju-chang Lee]] (Korean), [[Julio Lorenzo]] (Castillo Spanish), [[Bruno Lähteenmäki]] (Finnish)}}

[[File:Autobot Cadets.jpg|thumb|left|250px-Autobot Cadets.jpg|Auditions for the new Transformers series are now closed...]]
Bulkhead was originally an [[energon]] farmer and attended [[Autobot boot camp]] in order to qualify as a space bridge engineer. It was there that he first met Bumblebee and their trainer, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Minor]]. To begin with, Bumblebee had no interest in being friends with the gentle giant, insulting him with the nickname "mudflap". A friendship blossomed after Bulkhead saved Bumblebee from some "malfunctioning" turrets, dropping a building on Sentinel in the process. In order to prevent Bulkhead from being expelled, 'Bee took the blame, and they both ended up on space bridge detail. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

[[File:Ani crew.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|right|ROAD TRIP!!!]]
Eventually, they were placed under [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]'s command. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} While repairing a space bridge, the team discovered the long-lost [[AllSpark]]. However, the [[Decepticon]]s soon arrived, prompting Bulkhead to mention that he had never seen a Decepticon ship up close. (No one had and lived, as [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] pointed out.) Bulkhead did his best to hang on while the Autobots drove their ship through the space bridge. Coming out of warp, they went headlong toward [[Earth]], and he joined his fellow 'bots in heading into stasis to avoid the impact shock of an unpleasant landing.

After emerging from stasis and his [[reformatting]] into a terrestrial six-wheeled APC, Bulkhead accompanied the other Autobots to investigate a large, cybernetic creature that was menacing the local lifeforms (which they assumed were robots like themselves). Bulkhead requested help from a group of local drones, then noticed [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] trying to take her keycard away from her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]]. Assuming Sari was the pet, Bulkhead greeted her—which promptly sent her running and screaming. Way to make first contact there, big guy.

[[File:Bulkh alt.JPG|upright=1.1|thumb|left|Let's see [[wikipedia:Grave Digger (truck)|Grave Digger]] beat this!]]
After [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] arrived to take the AllSpark, the Autobots engaged him in a fierce game of "Keep-away". At one point, Bulkhead tried to catch the AllSpark, shouting "I got it." Starscream snagged the AllSpark instead, but Bulkhead knocked the [[Seeker (body-type)|Decepticon flier]] out of the air with his wrecking ball, causing him to drop the AllSpark. It's not nice to contradict Bulkhead. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}} {{storylink|Dispatches}}

Later, in Autobot HQ, he said he had some problems, because all humans wanted from him was to break stuff. After all, he had his sensitive side as well (even if breaking stuff was fun). When [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] attacked the Autobots' base, Bulkhead got in touch with his inner breaker, confirming that smashing stuff IS fun! Megatron had different plans for him, though, and Bulkhead discovered it's not as much fun to BE smashed. After Bulkhead was saved, he tried to catch a [[Pocketbot|tiny machine]] that looked like it might be the culprit. Prime hoped to study it and find out where it came from, but Bulkhead smashed the little critter to pieces when he grabbed it. {{storylink|Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

When Bumblebee had his bout with [[Colossus Rhodes]] that escalated into a parking lot brawl, Bulkhead arrived with the others to stop the mad giant and tease Bumblebee about his size. Bulkhead's size proved a liability when he got caught in an opening in [[Sumdac Tower]]'s defense shield, making him a sitting (but not defenseless) duck for an upgraded Rhodes, using his wrecking ball to send the brute flying. When the shield was deactivated he was the first into the tower, scooping up [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] in his fist... a very bad mistake, since the villain was made of acid. His action gave the other Autobots time to defeat Meltdown, so it turned out okay. {{storylink|Total Meltdown}}

''Bulkhead was with the rest of the team when they watched a news broadcast, showing Prowl and Bumblebee inadvertently exposing the [[Wraith]]'s modus operandi. Later, when Bumblebee apprehended Colossus Rhodes, Bulkhead helped sign autographs for the grateful Detroiters. Later still, when the Autobots saw "Bumblebee" attack Michigan Stadium, Bulkhead helped clear the little Autobot's name by halting what was really a plot by the increasingly jealous and irrational Wraith.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 2|Attention Surplus Disorder}}

[[File:Stiletto-Bulkheadgetsowned.jpg|thumb|upright=1.9|right]]
''Bulkhead joined the rest of the Autobots into investigating a theft at Sumdac's laboratories. They found out that the crime in question had been committed by an industrial saboteur going by the name of "[[Stiletto (Animated)|Stiletto]]." She soon attempted to collapse Detroit's Ambassador Bridge, prompting the Autobots to leap into action. During the confrontation, Bulkhead attempted to apprehend Stiletto by clobbering her with his wrecking-ball weapon. As he swung it around, however, Stiletto severed the wrecking-ball's cord. This caused the weapon to fly into Bulkhead's head, knocking him out for the remainder of the battle. The Autobots nonetheless managed to capture Stiletto, and Bulkhead could later be seen being fixed at Autobot headquarters.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 3|Stiletto}}

[[File:Insincerest-BulkheadhasPowell.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1]]
''[[Porter C. Powell]] decided to use Bulkhead's image as a public figure to market the SWAT vehicle he used as an altmode as a vehicle for everyday citizens, such as "soccer moms." This infuriated Bulkhead, though Powell informed him that legally, there was nothing he could do about it. Powell rub salt in the wound by using highly doctored footage of Bulkhead to make it seem as though the Autobot endorsed the vehicle in Powell's commercials. The "Bulkheads" proved to be popular vehicles in Detroit, providing further grief for the same-named Autobot. It nearly spoiled a stake-out, when a couple mistook Bulkhead for their own vehicle, and led to further trouble when it turned out both Professor Princess and the Angry Archer possessed Bulkheads, using them to further their criminal careers. Powell's marketing plot was brought to an end when Bulkhead disguised himself as a contestant on a "Pimp my Bulkhead" competition, and managed to trick Powell into admitting that his vehicles were dangerous death-traps on-camera.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 4|The Insincerest Form of Flattery}}

[[File:TFA Blast Past Bulkhead Tutor Bot.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|right|The pizza's ready!]]
After that [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] tried to train Bulkhead to be more subtle in his actions, to assess a situation, choose the right move, then execute it with grace and precision. This didn't meet with any real success, as Bulkhead's antics damaged the base and caused him to fall on Prowl. Moving to an island in Lake Erie, Bulkhead tried again. He knocked down some trees which fell on Prowl. Things actually got worse when Bulkhead tried to use Prowl's methods against the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]], a trio of animatronics run amok. Prowl wisely advised Bulkhead to stop doing what Prowl would do and instead do what Bulkhead himself would do. Bulkhead quickly discovered that his blunt, powerhouse approach had its place and time for proper use, charging and knocking down [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]], hitting [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] out of the air, and throwing [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] into a pit of molten tar. Afterward, the Dinobots were due to be melted down. However, Prowl suspected the Dinobots were actually alive, not mere machines, so he enlisted Bulkhead's help in secretly transporting them from their prison to the deserted island on Lake Erie. There they could live undisturbed and perhaps get themselves under control. Prowl had realized that just because something was big and lumbering and destructive was no reason to give up on it, and Bulkhead knew just what he meant. {{storylink|Blast from the Past}}

When [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], a bounty hunter from Ratchet’s past, appeared on Earth to abduct Optimus, Bulkhead and the other Autobots intervened. Though Bulkhead managed to get by the defenses of [[Death's Head (Animated)|Lockdown’s ship]], Lockdown managed to paralyze Bulkhead with a quick-drying adhesive spray. Thankfully, Ratchet was able to best the bounty hunter, and rescued Optimus while the rest of the team was indisposed. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

