Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic

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	"Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic" {{#if: \| {{#if: \|; (')}} {{#if:\|; ""}}}}
Publisher	IDW Publishing}}
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First published	October 27, 2021}}
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Cover date	September 2021}}
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Written by	Brian Ruckley}}
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Art by	Anna Malkova}}
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Colors	David García Cruz}}
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Letters by	Jake M. Wood}}
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Editor	David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and Riley Farmer}}
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ist}}{{#if: \| by}}	}}
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{{#if: TF2019 36 cvrB.jpg | {{#if: IDW Publishing | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: October 27, 2021 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: September 2021 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Brian Ruckley | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Anna Malkova | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: David García Cruz | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Jake M. Wood | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and Riley Farmer | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: 2019 IDW continuity | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: |

{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

Planetary catastrophe looms as Skywarp makes his long-awaited play for power.

Synopsis

Since reawakening, Provoke has spent all her time poring over the planet's public archives and absorbing everything that's transpired since the end of the War of the Threefold Spark. Despite Cyclonus's best attempts to jog her memory, Provoke politely but firmly informs her former compatriot that she needs time alone to adjust. As the old warrior heads to an elevator, his memory of Paragon urges him to be patient, but Highfire points out that something's not right...

In the Sea of Rust, the battle for the Enigma of Combination rages on—although Termagax has unleashed an army of spectrosynth drones on the advancing Decepticons, Sky Lynx reports that the Decepticons still hold the numerical advantage. Pyra Magna warns Optimus Prime that the Autobots can't hold the Decepticons off much longer: he and Termagax need to settle their differences now. While most of her drones are operating on a crude autopilot, programmed to shoot anyone with a purple Decepticon badge, she's focussed her attention on the last operational drone, which she's kept in reserve with the Enigma to enact a contingency plan and put the artifact beyond Megatron's reach. As Sixshot orders the Battlechargers to open a lane and move in for the kill, Skywarp teleports in front of the Decepticon commander, mocks him openly, then warps straight into Termagax's walking fortress. After first dodging Sureshot and Arcee, Skywarp flicks through floor after floor, catching the attention of Optimus and the others as he does so; as Skywarp easily destroys Termagax's final drone and grabs the Enigma, Optimus arrives too late to stop him from warping away.

Pyra's snipers can't take out the elusive warrior as he alights on top of House, Enigma in hand, and unsuccessfully calls for order above the din. But Skywarp's unaware of the arrival of Pyra's ace in the hole, the only Autobot capable of fighting Skywarp on his own turf—Jumpstream! Jumpstream catches Skywarp off-guard and manages to snatch the artifact out of his fingers; as the two warriors flick back and forth across the sky, each trying to out-teleport the other, Sixshot simply transforms into his flight mode and takes to the air.

Underground, another tremor stirs Codexa from her long slumber, a tremor that winds its way up to the planet's surface and trips some of Geomotus and Landmine's preliminary sensors along the way. Neither of them are warriors, but Geomotus insists that they contact Optimus to warn him what's about to happen—the impermeable bedrock of the Rust Sea is about to collapse.

Though Jumpstream fights hard, Skywarp proves the better teleporter and manages to finally reclaim the Enigma. As he takes a moment to gloat, however, he's oblivious to the rising shadow behind him—the shadow of Sky Lynx, who easily chomps down on the smaller flier and roasts him alive! Skywarp teleports to safety in the nick of time, but is forced to abandon the Enigma, which clatters down to the ground, where the ambitious Skytread snatches it up. Sixshot lands and orders him to hand it over; when Skytread refuses, Sixshot finally deals with his would-be rival by shooting him in the chest... but before Sixshot can grab the Enigma, the ground crumbles beneath Skytread and plunges both him and the Enigma into the sea. As the rust worms devour Skytread alive, Sixshot is forced to abandon the Enigma and sounds a retreat. As the Autobots retreat with Termagax's House in tow, Optimus, Pyra, and Termagax take stock of their pyrrhic victory: although neither side can use the Enigma now, the Sea of Rust is no more and the rust worms it contained have been unleashed on a damaged and divided Cybertron. The last time the worms attacked, the planet itself acted to contain the threat—this time, however, the people of Cybertron may not be so lucky...

