Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self
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The Divided Self" {{#if: |
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|}{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}
Answers come thick and fast as the history of Ultra Magnus is revealed, Tyrest's plan is laid bare, Ratchet gets in over his head, and Cyclonus and Whirl get ready to stage a daring rescue.
Synopsis
[edit]
Carried to Luna 1 by his stolen shuttle, the comatose Ultra Magnus's body is recovered by Tyrest and brought to Pharma, who is able to save his shrinking spark. Awakening, Magnus is immediately punched in the face by Tyrest; the Chief Justice is angry over Magnus's slide from fearsome lawman to public joke, which he considers the product of a nervous breakdown caused by Magnus applying the weight of the rules of war to those of everyday life in order to cope with the onset of peacetime. Tyrest deactivates Magnus's armor, which falls away from his body and reveals his true form, Minimus Ambus, within. When Ambus mistakes the Legislators for his replacement, Tyrest corrects him by introducing his new enforcer: Star Saber.
Ambus explains the history of the Ultra Magnus identity to a confused Rodimus, which originated with a no-nonsense law enforcer whose reputation inspired Tyrest to keep his legend alive after his passing with a suit of armor cast in his likeness. Tyrest selected multiple 'bots to wear the armor, take the name, and serve as his enforcer, each one's body returned to Tyrest after they died by a recall trigger in the armor so the identity could be passed on to the next. Ambus was particularly suited to the job, as he is a kind of Point One Percenter known as a "load bearer", possessing a spark with a particularly strong animating force that allows his body to integrate the Magnus armor where a normal 'bot could not. This talk of the strength of Ambus's spark prompts Tailgate to ask how he can still be alive, given his fatal condition when last they saw him, and seems to find hope for his own worsening Cybercrosis in Ambus's explanation of Tyrest's miracle-working doctor. At Rodimus's further inquiry, Ambus continues to explain that the Lost Lighters are to be put to death for "harboring a criminal suspect", and that he had himself placed in the cell so he could record their conversation and prove to Tyrest that they were ignorant of the criminal: Skids. Having been unaware of Tyrest's alliance with Lockdown or the presence of the Titans, and baffled by their supposed crimes against creation, Ambus lets himself out to investigate. A moment after he leaves, the unconscious Skids and Swerve appear in the cell in a flash of light.
Meanwhile, just outside the prison—revealed to be suspended over a giant smelting pool—Cyclonus and Whirl concoct a strategy to rescue their teammates. Though Cyclonus is reluctant to bring their time on Luna 1 to an end yet, he nevertheless follows Whirl to a nearby armory, where the cyclopean Autobot rambles about his worldview and coping strategies while struggling with some door handles. Cyclonus opens the door for him, but as he steps back, a Legislator suddenly impales him from behind. Whirl springs into action, chopping the Legislator to bits with one of the many swords in the armory, blaming his own reflexes for saving Cyclonus's life. The pair investigate further, and soon discover the swords' captive owners, the Circle of Light. The Circle are quickly freed, and they all tool up for an attack on the wall of Legislators guarding the prison.
In Tyrest's medibay, the unhinged Pharma espouses the virtues of facility's bleeding-edge tech, with which he professes he can perform supposedly impossible medical procedures. Observing that Pharma has not taken back his original hands, Ratchet tries taunting him, accusing him of not being able to remove them from his body. Ratchet proposes a contest: the pair will work on two patients with the same injury, and the first to complete the surgery wins the hands. Pharma agrees and reattaches Ratchet's head and spark to his body, but Ratchet awakens to see with horror that his deranged counterpart has selected Ambulon and First Aid to be their patients. Pharma ignores his attempts to beg off the contest, and announces he will be cutting them in half. Ratchet assures them that bisection from the waist is an easy fix... until Pharma buries his chainsaw in Ambulon lengthways, splitting him from head to crotch!
Back in the prison, Swerve has come around and explained to Rodimus and the others about the capture of the Lost Light, and that he and Skids were taken by Star Saber, who they know as a holy warrior from Cybertron's past who tried to orchestrate the genocide of unbelievers. Theorizing on Skids's possible crime, Chromedome recalls his "invisible gun", believing he must have stolen it. Just as Skids starts to awaken, Star Saber himself arrives outside their cell with another prisoner in tow, and Chromedome realizes something: when he read Skids's memories months ago and detected only a "need to escape", he had actually been sensing a name. The name of Skids's old partner, who stands before them in chains now: Getaway!