Bulkhead was trying to enjoy some fireworks when the experience was spoiled by Bumblebee attempting to apprehend the petty thief [[Nanosec|Nino Sexton]]. The two Autobots began to argue, and Sexton attempted to make his escape... only for Bulkhead to block his path with his wrecking ball. Unfortunately, this caused the pier on which they were standing to collapse, sending Bulkhead and Bumblebee down into the water bellow. Thankfully, Optimus captured Sexton. The next day, Optimus had Bulkhead and Bumblebee join Prowl on a training exercise, hoping they could learn to fight smarter to avoid another mishap like the one at the pier. Bumblebee’s impatience put an end to the exercise though, and Bulkhead wound up having to stop a speeding train from crushing his little buddy. Later, Nino Sexton, now free and using the super-villain moniker "Nanosec," robbed Sumdac’s lab of a [[Destronium]] sample, prompting the Autobots to go after him once more. After much difficulty, Nanosec was captured, but the unstable Destronium threatened to blow up the city. To prevent Detroit’s destruction, Bulkhead helped Bumblebee get up into the Earth’s atmosphere, where the Destronium was able to detonate without harming anyone. {{storylink|Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec}}

Bulkhead and Bumblebee were taught the true meaning of Halloween by Sari; getting dressed up, collecting candy, and pulling pranks. Deciding he wanted to be a ghost for the night, Bulkhead struggled in finding a sheet in his size, eventually settling in a fumigation tent filled with dead bugs. Despite his less-than-stellar costume, he went along for some trick-or-treating. Before the night was in full-swing, however, the trio encountered Blackarachnia. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were easilly wiled by the Decepticon's feminine wiles, allowing her to stun the both of them with her "download" power. When Bumblebee and Bulkhead came back to, Blackarachnia had taken off with Sari. They soon tracked her down, rescuing the girl as she was falling off a rooftop, having been thrown away by Blackaracnia. Optimus fought off Blackarachnia, who ran off into the night. Afterwards, Bulkhead asked Optimus who the "bug-bot lady" was. Optimus pensively responded that she was "someone [he] never should have left behind." {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

On a shopping trip for Sari's birthday present, Bulkhead worked with Sari to rein in the pesky [[Professor Princess]]. The next day, Sari's birthday party began poorly, as the guests were all children of Sumdac Industries employees, who found Sari too weird for their tastes. The Autobots' arrival made things a little more interesting, but klutzy Bulkhead soon found himself ignored, alongside Sari, as the kids went for rides with the other Autobots (even Ratchet). Bulkhead wanted to give Sari her gift, a xylophone, but was too embarrassed to do so when he saw Dr. Sumdac's gift, a musical robot named [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]]. For the next several days, Sari's attention was drawn away from her friend as she spent her free time plugging her key into the toy to upgrade it. Bulkhead realized that there was something off about Soundwave, but his attempts to prove it just forced a wedge between Sari and himself. Megatron's machinations to increase the split between them didn't help. It turned out the big guy was right on the money, however, as Soundwave was a creation of Megatron's that gained sentience through the key. Soundwave took control of the machines of Detroit and captured Sari. When Bulkhead came to her rescue, Soundwave attempted to convince Bulkhead of the inferiority of humans. For a few minutes, it seemed Bulkhead was on his side, but with a wink to Sari, he punched Soundwave so hard that the Decepticon shattered into his component parts. Sari apologized, and the pair played with Bulkhead's gift, albeit after Sari nearly broke her hand punching Bulkhead's fist. {{storylink|Sound and Fury}}

Soon afterwards, trouble arrived in the form of [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]. Answering their challenge, the Autobots confronted the pair in a construction yard. Bulkhead charged Lugnut and the two engaged in a grapple, but even Bulkhead's power wasn't enough against the massive Decepticon, who threw him aside. The second round didn't go too well either, as Lugnut never had a chance to fight before the Decepticons were defeated by the Autobot ship's main cannon. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

After Sari was abducted by the Dinobots, Prowl and Bulkhead went to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] to investigate. What they found was Meltdown, who damaged Bulkhead to the point of unconsciousness and trapped Prowl and [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (who had been tailing them) underground. Bulkhead spent the rest of the episode out cold until Sari was able to restore him. On the boat ride home, Sari showed she could take care of herself by kicking Bulkhead, who pretended to be hurt and accidentally fell into the ship's hold. {{storylink|Survival of the Fittest}}

[[File:Caged bulkhead.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|And now we know how the caged Bulkhead sings...]]
After destroying a good portion of a city block trying to stop a missile impact, Sari suggested to Bulkhead that he explore his more creative talents to show the citizens of Detroit that he wasn't [[Sixshot|an engine of destruction]]. Bulkhead had difficulty making his creations (his paint brushes kept snapping between his fingers) and panicked when he learned that Sari had arranged an art show for him. (Girl has connections.) While lamenting his lot in life, he was knocked out cold by a sudden electrical surge. When he came back online, he found that his body had been stolen. As Bumblebee attempted to help him finish his art pieces in time for the show, the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] used Bulkhead's body to take control of a solar fusion plant, intending to detonate it unless he was paid a hefty ransom. Optimus used the ransom delivery to sneak the Autobots into the plant, where they defeated the Headmaster and reattached Bulkhead to his body...backwards. As the reactor reached critical, Bulkhead came up with a drone that would set the rods back, but the drone melted in the process. Not to be daunted, Bulkhead added it to his art collection, showing the citizens of Detroit his [[Slogism|warzone art]] without them even knowing it. {{storylink|Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster}}

When Decepticon energy signals were detected, the Autobots quickly realized that they were outnumbered. Bulkhead mentioned that the Dinobots might be able to help, not aware that Prowl hadn't told Optimus they had moved them to Dinobot Island. Prime was furious and ordered the two to take him there at once. After searching the island, the Autobots found the Dinobots. They were unwilling to help, so the Autobots left, unsure of their next move. When Bumblebee contacted Prime, saying that Starscream was at Sumdac Tower, he ordered him to stand down. When they arrived at the tower, they saw Bumblebee fighting Starscream. Prime dryly noted that disobeying orders was becoming a habit, but Bulkhead wasn't too insulted. He was too busy being shocked by [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] bursting through Sumdac Tower. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

Quickly regaining his composure, Bulkhead charged Megatron, only to have his wrecking ball severed and be thrown into a building. After the short battle, Sumdac told them how he had rebuilt Megatron. Bulkhead sounded as if he was about to crush the professor, but Prime told him that it was unimportant. Using excess key energy in Sumdac's equipment, the Autobots repaired themselves, and Prime apologized for his harsh words. Ratchet and Sari came by in the ship, picking up the Autobots, but they were shot down over Dinobot Island. During the subsequent battle, Bulkhead brought down Lugnut. The zealous Decepticon was stronger than Bulkhead, but as he activated [[Punch of Kill Everything|his punch]], Bulkhead used his wrecking ball to detonate it, sending Lugnut flying. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

The Autobots managed to drive off the Decepticons, but the city was damaged throughout the battle. Optimus's crew helped restore the area best they could, but they found that the humans now viewed them as potential menaces, instead of heroes. As Bulkhead bemoaned their situation, the [[Sigma Supreme|Elite Guard's ship]] touched down nearby, and he drove off with the others to meet its occupants. But these new arrivals didn't treat Bulkhead and the gang as heroes either. Ultra Magnus, Jazz, and especially Sentinel Prime didn't trust Optimus's crew, and doubted their story on what had transpired on Earth. At least Sentinel didn't seem to remember Bumblebee or Bulkhead from their academy days together... Optimus's team got their chance to shine in their superiors' presence when a Sumdac plant went haywire, necessitating the Autobots to intervene before a flood of berserk police drones spread into the city. Bulkhead smashed his share of drones before Ultra Magnus used the [[Magnus Hammer]] to end the skirmish. {{storylink|The Elite Guard}} Shortly afterwards, Bulkhead greeted Sari when she was thrown out of Sumdac Tower by [[Porter C. Powell]] and forced to live with the Autobots. He and Bumblebee tried to cheer her up by saying that living together would be like a non-stop party, making her food and teaching her about "stuff and how it works", but were met with limited success. Prowl intervened, and advised the pair to simply listen to their friend. Sari then let out her frustration over recent events, while Bumblebee and Bulkhead comforted her. {{storylink|The Return of the Headmaster}}

Bulkhead later helped stop a runaway train powered by an AllSpark fragment. When Starscream stopped by again, Bulkhead tried to knock him out with his wrecking-ball, to little effect. Thankfully, Jazz, Sentinel and Optimus were able to take down the AllSpark-powered Decepticon. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}