In Iacon's medical center, Flatline has been alerted to yet another miracle in the medbay: somehow, Ruckus has awakened from his coma! The incredulous medic points out that such a phenomenon is completely impossible, despite Provoke's attempts to convince him otherwise... and when Flatline demands that Ruckus submit to a full medical examination, "Provoke" finally drops the act and unleashes a black torrent of spark energy—Provoke is really Exarchon, who has finally returned!

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in hallucinatory form.)
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}

{{#if:* Sunstreaker (7)

Windblade (8)
Sky Lynx (9)
Novastar (10)
Smokescreen (11)
Pointblank (13)
Springer (15)
Pyra Magna (16)
Wheeljack (17)
Optimus Prime (19)
Sureshot (26)
Arcee (27)
Vibes (30)
Ironhide (29)
Pipes (30)
Jumpstream (32)
Powertrain (39)
Backstreet (40)
Big Daddy (41)
Wheel Blaze (42)
Brawn (43)
Javelin (44)
Subsea (45)|

{{#if:* Sunstreaker (7)

Windblade (8)
Sky Lynx (9)
Novastar (10)
Smokescreen (11)
Pointblank (13)
Springer (15)
Pyra Magna (16)
Wheeljack (17)
Optimus Prime (19)
Sureshot (26)
Arcee (27)
Vibes (30)
Ironhide (29)
Pipes (30)
Jumpstream (32)
Powertrain (39)
Backstreet (40)
Big Daddy (41)
Wheel Blaze (42)
Brawn (43)
Javelin (44)
Subsea (45)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Sunstreaker (7)
Windblade (8)
Sky Lynx (9)
Novastar (10)
Smokescreen (11)
Pointblank (13)
Springer (15)
Pyra Magna (16)
Wheeljack (17)
Optimus Prime (19)
Sureshot (26)
Arcee (27)
Vibes (30)
Ironhide (29)
Pipes (30)
Jumpstream (32)
Powertrain (39)
Backstreet (40)
Big Daddy (41)
Wheel Blaze (42)
Brawn (43)
Javelin (44)
Subsea (45) }}{{#if:* Weirdwolf (12)
Red Wing (14)
Termagax (18)
Gutcruncher (20)
Sixshot (21)
Offroad (22)
Runamuck (23)
Runabout (24)
Crasher (28)
Nova Storm (29)
Skytread (29)
Flamefeather (31)
Wingstun (36)
Ion Storm (37)
Hotlink (38)
Kaskade (48)|

Autobots }}{{#if:* Weirdwolf (12)

Red Wing (14)
Termagax (18)
Gutcruncher (20)
Sixshot (21)
Offroad (22)
Runamuck (23)
Runabout (24)
Crasher (28)
Nova Storm (29)
Skytread (29)
Flamefeather (31)
Wingstun (36)
Ion Storm (37)
Hotlink (38)
Kaskade (48)|

Ascenticons/Decepticons }}{{#if:|

Humans }}{{#if:* "Provoke"/Exarchon (1)

Cyclonus (2)
Paragon (3)
Grudge (4)
Gridlock (5)
Highfire (6)
Skywarp (25)
Codexa (33)
Landmine (34)
Geomotus (35)
Flatline (46)
"Ruckus"/Exarchon (47)|

Others }}{{#if:|

Misc }}{{#if:|

Misc }}

Weirdwolf (12)
Red Wing (14)
Termagax (18)
Gutcruncher (20)
Sixshot (21)
Offroad (22)
Runamuck (23)
Runabout (24)
Crasher (28)
Nova Storm (29)
Skytread (29)
Flamefeather (31)
Wingstun (36)
Ion Storm (37)
Hotlink (38)
Kaskade (48) }}{{#if:|

}}{{#if:* "Provoke"/Exarchon (1)

Cyclonus (2)
Paragon (3)
Grudge (4)
Gridlock (5)
Highfire (6)
Skywarp (25)
Codexa (33)
Landmine (34)
Geomotus (35)
Flatline (46)
"Ruckus"/Exarchon (47)|

"Provoke"/Exarchon (1)
Cyclonus (2)
Paragon (3)
Grudge (4)
Gridlock (5)
Highfire (6)
Skywarp (25)
Codexa (33)
Landmine (34)
Geomotus (35)
Flatline (46)
"Ruckus"/Exarchon (47) }}{{#if:|

}}{{#if:|

}}

Quotes

"Wish me luck. Or don't. Won't hold it against you either way, once the prize is in my hands. Or will I?"