Elsewhere, Ambus confronts Tyrest and demands answers, which Tyrest flatly supplies. He was one of those appointed by Nova Prime to develop the means by which Transformers were "constructed cold", in response to Nova's (correct) fear that the pulsewaves that generated new "forged" sparks would eventually stop. But contrary to what the public believes, constructed Transformers were not brought to life using the energy of other sparks: their sparks were, in fact, generated from the Matrix of Leadership by Tyrest and his team's manipulations of the talisman, before a team member had an attack of conscience and hid it away. Years later, during the Aequitas trials, Tyrest realized that every single Autobot prosecuted had been constructed cold, and came to believe that he had perverted the forces of creation and was responsible for spawning a tainted, evil subspecies. Wracked with guilt, he began drilling holes in his armor in a form of self-flagellation, eventually drilling one into his own brain that caused an "epiphany". Tyrest believed he had found the location of the Knights of Cybertron and their Cyberutopia, and now plans to use his space bridge to join them there after atoning for his sins: destroying every Matrixed spark through the activation of a universal killswitch. Ambus refuses to allow Tyrest to complete his plan, so Tyrest implements the newest amendment to his self-titled accord—pre-emptive execution—and has a Legislator crush Ambus's head to powder.
Featured characters
[edit](Characters in italic text appear only in flashback.)
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}
|
|
!! style="background:#ffdddd;" | Autobots }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#ededff" | Decepticons }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#fbefde;" | Humans }}{{#if:* Tyrest (1)
- Legislators (5)
- Tailgate (6)
- Star Saber (13)
- Cyclonus (16)
- Dai Atlas (20)
- Nova Prime (27)
- Matrix thief (28)|
!! style="background:#ffeeb8;" | Others }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#d5e6d5;" | Misc }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#fedeb5;" | Misc }} |- {{#if:{|border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent" |- |style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"|
- Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus (2)
- Pharma (3)
- Rodimus (4)
- Rung (7)
- Brainstorm (8)
- Orion Pax (9)
- Skids (10)
- Delta Magnus (11)
|style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"|
- Chromedome (12)
- Swerve (14)
- Whirl (15)
- Ratchet (17)
- Ambulon (18)
- First Aid (19)
- Perceptor (21)
- Fortress Maximus (22)
|style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"|
|}|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
|
|
| style="background:#ededff;" valign="top" |
}}{{#if:|
| style="background:#fbefde;" valign="top" |
}}{{#if:* Tyrest (1)
- Legislators (5)
- Tailgate (6)
- Star Saber (13)
- Cyclonus (16)
- Dai Atlas (20)
- Nova Prime (27)
- Matrix thief (28)|
| style="background:#ffeeb8;" valign="top" |
- Tyrest (1)
- Legislators (5)
- Tailgate (6)
- Star Saber (13)
- Cyclonus (16)
- Dai Atlas (20)
- Nova Prime (27)
- Matrix thief (28) }}{{#if:|
| style="background:#d5e6d5;" valign="top" |
}}{{#if:|
| style="background:#fedeb5;" valign="top" |
}}|}
Quotes
[edit]"How many Decepticons did you kill back there? Y'know, overall."
"I wasn't keeping count.
...
Six. You?"
"Dunno. More than six."
- —Whirl and Cyclonus
"This medibay, Ratchet—it's an embarrassment of riches. Every piece of avant garde Cybertronian technology that Magnus has ever repossessed... it's all here. Stuff I've never even seen before."
"You always did like your instruments."
"Ah, but it's not just the instruments—it's the way they're played. A skilled musician can make sounds no one's ever heard before."
- —Pharma shows off to Ratchet
"You think—wait. You think I wired your hands—the ones I attached to my body—you think I wired them to explode?"
"I... think it's a possibility, yes."
"Or maybe... maybe you're scared of failure. Maybe you're afraid you won't be able to pick the lock or loosen the wiring, so you want help. I get it, Pharma. It took me a while, but—it makes sense now. I'm better than you."
"A better doctor? Please. I overtook you years ago. I don't need my hands back to slap you down."
- —Ratchet goads Pharma
"I don't understand why you don't get yourself fixed. If not the face, then the claws."
"You wanna know a secret, hornhead? Life's messed up. I'm messed up. I've done bad things and I continue to do bad things, because the voice telling me not to...? He's not said much for a while. And y'know what keeps me going? ANGER. Anger's an insulator. Stops life getting too close. If I got myself "fixed," maybe the anger would leave me—and then I really would be screwed."