Bulkhead helped clear trash from the city of Detroit during a garbage dispute, in an effort to mend strained Autobot/human relations. {{storylink|Garbage In, Garbage Out}} Later, he helped search for an AllSpark fragment, only for the mission to be interrupted by a group of illegal street racers, the Street Demons, zooming by. When one of the racers caused two others to crash, Bulkhead stopped to help [[Roxy Sparkles]] out of his wrecked vehicle. Seeing as he and Sari were fans of the Speed Demon broadcasts, he also took the opportunity to ask for an autograph. But as Captain Fanzone dropped by to arrest the criminals, Bulkhead realized that Sari had mislead him about the legality of the Street Demons' show. He confronted the girl, only for Bumblebee to step in and assure Bulkhead that he would straighten her out instead. Turns out, Bumblebee had become fixated on beating one of the racers, and planned to participate in the races himself. Bulkhead found out, and was none too pleased about this development. He was coaxed into allowing Bumblebee to go through with his plan, but followed him to the race, just to be safe. Before he could step in, he was frozen solid by Blitzwing, and only freed later when the adventure was mostly over. {{storylink|Velocity (episode)|Velocity}}

While repairing a damaged overpass, Bulkhead became stuck in some cement, but hid it to avoid being embarrassed. He was nearly destroyed when he used outdated, unstable fixative, but was saved by two newly sentient machines named [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] and [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]]. Once they helped him finish the repair work he'd been doing, Bulkhead reluctantly went with them for an oil break, though he wasn't sure it was okay to take it straight from a tanker ship. He WAS sure the rest of the Autobots would like his new friends. The crass construction workers did not impress the other Autobots, however, and things only got worse when a game of flattened-oil-can frisbee severed Sari's pigtails (and nearly her head), leading Prime to evict the two. The next day, Bulkhead went looking for his friends, discovering that they had stolen parts for something Megatron was building. When Bulkhead told them that the Decepticons were the scum of the universe, the two went to challenge the Decepticons, without telling Bulkhead where to find them. The other Autobots were concerned that Scrapper and Mixmaster would sell them out, but Bulkhead still defended them. Unfortunately, the newly dubbed [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] ''did'' side with the Decepticons, taking Bumblebee hostage and demanding the AllSpark fragments the Autobots had. Bulkhead gave them the fragments and a cup of oil for the road, but he had spiked the oil with the outdated fixative from the other day. The subsequent explosion scrambled their memory circuits, and Bulkhead drove the amnesiac Transformers away, admitting that he had been wrong to trust them. {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}}

When there were reports of rampages coming from Dinobot Island, Bulkhead accompanied Prowl to investigate. Prowl discovered a spike wedged in Grimlock's foot, and he and Bulkhead worked together to remove it. Later, when Prowl decided to go off on his own after Starscream, Bulkhead attempted to talk him out of it unsuccessfully. Later still, the Autobots found Prowl, equipped with new Samurai armor, tied up in the middle of the street, and freed him. Prowl urged them to go after Lockdown, who had [[Clone number 2716057|Starscream]] in his custody, but the Autobots encountered [[Clone number 3370318|another Starscream]] shortly after taking off. The Autobots captured this Starscream, and brought him along as they burst in on Lockdown handing over the Starscream in his custody over to Megatron. The Autobots discovered that these Starscream clones were armed with bombs, and watched Prowl use his armor to launch the clones into the sky, right into the flight path of the fleeing Decepticons. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}}

Bulkhead took part in a pursuit to catch the villain Nanosec, but the chase came to an end when Bumblebee mysteriously slowed down to a stop... Bulkhead, Optimus and Prowl returned to base afterwards for repairs. Later, Bumblebee alerted the rest of his team that [[Swindle (Animated)|a Decepticon]] had built a machine that could freeze any electronic machine within its range,just as he had been earlier that day. Bulkhead and the others sped out to take on the threat. They were all affected by the device's power before they could reach their destination, and were only able to take on Swindle once Sari had deactivated his weapon. {{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}

After [[Wasp]] escaped, Bulkhead tagged along with Bumblebee in an attempt to track a leaked signal, but 'Bee's attitude became unbearable, and Bulkhead stormed off. The kindhearted bot couldn't stay away, however, and helped Bumblebee out of a minor scrape. Bumblebee apologised, but Bulkhead shook it off; their friendship had rock-solid foundations. Reconciled, the two headed back to base, having missed a rather conspicuous mine shaft entrance. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

Bulkhead learned that Meltdown was broken out of prison through a news report. He stayed behind at the Autobots' headquarters while Optimus, Prowl and Bumblebee dealt with the escaped criminal. After Meltdown had been dealt with, Bulkhead accompanied Optimus and the others to explain what had transpired to Captain Fanzone. {{storylink|Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday}}

Bulkhead found himself going crazy over a persistent dripping noise coming from somewhere in the Autobots' base... looking about, he discovered that the dripping was coming from Bumblebee, who had fallen into the habit of neglecting his chassis. Bulkhead and Ratchet pointed this out to the little 'bot, but Bumblebee was in complete denial over the fact that he might need a tune-up. The conversation was interrupted by Optimus, who informed the Autobots that Scrapper and Mixmaster had resurfaced. The Autobots looked high and low throughout Detroit for the Constructobots, but without Sari's key to track their AllSpark signatures, the search proved fruitless. Then, Blitzwing dropped out of the sky and took on the whole crew. During the fight, the Autobots learned that Sari was dealing with the Constructobots on her own back at headquarters. But having to deal with Blitzwing, they couldn't head back... until Blitzwing suddenly decided to ditch the battle. The Autobots then headed back to help Sari immediately. Returning to base, they found out that Sari had taken care of the intruders all by herself. {{storylink|Sari, No One's Home}}{{storylink|Sari, No One's Home}}

[[File:TFA ABTC1 Bulkhead Sumdac.JPG|thumb|left|Merry Christmas!]]
Bulkhead later made an abstract painting of Sari in the style of Picasso, but the other Autobots' suggestions ended up ruining the painting. He and Sari took a walk to clear his head, and Bumblebee came and genuinely tried to apologize. This went rather poorly, and got even worse when Megatron arrived. He kidnapped Bulkhead and took him to his base. Megatron revealed that [[Shockwave (Animated)|his double agent]] had learned that Bulkhead was Cybertron's top space bridge technician, and forced Bulkhead to help the Decepticons repair a space bridge they had reverse engineered. If Bulkhead refused, Megatron would use a Headmaster unit to steal his body and kill all of Bulkhead's friends, starting with Professor Sumdac. Bulkhead agreed to help, but Professor Sumdac believed that Bulkhead was trying to sabotage the device, and told Bulkhead to let him give the instructions to avoid sounding preposterous. Furious at everyone doubting his skill, Bulkhead actually ''fixed'' the space bridge, allowing Megatron to teleport the Decepticons to an underdefended Cybertron. See Bulkhead, this is why people don't take you seriously. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

During a three-way battle between the Autobots, the Decepticons, and Starscream's [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]], Bulkhead tried to shut down the space bridge, but was locked with [[stasis cuffs]] by a [[Slipstream (Animated)|female clone]]. After Megatron explained his plans and how Bulkhead had helped. the other Autobots expressed confusion at his skills, and Bulkhead explained that he had read all the space bridge schematics on the energon farm. Unfortunately, power problems arose, which Megatron tried to fix with by adding Starscream's AllSpark powered head into the power core. Unfortunately, this caused an overload which Bulkhead theorized would suck up all of Michigan. Fortunately, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] arrived and allowed himself to be sucked into the portal. When the Autobots escaped, Bulkhead theorized that Omega was merely transported to another section of space, and had hope that he was still alive. Unfortunately, any effort to locate Omega was put on hold when Sari noticed that the skin of her arm had been torn...revealing robotic circuitry underneath! {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

While Bumblebee and Bulkhead were surprised and concerned about Sari's revealed techno-organic nature, they remained focused on the more imminent problem; namely that their old friend Longarm was really a Decepticon spy. However, because Omega Supreme was transwarped to another part of the galaxy, they no longer had Teletran-1 and thus had no way to contact Cybertron. A suggestion from Optimus gave Bulkhead the idea of building their own Space Bridge, seeing as Bulkhead was the Space Bridge genius (a title Bumblebee claimed he'd never get used to). Bulkhead theorized that he might be able to put something together if they salvaged enough parts. The two of them quickly left to dig any useful parts out of the ruins of the mine, namely the [[plasma dynamic thruster]] (the component that generates the transwarp field) and the recon beacon generator (the component that allows one to lock on a specific area to transwarp to). Bulkhead found the recon beacon generator (after Bumblebee nearly tossed it away) and Bumblebee was about to give him the plasma dynamic thruster when it caught a stray transwarp signal (presumably from Omega Supreme's earlier transwarp) and was sent to another part of the galaxy. When Bulkhead turned around, Bumblebee was gone. Hearing a noise, he investigated, thinking it was his little buddy. But it was actually Henry Masterson who had found both his lost [[Headmaster unit]] and Starscream's discarded body (definitely not little and not Bulkhead's buddy). Masterson then soundly trashed Bulkhead and left him buried under a pile of rocks.