—Skywarp

"You're kind of fun, but also very annoying!"
"I really am way short of the original if that's the worst thing you can call me."

—Skywarp vs. Jumpstream

"Ah. Might be time for re-opening that discussion about who's in charge, Sixshot."
"Give me that, Skytread."
"How about I take it back to Megatron? How about that?"
"The chain of command doesn't work like that. Here, let me explain."
-BLAM-

—Skytread and Sixshot

"They say that the Enigma was made for Nexus Prime. And they say that his purpose—its purpose—the intent that prompted Primus to bring him and it into being... was to inject some fragment of change, of unpredictability, of chaos, into a world that otherwise would be forever ordered. I can't tell you if that's true. But I can tell you Cybertron needs a bit of chaos. Primus knew it then. The Enigma embodied it. Stasis will kill us. Embrace the unpredictable."

—Termagax

"Inconvenient. I thought two would suffice for now, but evidently... Exarchon must be three once more!"

—Somehow, Exarchon has returned

Notes

Continuity notes

With "Provoke" back in the real world, Paragon has replaced her as one of the four "ghosts" haunting Cyclonus. A previous conversation between him and Froid in issue #11 had him confess that he'd deliberately buried his memories of Paragon, but despite his denial Paragon resurfaced in issues #28 and #30 during his brief quest to murder Pyra Magna.
Jumpstream was briefly sidelined in #32 after Perceptor's teleportation experiments went wrong and briefly stranded her in a dystopian alternate future. This issue seems to have set a chain of events leading to that possible future in motion—confirming our suspicions, this issue reveals that Exarchon cheated death at the end of the War of the Threefold Spark by possessing Provoke and lying dormant for kilocycles beneath Iacon's Memorial Crater.
In #33, Geomotus and Landmine were busy planting early-warning sensors around the sea that would monitor any further tectonic disturbances, as Geomotus theorized in Escape #2 that any further damage to the sea's impermeable layer could cause catastrophic damage and release the sea's rust worms into the crust. When the final tremor hits, Geomotus points out that Citadel, the Titan who crashed there in #28, might have accelerated the sea's destruction.
A brief cutaway shows the tremors disturbing Codexa from her slumber; she hasn't shown up for quite a while, having last appeared in issue #6 to give Orion Pax some advice.
Once again, Termagax is shown handling Gridlock's severed head, a curious relic that she's kept on her workbench since she first appeared, back in in #8.
The battle wraps up with a brief excerpt from Termagax's first speech before the Senate, though it's not clear if this would be while leading the newly-formed Ascenticon party or during her argument with Nominus Prime over the Constructicons in the "Constructicons Rising" arc of Galaxies.
Ruckus and his comrade Kaskade were both gravely wounded by Soundwave while the senator was trying to cover his tracks in issue #14. That Ruckus is up and about should be an early warning sign that something's very wrong—as per issue #19, they were not expected to recover from this coma-like state.

Transformers references

Weirdwolf only makes a brief cameo in this issue, but his third-person speech patterns could be a reference to Bob Budiansky's original profile for the character, which noted his propensity for mangling syntax.
Termagax's speech notes that the Enigma was originally created by Primus, to be wielded by Nexus Prime; like most Thirteen lore, The Covenant of Primus established him as the chosen wielder of this specific artifact, and they appeared together in IDW's Robots in Disguise comic.

Errors

On page three, Wheeljack's chest is colored white.

Other trivia

Originally solicited for mid-October, this issue arrives two weeks late.

Covers (3)

Cover A: Skywarp lives it up, by Anna Malkova
Cover B: Jumpstream versus Skywarp, by Red Powell
Retailer incentive cover: Flatline gets Norted, by Billie Montfort

Reprints

Transformers Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far (June 8, 2022) ISBN 168405883X / ISBN 978-1684058839
- Collects Transformers (2019) issues #31–36 & Annual 2021, Transformers Halloween Special, and Wreckers—Tread & Circuits issues #1–4.
- Bonus material includes alternate covers.
- Hardcover format.

Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far – cover art by Cryssy Cheung

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