- —Cyclonus gets the inside scoop on Whirl's worldview
"So here's the plan: I'll watch your back and you watch mine. And if we make it out of this alive, then all scores are settled, okay? No more trying to kill me. What do you say?"
"I say focus on the fight."
- —Whirl and Cyclonus prepare for battle
Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- The screen in Tyrest's "Repository" reads "Tyrest Accord Section 19 (80) 4: Thought Warfare". This clause was mentioned back in issue #5, at which time it was obvious Tailgate had drawn the connection with the chants of "1984" (here revealed to be more like "nineteen, eighty, four") uttered by the Legislators as they hunted Skids in issue #2. It's obvious at this point that this is the crime Skids is guilty of.
- Delta Magnus is shown as a former comrade of the original Ultra Magnus; he was previously mentioned in issue #11. He's only called "Delta" here, but his similarity to Ultra Magnus (see Transformers references, below) makes his identity evident, and indicates that they are both related and members of the "House of Magnus" Tyrest mentions in this issue.
- Minimus Ambus's description of how people perceived the original Ultra Magnus ("People loved and feared him in equal measure.") strongly resembles Whirl's own feelings about him, as expressed in Spotlight: Trailcutter.
- In retrospect, there have been a number of hints in past IDW stories as to Ultra Magnus's true nature:
- Since issue #1 we had been given occasional instances of seeing the action from his point of view. But unlike with any other character's POV panels, these were presented with comprehensive Heads Up Displays, distortion effects and outlines of his visor.
- He was mentioned to have miraculously recovered from a zero point in the prose story, uh, "Zero Point". We can now surmise the truth behind that.
- In issue #6, Skids mentions that he used to be more prone to wisecracks.
- In the More than Meets the Eye annual, he prescriptively describes himself using the third person, twice.
- The fatal damage done to Magnus in #15, the damage First Aid says can't be fixed, is the same type of damage First Aid says Magnus survived once before in #12.
- Issue #16: See below.
- The series of flashbacks shown in issue #16 are revealed not to be the past experiences of Minimus Ambus, but the deaths of the multiple previous holders of the Ultra Magnus name. In addition to the three scenes from that issue (Clemency, Simanzi, and the Battle for Hell's Point), another Magnus's death is mentioned in connection with something called "the Fast-Folding Sun". It is now clear that Magnus displaying traits he was actively known for not possessing in these scenes was not intended to chart the evolution of his personality, but were actually hints that the 'bots within the armor were not the same as the present-day Magnus. Only two of them are named: Suture and Datum, the latter being the Magnus who fell from Hell's Point.
- It is revealed that the Magnus armor has a trigger that returns it to Tyrest upon the wearer's death; the comatose Magnus clenching his fist in the final moments of issue #16 is now revealed to be the activation of that trigger, rather than an expression of rage at the announcement of Drift's betrayal, as the visual juxtaposition of the scene intimated at the time. Similarly, the slow clenching of Magnus's fist across the flashback sequence in #16 was not a metaphorical representation of his fading life, but each of the past Magnuses (Magni?) tripping the trigger themselves.
- The Ultra Magnus armor is revealed to contain attention deflectors to prevent anyone from discovering the 'bot inside; these devices were just introduced last issue.
- Tailgate is able to recall that "harboring a criminal suspect" violates section 17 (21) of the Tyrest Accord, thanks to the education Magnus gave him in the code starting back in issue #5. This was the number the Legislators were chanting as they attacked the Lost Light across the last two issues.
- When Rodimus is speculating on the identity of the criminal aboard the Lost Light, he lists off known unstable crew members Whirl and Atomizer. Two new names are revealed: Lancet and Ammo; given that his name starts with A, Ammo is more than likely one of the undesirables listed off by Magnus way back in issue #1.
- Though the cast themselves never seemed to quite become aware of it, a flash of images revealed to the audience that the Circle of Light had been captured by the Legislators in the 2012 More than Meets the Eye annual.
- Skids's mysterious "invisible gun" hasn't been mentioned in a good long time; here, Chromedome recounts its debut from issue #2.
- Chromedome read Skids's memories back in issue #8.
- Getaway's only appearances in IDW continuity before now was a brief crowd-filling cameo in Spotlight: Blaster.