Later, Ratchet found him and brought him back to the plant. Ratchet was about to work on repairing Bulkhead when Sari beat him to it, much to Ratchet's annoyance. When Bumblebee's energy signature could not be found on Earth, Bulkhead realized that he wasn't on Earth. The plasma dynamic thruster must have caught a stray transwarp field and sent Bumblebee to another part of the galaxy. In theory, Bulkhead could retrieve him with the recon beacon generator, provided he could get it working. Ratchet was about to attempt to do so when Sari beat him to the punch again. A little while later, Bulkhead detected a stray transwarp field. Using the recon beacon generator, Bulkhead managed to reel Bumblebee back to Earth, inside the belly of a [[Rock Lord|giant rock alien]]. The alien, noticeably ticked about being exposed to the bright light of the [[sun]], went on a rampage in Detroit. Of course, Bulkhead couldn't just smash the alien with his wrecking balls since Bumblebee was inside it. However, Sari once again provided assistance with her new upgraded form and neatly disposed of the rock alien and rescued Bumblebee. But then her body became overloaded with Allspark energy and she started going on an uncontrollable rampage, causing every electronic device she touched to explode. When Bumblebee was stabbed by Sari in an attempt to stop her, Bulkhead, Prowl, and Optimus worked together to remove the Key from her system. However, its energy had been completely drained into Sari, making both the Key useless and Sari still unable to control herself. Bulkhead suggested that she tried to hold it in like when she had to go to the 'sleep-room'. Sari attempted this, but this only caused the initiation of a self-destruct sequence. Fortunately, Ratchet was able to temporarily shut her down with his EMP generator.

Later, the group was at the plant, mulling over the events of the day, including Optimus revealing the Autobots' secret base to Professor Sumdac. When Bumblebee threatened to transwarp again, Bulkhead took the plasma dynamic thruster from Bumblebee's backpack and turned it off. But then Omega Supreme appeared, under the control of Megatron. The group headed for the river to keep Megatron from damaging more of the city. Bulkhead and Bumblebee acted as decoys while Prowl and Optimus worked on freeing Omega from Megatron's control. Their plan worked, only for Starscream's head, which Megatron was using as a battery, to take over Omega's body and toss out Prowl and Optimus. With them unable to get back in and Starscream threatening to transwarp to Cybertron and use Omega to take it over, Bumblebee and Bulkead got the idea of using the plasma dynamic thruster on Omega Supreme. With a little teamwork from them and Optimus Prime, they attached the plasma dynamic thruster to Omega Supreme, causing him to go on an endless and random transwarp cycle throughout the galaxy. However, they still needed to find a way to contact Cybertron about Shockwave. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

[[File:TFAni Threes a Crowd Stop Hitting Yourself.jpg|thumb|left|Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself!]]
Soon afterwards, Bulkhead teamed with Prof. Sumdac to build a space bridge at Sumdac Tower. Sumdac was willing to make up to the Autobots for unwillingly helping the Decepticons during his long captivity, though he kept slowing down work by continuously mentioning Megatron and insisting the confiscated Headmaster Unit was staring at him. Eventually, the two of them got the power core assembled and loaded on a forklift. Bulkhead inserted an Allspark fragment into the power core for a source of energy. Prof. Sumdac warned Bulkhead that it might [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|overload it]]. Bulkhead reassured the Professor that he knew what he was doing when it came to space bridges. Unfortunately, his leaning on the forklift caused too much pressure, and the floor gave out. Bulkhead managed to save the Professor, but the forklift, the power core, and the Headmaster Unit fell down through three floors. While Sumdac went to rest from his near brush with death, Bulkhead went to find some structural experts. Fortunately, he knew just the bots for the job.

Bulkhead found Mixmaster and Scrapper at an automobile disassembly factory, drinking motor oil and hooting at the stripping vehicles. The two Constructicons were less than pleased to see Bulkhead but Bulkhead managed to talk them into helping him in a little 'off the books' work. When they returned to Sumdac Tower, the Constructicons went to work. Bulkhead was almost able to persuade them to switch to the Autobots when Scrapper pulled up the forklift from before. However, the materials that had fallen down before had been fused together by the Allspark, creating a grumpy new Constructicon named [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]]. Dirt Boss quickly took command and cowed Scrapper and Mixmaster into submission, using a cerebro-shell to force Scrapper to hit himself. Bulkhead tried to contact Prime about this new problem, but Optimus and the other Autobots were busy with Lugnut. Brought back into the lab by the commotion, Prof. Sumdac was upset to see the Constructicons and demanded that they leave at once. Dirt Boss didn't take too kindly to that and was about to squish the Professor, so Bulkhead quickly told Dirt Boss that Sumdac worked for him. Bulkhead then feigned anger at Sumdac, ordering him to build the plasma dynamic thruster or else. However, Sumdac didn't notice Bulkhead's conspiratorial winks and thought his ire was real.

Dirt Boss then took Mixmaster and Scrapper out into the city, where they started stealing oil so they could hold the city for ransom. Bulkhead tried to talk Mixmaster and Scrapper out of following Dirt Boss, but the two of them were too interested in gaining oil to listen. Bulkhead followed the Constructicons back to the disassembly factory, where Dirt Boss was chewing out the other two about "drinking the profits". Prof. Sumdac then found Bulkhead and handed over the plasma dynamic thruster that the Autobot had so firmly demanded. Bulkhead told the Professor that he'd just been acting so the other bots wouldn't hurt Isaac. When said bots appeared behind him, Bulkhead had to put on his act once again, but now Sumdac was in on it. Dirt Boss then told of his plan to destroy the fossil-fuel refinery so they would have the only source of oil in Detroit. Bulkhead finally decided this had gone too far and tried to stop them. Unfortunately, his plan wasn't very well thought-out, and he got his wrecking ball stuck in Mixmaster's cement-cannon. The Constructicons simply dragged him along, with Bulkhead protesting all the way.

When the Constructicons got to the refinery, Bulkhead nearly won Mixmaster and Scrapper over by reminding them that if they destroyed the place, they wouldn't be able to get more oil. But Dirt Boss, having had enough of Bulkhead's mouth, used a cerebro-shell to order Mixmaster to take Bulkhead offline. As the two were still stuck together, this led to a rather awkward battle. Bulkhead managed to open his comm-link so the other Autobots would hear him in trouble. When Scrapper noticed this, he took the cerebro-shell out of Mixmaster and plugged into Bulkhead. Dirt Boss then ordered Bulkhead to light the oil tank and blow up the refinery, even though this would also destroy Mixmaster, who was stuck to Bulkhead. But when the other Autobots came, Dirt Boss had Bulkhead attack them instead, using Mixmaster as a wrecking ball. Eventually, Ratchet was able to remove the cerebro-shell. Bulkhead then separated himself from Mixmaster by using the spilled oil as a lubricant. One swing from his wrecking ball sent Mixmaster flying, but Mix fell onto Scrapper, and the sparks from their collision lit the oil. When the fire proved impossible to contain, Prof. Sumdac came up with the idea of transporting it with the plasma dynamic thruster. Bulkhead reprogrammed the thruster for a shorter distance and tossed it on top of the oil tank. The tank, as well as the Constructicons who were on top of it, was transwarped over Lake Erie near Dinobot Island, where it exploded harmlessly. The Autobots still needed to cart away Lugnut, but discovered that he had been freed by [[Ramjet (Animated)|someone]]. {{storylink|Three's a Crowd}}

When Wasp came to Earth, he attack Bumblebee and switched identities with him, via an [[electronic paint job]] concealed in the switched helmets that also altered their voice synthesizers. Even Bulkhead was confused by the clever disguising and nearly smashed Bumblebee with his wrecking ball, presumably to get even for Wasp's bullying at boot camp. Fortunately, Bumblebee was able to make Bulkhead realize who he really was by reminding how he took the fall for knocking that building on top of Sentinel Prime. But then they were attacked by a [[Jetfire (Animated)|new]] [[Jetstorm (Animated)|pair]] of flying Autobots, who thought that Bumblebee was Wasp and, since they also thought Wasp was a traitor, Bulkhead and Prowl were too. The minor misunderstanding was quickly settled when Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, and Sentinel Prime appeared and Bulkhead explained how he knew Wasp is really Bumblebee. When they went back to the plant, Wasp had already boned up on everything regarding Bumblebee on the computer files and thus an information quiz was therefore useless. However, Bulkhead knew one way to prove who was the real Bumblebee: a death match of [[Ninja Gladiator]] between the two suspected Autobots, on account that Bumblebee is "the best player around". Wasp, not knowing any fighting moves from his long time in the Stockades, panicked and threatened to slag Bumblebee. When Wasp claimed he used to be a good bot before Bumblebee ruined him, Bulkhead countered that he was always mean to him and Bumblebee, thus while not being a traitor, Wasp was never a good bot. Wasp then shot the lights out and made a break for it. Bulkhead found him outside lying on the ground and jumped on top of him, punching him repeatedly. Only to find that Wasp had switched identities again and Bulkhead had pounded Bumblebee. Oops. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}}

Bulkhead later witnessed Optimus Prime tell Jetfire & Jetstorm to stop taunting Sentinel behind his back, but later was instructed by Ratchet to roll on home along with Bumblebee and Prowl so Optimus & Sentinel could speak in private. {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Animated)|Predacons Rising}}

On Christmas Eve, Bulkhead & Bumblebee were trying to figure out what they'd gotten for Christmas, but Sari told them that if they peeked, they would end up on Santa's naughty list. Later, Bulkhead joined the other Autobots in sampling some oil nog that Sari had made. However, it had been altered by one of Soundwave's toys), so Bulkhead and the rest suddenly felt very tired and decided to take a stasis nap. When Bulkhead and the other Autobots woke up the next morning, they had mysteriously been turned into humans. Prime decided that the Autobots needed to get to Sumdac Tower, as they believed Professor Sumdac could figure out what happened. On the way there, Bulkhead's stomach began to growl, so Optimus decided that their human bodies needed some refueling. They settled on a nearby Burger-bot, where Bulkhead proceeded to stuff his face with hamburgers. Bulkhead soon experienced abdominal discomfort, which he took for a malfunction, and headed off for the bathroom, only to discover a Decepticon attack as he returned. Attempting to punch Starscream in the leg, Bulkhead ended up severely injuring his hand. He was still able to help transport Optimus, whose leg Starscream had broken, to a paramedic. The Autobots then resumed their journey to Sumdac Tower...on a city bus, which Bulkhead discovered he actually kind of liked. When the Autobots arrived at the stop near Sumdac Tower, he shared their shock at the sight of Cybertron hovering overhead! Once it had destroyed the tower and unleashed a swarm of Decepticons, it seemed that all hope was lost. However, the whole experience was just a virtual reality illusion. Realizing this, Bulkhead was now strong enough to help defeat the virtual Decepticons, though he still needed a little coaching to restore himself to his robotic form. Just after he succeeded, he and the other Autobots were caught up in the hand of a titanic Soundwave and attacked by a surge of electricity. {{storylink|Human Error, Part I}}

Bulkhead later tried to use his wrecking-ball arm to avoid being reprogrammed by the virtual Soundwave, but was freed when Sari damaged Soundwave's system. However, Soundwave recovered and managed to fix his machine, forcing the Autobots to becom human again. Bulkhead then proceeded to use a traffic light he found to trash the virtual city in hopes of escaping the virtual reality, but Ratchet explained that it didn't work that way, and that they needed to find Soundwave's interface with the system. They then spotted an avatar of Soundwave's [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] and took off in pursuit, driving some conveniently placed vehicles. Bulkhead, along with the rest of the Autobots, was horrible at driving and succeeded in ramming several other vehicles. They eventually cornered Soundwave in a drive-in movie theater parking lot, but Soundwave had actually trapped them there, and he succeeded in reprogramming the Autobots. Under Soundwave's control, Bulkhead later fought against Scrapper, who froze him with a fire hydrant. Once freed from Soundwave's control, Bulkhead joined the rest of the Autobots in watching the Disposal Droids (and [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]]) clean up the city. {{storylink|Human Error, Part II}}

Bulkhead and Sumdac eventually finished building a space bridge in record time, but soon got into an argument over whose fault it was that the bridge wasn't already operational. After Sari settled the matter by getting the bridge running, Optimus received a call for help from Sentinel. Bulkhead located a transwarp field on the Elite Guard flagship that they could use to transwarp Prime to the ship, though it took Sari's skill to lock the space bridge onto the field. Bulkhead was unsure if they'd be able to transwarp Optimus back to Earth, but his leader insisted on going. Before long, the transwarp field separated from the ship, and Bulkhead seriously began to doubt he could transwarp Optimus back—but Sentinel gave Optimus a direct lift back to Earth, so it wasn't necessary. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

Bulkhead eventually helped Bumblebee transwarp to the Moon in order to spy on the Decepticons. 'Bee learned of their ultimate plans for Omega Supreme and managed to open Arcee's com-link, allowing them to listen in on the Decepticons from Earth. Bulkhead and his buddy discovered that the Decepticons were almost ready and warned the others. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

When the [[Lugnut Supreme]]s attacked Detroit, Prime ordered Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Ratchet to go to the Moon and sever Lugnut's connection to the clones, and Sari came with them. On the Moon, Bulkhead and Bumblebee took on Shockwave, while Ratchet and Sari got Arcee inside of the real Omega Supreme. Once they defeated and captured Shockwave, Bulkhead and Bumblebee took Sari to the part of the ''Nemesis'' so she could see the protoforms there for herself and better understand her origins. Bulkhead rode back to Earth on Omega Supreme to battle the Starscream Supremes, and was later stunned to hear that Prowl had sacrificed himself in order to save the city. After witnessing Optimus ultimately defeat and arrest Megatron, Bulkhead joined the Autobots when they went back to Cybertron, and he helped carry Prowl's coffin in their return victory/funeral parade. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

[[File:StunticonJob-Maincastbox.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right]]
''Bulkhead attended the Stunti-Con's show in Kaon, unaware that the entire affair was a Decepticon plot to break Megatron out of the nearby Trypticon Prison. Thankfully, [[Sideswipe (Animated)|Sideswipe]] and [[Cheetor (Animated)|Cheetor]] interrupted the show, and with [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]]'s help thwarted the Decepticons' plans.'' {{storylink|The Stunti-Con Job}}

===Animated shorts===
[[File:BulkheadandGrimlock.gif|thumb|left|upright=1.67|Where did that tree disappear to anyway?]]
[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] attempted to jump over him and the other Autobots as part of a stunt. {{storylink|Evel Knievel Jump}}

Bulkhead saw a mime performance along with Sari and Bumblebee. Sari had to explain to the two confused Autobots what a mime was. After Bumblebee successfully upstaged said mime, the audience applauded. Bulkhead decided to join them... and clapped with such force the shockwaves and wind blew most of the crowd away, prompting Bumblebee and Sari to sneak away in the chaos. {{storylink|Mime Time}}

He played fetch with Grimlock once, using a tree. Grimlock liked that. {{storylink|Catch}}

Bulkhead was the subject of some less-than-delicate surgery at Ratchet's hands once, with Sari playing nurse. Rather declared the operation a success, though Bulkhead wondered just what all those ''other internal parts'' lying around were all about. After a brief pause, Ratchet quickly scooped them up and stuffed them into Bulkhead's mouth, forcing him to swallow, then strolled away, whistling nonchalantly. {{storylink|Operating Table}}

===''Be the Hero'' books===
{{notemultipath}}
====''Prime Suspect''====
Bulkhead met the rest of the Autobots outside [[HomeTech]]'s laboratory, after [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Prime]] was caught on camera breaking in the night before. He knocked a hole in the side of the building to allow [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] and [[You|another kid]] to venture inside in search of the footage. When that line of inquiry turned up a sample of oil, the Autobots headed for HomeTech's main warehouse, where they encountered [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], the actual perpetrator behind the crime. Bulkhead helped defeat him. {{storylink|Prime Suspect}}
====''Quest for the AllSpark''====
Bulkhead's favorite places in [[Detroit]] were the [[City Art Gallery]] and [[Detroit Sculpture Park]]. When [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] made an attempt to obtain the [[AllSpark]] by taking control of Detroit's robot workforce, the Autobots came up with a plan to hide useless copies of the AllSpark, and Bulkhead opted to head for one of those locations to hide it. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] managed to find him at the Sculpture Park, trapped in a force field dome created by the AllSpark and, with [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s help, extracted him. {{storylink|Quest for the AllSpark}}
====''Web of Deception''====
When Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Prowl found the Autobot ship inactive, Bulkhead briefly considered using his wrecking ball to "nudge" a power conduit — an idea swiftly shot down by [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]. After they discovered Optimus was missing, Bulkhead set out with Bumblebee, Prowl, Sari and a friend to investigate the presence of [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]]'s ship on the lake bed nearby. While fighting the bounty hunter, they discovered the involvement of [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who wanted revenge on Prime. They hunted for Blackarachnia, but Bulkhead took a moment to admire an engraving on a cave wall, which inadvertently led to them finding their foe and her downfall. {{storylink|Web of Deception}}

====''Time-Quake''====
After strange time disturbances began appearing across Detroit, the Autobots searched the city using special scanners. Bulkhead finally struck pay dirt when he encountered a time-displaced ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. After dealing with the beast, he and a [[You|human]] tracked the signal back to the [[Lions Tower]] in Detroit's financial district where they met up with Bumblebee. On the top floor, the trio found an unstable time machine, that sent Bulkhead and his human friend hurtling back through time. The pair encountered several historical figures, retrieving the time machine's two missing control spheres before returning to the twenty-second century. The culprit behind the time machine's activity turned out to be the Decepticon [[Blast-X]], whom Bulkhead subsequently defeated with a good solid punch. {{storylink|Time-Quake}}

===Titan Magazines===
[[Hasbro|Toy companies]] have made an action figure of him! {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

The Dinobots saved him and the others from [[Starscream clone (Animated)|Starscream clones]], which was good. They then didn't leave and Bulkhead's sleeping space was taken up by Grimlock, which was not good. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 17|Dino-MIGHT!}}

Later, the Autobots were buried by the villain [[Quake-Maker]]. Bulkhead's great strength freed them from the ground, and then he ''vanished completely'' from the battle. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 1|Burnout}}

On his day off, Bulkhead was dragged to a [[basketball]] game by Sari, Prowl and [[Afterburn]]. Bulkhead didn't see the point of the game and was being mistaken for a litter bin by the humans. Luckily a demented supervillain attacked Detroit and they had to leave the game—but as a diversionary tactic, the evil [[Crossroads]] blackmailed Detroit into trying to destroy the Autobots! The Autobots saw through this and intercepted the villain at [[Sumdac Tower]], with Bulkhead taking down reprogrammed security drones. After beating the villain, Bulkhead now enjoyed basketball and happily watched the game ''for no reason''. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

When the Decepticons raided the Autobot base, Bulkhead joined the gang in successfully driving them back out. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Megatron's Revenge}}

When Prowl and Bumblebee decided to have a race to see who was fastest, Bulkhead was eager to join in, much to Bumblebee's mockery. Nevertheless, off Bulkhead went... and, thanks to the other two being distracted by Decepticons, he ''won'' and was officially King of Speed. Optimus and Ratchet lifted him up in a display of victory (their shoulders hurt!). {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|The Race}}

===''The Cool'' comic===

Witnessing the mysterious Allspark being uncovered, Bulkhead along with the rest of Optimus Prime's crew fled through a space bridge gate in order to keep the artifact out of Decepticon clutches. Unfortunately, Megatron was able to board their ship and left Bulkhead defeated on the floor, leaving Optimus to deal with the Decepticon leader by himself. {{storylink|The Cool Extra issue 3}}

Bulkhead was among the Autobots who traveled to the [[Earth]] city of [[Detroit]] in order to protect the [[AllSpark#Animated|AllSpark]] from the Decepticons. When [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] attcked, Bulkhead joined in the fray. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 1}}

[[File:The CoolAutobotsRevivePrime01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left]]

Bulkhead proved unable to prevent Starscream from seizing the AllSpark (the Decepticon snatching right out of his hands) and was subsequently helpless to defend himself from Starscream's AllSpark-powered aerial attacks. When [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] died stopping Starscream, and was quickly revived by the power of [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]]'s [[AllSpark Key|key]], Bulkhead was there to greet him. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 2}}

Bulkhead later took part in defending [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] from a Decepticon raid. He was unable to counter [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]]'s aerial bombardments, however, and proved little more than a rather large target. Once the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]]s saved the day, however, Bulkhead saw them off along with the rest of the Autobots. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 3}}

After [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] buried Optimus under tons of rubble during a Detroit battle, Bulkhead aided Bumblebee in digging their leader out. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 4}}

Bulkhead was present at [[Sumdac Systems]] headquarters when Megatron was resurrected in a new body. Megatron made short work of Bulkhead, grabbing his mace weapon and yanking him to the ground. Bulkhead survived the altercation and later joined Optimus Prime in greeting the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 5}}

Bulkhead later joined the Autobots in a battle against [[Clone number 2716057|Clone #2716057]]. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 6}}

Bulkhead joined in the battle for the Decepticon [[space bridge#Animated cartoon|Space Bridge]]. When Megatron attempted to power it with Starscream's [[AllSpark#Animated|AllSpark]] fragment, Bulkhead warned him not to, as the power would cause an overload. Bulkhead's prediction came to and he was powerless to stop the Space Bridge, which was sucking everything and everyone into itself. Luckily, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] arrived and sacrificed himself to save the day. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 8}}

When Starscream attacked Detroit in Omega Supreme's body, Bulkhead was the first to wonder where Optimus Prime had gone to. Prowl informed him that Prime would be back soon, but until then, it was up to them to fend off the villain. {{storylink|The Cool Episode 9}}

When Optimus returned with the Magnus Hammer and his flight pack, Bulkhead stood heroicly beside him, along with the rest of the Autobot crew, ready to face off against the Decepticon threat. {{storylink|The Cool Extra issue 1}}

Upon Megatron's defeat, Bulkhead accompanied the rest of the Autobots back to planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], where they were all hailed as heroes by the citizenry and even [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel]]. {{storylink|The Cool Episode Final}}

===''Kre-O'' online manga===
[[File:KreO_Bulkhead.jpg|right|thumb|What [[mouthplate]]? All I see is his ''wiiide'' smile.]]

Bulkhead was one of the [[Autobot]]s who left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in the ''[[Ark (Kre-O)|Ark]]'' in search for energy blocks to alleviate their hunger. Thanks to the boarding of the ''Ark'' by [[Decepticon]]s, the ''Ark'' crashed and the [[Transformer]]s fell into a four million year-long sleep. They woke up to a world filled with blocks. {{storylink|Kreon Story}}
{{--}}

==Games==
===Transformers Animated: The Game===
{{voiceactor|[[Bill Fagerbakke]] (English)}}
[[File:TFAnimated Game Bulkhead.jpg|thumb|right|136px]]
After [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] decided some more training was in order, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] set up the factory as an obstacle course and Prime, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and Bulkhead tackled it. No sooner had they finished than word arrived that the robots at a [[Sumdac Systems]] factory had gone haywire. They traveled there with [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] and blasted their way through the rogue robots until they found the problem — an [[AllSpark]] fragment lodged in a control console. Some of the drones escaped, so Prime left to take care of them while Bumblebee and Bulkhead continued at the plant. It turned out [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] was planning to assault [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], so the three Autobots scoured the plant for more AllSpark fragments before tracking a [[Decepticon Transmitter Drone]] to the Decepticon lair.

After fighting their way into the mine, Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead confronted Megatron, who TransWarped out after they managed to defeat him. The Autobots used the AllSpark fragments they'd gathered to power up Megatron's Space Bridge and step through, however on arrival, Optimus and Bulkhead realized that Bumblebee had been left behind when the Space Bridge closed. They searched fruitlessly for Megatron until Bumblebee arrived, having found a way to repower the bridge. Bulkhead intercepted a Decepticon transmission indicating that the Decepticons had captured a bunch of Space Bridges, and the trio made their way to the Space Bridge Nexus, where they used Cybertron's defense system against him. Megatron was again forced to flee. The Autobots returned to Earth, where Bulkhead announced that he needed a nice long stasis nap. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The Game}}

===Transformers Animated: ''Action Packs''===
{{note|Bulkhead is featured as a playable game card. He is a green card, has a value of 9 points, and has no additional powers.}} {{storylink|Transformers Animated: Action Packs}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
====Voyager Class====
[[File:TFAnimated Voyager Bulkhead toy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|right|And the world wants his kibble to turn into a chair. ''(Hasbro Version Pictured)'']]
[[File:AnimatedVoyagerBulkheadJapan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Then new villains came along, and blew away his powers! Bulkhead was in a fix, and now has gone Metallix! ''(TakaraTomy Version Pictured)'']]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Voyager, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-03'''
:Bulkhead transforms from an armored, six-wheeled military-type van into a [[robot mode]] that is a bit on the short side for a Voyager, due to the stout, stocky nature of the character. The toy features two "[[Automorph Technology|automorph]]"-style gimmicks in its transformation: after flipping down the back doors, pulling down on them retracts a pair of black tabs holding his arms into pace, allowing them to spring forward into position; and moving his chest into place automatically causes a panel to flip over, exposing his head.

:The figure's left arm contains the character's signature gimmick, his wrecking ball. A concealed lever activates a pressure-launch system that fires the ball, which is attached to Bulkhead's arm by a sturdy string. Bulkhead's right arm, meanwhile, features a rather strange gimmick: after straightening the arm at the elbow, pressing the black lever on the upper arm causes Bulkhead's forearm to flip upwards. It ''might'' be an uppercut or some other sort of punch attack (although mentioned in the ''Transformers Animated "Starting Dash"'' DVD Promo as a "punching action"), but whatever this feature is supposed to be, it is not mentioned in either the toy's instructions, or on its packaging.

:No, his kibble can't transform into a chair. ''Aww''.

:The [[TakaraTomy]] version of Bulkhead (titled "Ironhide") replaces all his matte green with a blueish green, coats the majority of it with ''very'' shiny metallic green paint, and replaces his silver Autobot symbol with a more traditional red and white one.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/Bulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Voyager Bulkhead at TFU.info]

{{-}}{{anchor|RockinBattle}}
*'''Rockin'On Battle: Ironhide VS Soundwave''' (Voyager-Deluxe two-pack, 2010)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-D'''

: This Japanese-[[exclusive]] two-pack contains unchanged toys of the TakaraTomy versions of Voyager Class "Ironhide" and Deluxe Class [[Soundwave (Animated)#RockinBattle|Soundwave]] (with [[Laserbeak (Animated)#RockinBattle|Laserbeak]].)

{{-}}{{anchor|Mudbuster}}
[[File:AnimatedVoyMudbusterBulkhead.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Bulkhead, el Hijo del Acero. LUUUCHAAARAAAAN!]]
* '''Mudbuster Bulkhead''' (Voyager)

: A [[redeco]] of the original Bulkhead in green and black, with caution stripes on the sides of the vehicle.

{{canceledtoy}}

{{-}}

====Leader Class====
{{anchor|Leader}}
[[File:TFAnimated Leader Bulkhead toy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|right|Tired of being known as "the big guy with a gentle heart", Bulkhead became more trigger happy than [[Triggerhappy]].]]
[[File:TFAnimated Leader Bulkhead toy TakaraTomy.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|right]]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Leader, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-43'''
**''Accessories'': Four "air torpedoes", [[Headmaster unit]]

: This version of Bulkhead is decidedly more heavily armed than others, sporting several rather uncharacteristic weapons over his body; designer [[Eric Siebenaler]] envisioned them as alterations the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] would have made if he had possessed Bulkhead's body longer.<ref>[http://community.livejournal.com/tf_animated/271043.html Derrick Wyat Q&A] on tf_animated LJ community.</ref> Additions to his arsenal include a double-barreled turret for his [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]], two missile racks (one per arm, each holding two removable "air torpedoes"), and a buzzsaw in his right hand which spins when a black tab on his forearm is pressed. He ''doesn't'' have a wrecking ball, but his other hand does feature a "grabby" action, allowing you to clench and open his fingers by sliding a tab in his arm.

: Bulkhead is outfitted with a significant array of electronic light and sound gimmicks. Pressing the Autobot insignia on his chest in robot mode causes his head to turn and his mouth to open as he speaks one of three sound clips—"Sorry, my bad," "You can do it, buddy!", and "Time for the big guns!"—accompanied by flashing yellow lights in his chest, shoulders and eyes. During transformation, when the vehicle mode turret is snapped into or out of place, the classic transformation sound effect plays as his lights flash. In vehicle mode, pressing the Autobot insignia activates a siren noise, which lasts as long as the button is held down and is accompanied by flashing red LEDs that illuminate his vehicle's light bar. Bulkhead also comes packaged with the Headmaster unit, which can fit over the figure's head, altering his sound and changing his yellow lights to red, except for his eyes. Once in place, the Headmaster will scream "Ownage! Total ownage!", and all of Bulkhead's lights flash, illuminating the villain's translucent horns. This is the Headmaster's only phrase; pressing Bulkhead's insignia repeats the effects. The Headmaster accessory fits over all other Leader class figures, but only changes the lights and speech of Bulkhead.

: The packaging photography and lineart indicate that Bulkhead's electronic lights shine a more [[Show-accuracy|show-accurate]] blue (well, accurate for his eyes, anyway). The final produced toy has yellow lights instead, because blue LEDs are apparently really expensive.

: ''This'' version of Bulkhead ''can'' transform his kibble into a chair! Hooray!

: The TakaraTomy version of the toy features "dirt-wash" [[Paint operation|paint application]]s on his green parts, as well as painted mud on his feet.

:This mold was used to make the second prize of the [[Hasbro UK exclusive limited Edition Handmade Samples]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/LeaderBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Leader Bulkhead at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

====Activators====
{{anchor|Activator}}
[[File:TFAnimated Activators Bulkhead.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|right|"Whoa, I thought I was super-deformed ''before''..."]]
* '''Bulkhead''' (Activator, 2008)

: [[Activators]] Bulkhead can autotransform from a compressed version of a SWAT military van into his robot form when the middle siren bar is pressed. The vehicle mode lacks the back section's doors and bumper to better accommodate the gimmick, which leaves his [[robot mode]]'s hands sticking out.

: His kibble is unable to become a chair as well. '''''Awww'''''. Unless you take the back-piece and switch it round and have him sit on it in a kind of... warped way.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/ActBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Activators Bulkhead at TFU.info]

{{-}}{{anchor|AnimatedSuperCollection}}
[[File:AnimatedSuperCollectionVol2Bulkhead.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*'''Animated Super Collection Vol. 2''' (multipack, 2010)

: Released on [[October 2]]nd in Japan, the "Animated Super Collection Vol. 2" giftset contained slight redecos of Activators Bulkhead, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] and [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]. Bulkhead's insignia went from silver to a more traditional red and white.

:While the stock photography of the individual toys showed Animated Super Collection Bulkhead as being a darker green than its American counterpart, this seems to have been a trick of the lighting, as the released toy remained its standard color.

{{-}}

====Bumper Battlers====
{{anchor|BumperBattler}}
[[File:BumperBattlers Bulkhead toy.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|right|Bulkhead now knows how [[Han Solo]] feels.]]

* '''Bulkhead''' (Bumper Battler, 2008)

: Bulkhead is part of the second wave of [[Bumper Battlers]]. Pressing on the vehicle mode's front bumper activates electronic noises and pops up the roof, revealing a relief of Bulkhead's robot form. Pressing on the Autobot [[Insignia|faction symbol]] on the hood activates a randomly-assembled collection of sound effects and voice samples.

: His face is disturbingly goofy.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/BBBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Bumper Battlers Bulkhead at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Workzone}}
[[File:AniBumperBattlersWorkzoneBulkhead.jpg|thumb|Now all he needs are some tiny ninja turtles.]]
* '''Workzone Bulkhead''' (Bumper Battler, 2009)

: A [[redeco]] of Bumper Battlers Bulkhead. Alongside [[Jazz (Animated)|Stealth Ninja Jazz]], it saw release in Australian stores, and has seen some limited release in North America (Canada and the US) in 2010.<ref>http://www.unicron.com/sightings/item_view.php?itemID=1409</ref>

{{-}}

===Kre-O===
[[File:KreO-Toy BulkheadKreon.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Why does my jaw feel so weak?]]
*'''Bulkhead''' (Micro-Changer, 2013)
**''Collection'': '''2'''
**''Bag number'': '''***** 66'''
**''Accessories'': Logo brick, 2 clip-on rifles

: As part of the second wave of [[blindpacking|blindpacked]] [[Micro-Changer]]s, Bulkhead can be rebuilt into a military vehicle of some sort. He uses the [[Hound (Kre-O)|Hound]] helmet.

:Care must be taken from his vehicle mode: His face's tampograph (which it serves as his bumper joint) is prone for being scratched off if the toy's vehicle mode is "rolled" on the flat surface. Try to replace it with a black/grey 1x1 cylinder block will amend this, or you can just turn the head around and make sure to lift the cockpit off before taking the head off again.

: This Collection was still in circulation at "dollar" stores and drug stores up through 2015. They eventually lost the individual-identifying bag codes, but other changes were hidden inside the bag. The 2015 releases replaced the 2x4 logo stand-brick with a new 3x4 logo plate. The Kreon was also given the slight [[retool]]ing to the arm seen in the 2014 Kreons, making the "cuff" parts more sharp-cornered and better adapted to being used as studs. Some of the add-on pieces may also be slightly off-color, possibly due to a change in factories in mid-production.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Autobot/Kre-OBulkhead/bulkhead.htm More information on Bulkhead at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{Anchor|2016}}
* '''Bulkhead''' (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2016)
**''Collection'': '''2'''
**''Accessories'': Logo plate, 2 clip-on rifles

:In 2016, Collection 2 was re-released in a whole new production run for Dollar General stores in the US as part of a large collection of re-released ''Kre-O'' sets. But where most of these releases are nigh-identical to the originals, the re-released Micro-Changer blind-bags use the almost-entirely-retooled 2015 Kreon, with slightly-differently-hued plastics than the originals; Bulkhead's olive plastic is particularly lighter than his first release. (It is possible for some of the add-on pieces to be in the older hues.) Bulkhead's [[tampograph]]s also got a bit of a tweak, changing the "toe" paint to black, the tummy-grille gray to shiny silver, and adding a white outline to his Autobot symbol.

:Sadly, this release has no individual-identification code on the bag, requiring you to use the feel-through-the-bag method or just buy blind and hope.

==Merchandise==
{{-}}
*'''Transformers Animated Game Collection''' (2008)

: Released as part of the board game set, this Bulkhead is a (very) show-accurate, but out-of-scale mini-figure figure based on his animation model.

: Optimus Prime is also sold with Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Prowl minifigures, and of course: 3 board games (''Transformers Animated Game, Checkers, and Tic Tac Toe), and a 100-piece puzzle.

{{-}}
==Notes==
[[File:RedBulkhead.jpg|thumb|right|Bulkred. Redhead? [[Big Red (G1)|Big Red]]! Wyatt totally got paid for this.]]

* Bulkhead's design and demeanor likely owe themselves to Crunch from ''[[wikipedia:Mighty Orbots|Mighty Orbots]]'', a series [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has admitted as being an inspiration.

* [[wikipedia:Patrick Star|Another]] big lug with a [[Bill Fagerbakke|similar]] voice, Bulkhead is best friends with a [[wikipedia:SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|little]] [[Bumblebee (Animated)|yellow guy]]. Obviously this analogy [[Tom Kenny|only goes]] [[Starscream (Animated)|so far]].

* Upon seeing a red [[Prototype|test shot]] of Bulkhead's ''Voyager''-class toy, Derrick J. Wyatt recolored a Bulkhead character model in the test shot's colors—on company time!<ref>http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/2007/09/bulkhead-toy.html</ref>

* After his reformatting into his APC mode, Bulkhead's robot mode [[kibble]] changes from the ''front'' of his [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] (where it forms the scoop of the bulldozer) to the ''back'', where it forms the doors of the truck.
[[File:Bulkheadchair.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|right|The next step in Transformers evolution is here!]]

* Bulkhead can form his [[kibble]] into a chair. This is awesome.

* Bulkhead has a storage place in his chest which opens in at least two ways, like a drawer or like a door.

* Bulkhead's eyes can extend from his face and act as a microscope, as shown in "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]". This is slightly strange, but also awesome.

* In spite of the visual differences, it would appear that rather than simply swapping out his hands for his signature wrecking balls, Bulkhead's hands actually transform to ''become'' the wrecking balls. Although most episodes show his hand simply retract and then be replaced by the ball, a few instances show it actually stay in place, blur and change into the ball. Furthermore, in cases where Bulkhead has had the tether-line of his wrecking ball severed, he remains conspicuously handless until the ball is re-attached, such as in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]" and "[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]".

* Bulkhead's vehicle mode design was used as the basis for [[Blurr (G1)|Generation 1 Blurr]]'s personal transport in [[Spotlight: Blurr]].

* Of all the vehicles that Teletran 1 scanned, the SWAT vehicle Bulkhead was reformatted into was the only one that didn't match his color scheme.

* Bulkhead's vehicle form strongly resembles a futuristic version of the real world: "2007 DURO IIIP 6x6 (Protected Military Tactical Vehicle)" made by General Dynamics: European Land Systems (MOWAG). This mode also has some design traits from the "Unimog" by Volvo.

*For the Japanese release of ''Animated'', Bulkhead was renamed "Ironhide" to keep the names of the primary ''Animated'' Autobots consistent with the names of the primary [[Transformers (film)|Movie]] Autobots. ''Animated'' [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] was in turn renamed "Armorhide" to escape confusion.

*[[TakaraTomy]] marketing director [[Masahiko Yamazaki]] <ref>Figure Ō #144 magazine interview</ref> stated that Bulkhead actually ''was'' [[Ironhide (Movie)|Movie Ironhide]], as Animated was supposed to be reworked in order to take place within Movie continuity, and Bulkhead would have his "world view" modified appropriately. The actual ''dub'' of the series contradicted Yamazaki's statements, as Bulkhead remained a big dumb lug as opposed to a psychotic gun enthusiast. In fact, he was played off as even ''dumber'' than in the English version, being prone to screaming things such as "Mommy!" when frightened. The only documented change to Bulkhead to make him more similar to Movie Ironhide was a brief statement in his TakaraTomy online bio, which said that he was "something of a weapons specialist".<ref>http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/products/animated/ta03.html</ref>

*Bulkhead has the honor of being one of the few Autobots whose name Megatron actually remembers, the others being Ultra Magnus, Omega Supreme, and eventually, Optimus Prime.

*In the ''Transformers Animated'' profile shorts, Bulkhead is introduced to the audience by Optimus in "[[Meet Bulkhead]]" and likewise introduces Prowl in "[[Meet Prowl]]."

*An almost-realized [[BotCon]] [[exclusive]] from [[Fun Publications]] was a redeco of [[#Voyager Class|Voyager Class Bulkhead]] into [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]].<ref>[http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc14/bc14br.html BotCon 2014 attendee report]</ref>

*In the Ben 10 Omniverse episode "Collect This" a Bulkhead toy can be seen in the background of Ben's room most likely a reference considering Derrick J. Wyatt was the art director of it

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Ironhide''' (アイアンハイド ''Aianhaido'')
*''Russian:'' '''Tverdoloby''' (Твердолобый, "Hard Head")

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Animated Autobots]]
[[Category:Demolitions specialists]]
[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:Kre-O Autobots]]
[[Category:Kreons]]