- The mysterious history of the Matrix of Leadership is finally explained in full, after issue #9 revealed that it was replaced at some point with a fake. Here we learn that Nova Prime did indeed hold the real thing, after some doubt had been cast on that matter. The identity of the robot who steals the Matrix is unknown, but it is noted that he hid the talisman in the Underworld, where it would then be found by Orion Pax in Autocracy #9.
- Tyrest lists off some of Ultra Magnus's experiences that led to the enforcer no longer being respected, including Nanocons, which forced him to smile in the annual, Hedonia, where he got drunk in issue #13, doorframe audits, which were mentioned by Rung in issue #16, and his constant obsession with badges. "Hugging" would not be explained until later, in the flashback from issue #22.
- On the letters page, Roberts establishes that Railspike is a crew member of the Lost Light ("sure, why not") and he turns into the Cybertronian equivalent of a train.
Transformers references
[edit]- Delta Magnus is visually based on the Diaclone "Powered Convoy" toy, the figure which would be recolored to become the original Generation 1 Ultra Magnus toy.
- Tyrest's fears that Matrixed sparks are predisposed to sin is reminiscent of the Cybertronian Empire of the Marvel G2 comics, who actually were amoral and ruthless because the method of their creation had led to the dilution of Primus's essence within them.
- The Legislators being mindless drones created from the recycled bodies of their victims is reminiscent of Beast Machines Megatron's Vehicon forces being created in a similar manner.
- Ultra Magnus being a small robot inside a big robot is a feature of the original toy.
- Minimus Ambus was "just a soldier" before becoming Ultra Magnus, referencing one of Ultra Magnus's lines in The Transformers: The Movie.
Real-life references
[edit]- This issue's subtitle is taken from [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}R. D. Laing|{{#if:||R. D. Laing}}]]'s The Divided Self, a seminal work on understanding madness. On the surface, the title's usage can obviously simply refer to the dual identity of Minimus Ambus/Ultra Magnus, but on a deeper level, aspects of the work's examination of insanity (broadly, the manifestation of an alternate self to cope with doubt in the place one's real self has in the world) are also incorporated into the story. Plus, in a more literal sense, Ratchet's condition and the fate of poor Ambulon.
- Pharma's claim of being "a doctor, not a bomb-disposal expert" is reminiscent of Doctor McCoy of Star Trek fame.
- The decision to present the normally squeaky-clean hero of heroes, Star Saber, as a brutal villain in 2005 IDW continuity is pretty clearly drawn from James Roberts's days as part of the Transmasters UK fanfic group, which depicted the character in this way. He's a different type of villain as Roberts wanted to respect his former collaborators and not poach their ideas.<ref>Women Write About Comics: "James Roberts on IDW’s Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye" 19:24 - 31:07</ref>
Errors
[edit]
- Pages 4–5, panel 8: "Soldier" is misspelled "solider", this was corrected in the TPB.
- When describing himself, Ambus draws a distinction between himself and "heavyweight class" Point One Percenters, naming Impactor and Roller as examples of that group. However, Last Stand of the Wreckers informed us that Impactor had been found guilty during the Aequitas trials, and this issue tells us that all those found guilty were Constructed Cold, while one has to be Forged in order to be a Point One Percenter. The text was amended for the trade to remove this mistake, replacing Impactor's name with Grimlock's.
- Page 18, panel 4: Tyrest says, "Only us higher beings are troubled..." which technically should be "Only we higher beings..." While plenty of people disregard this rule in casual conversation, the high-falutin' Chief Justice really doesn't seem the type. Apparently IDW editorial agree and this was also corrected in the TPB.
Crew manifest
[edit]- Contrary to Rodimus's claim of 300 "give or take" last issue, on the letter's page James Roberts says the crew has about 230, including Delphi's Faders.
- Tailgate's cybercrosis continues to advance, as he can now barely move.
- Minimus Ambus and Ambulon both suffer arguably fatal injuries, but are not yet confirmed deceased. (You're not fooling us again, Red Alert!)
- 12 deaths, three in terminal condition, 5 new arrivals (plus 20 or so Faders), one boxed, and one banishment since the launch.
Soundtrack
[edit]For all of "Remain in Light":
- "A Dazzling End" from the Doctor Who [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Doctor Who: Series 4 (soundtrack)|{{#if:Series 4 soundtrack|Series 4 soundtrack|Doctor Who: Series 4 (soundtrack)}}]], by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Murray Gold|{{#if:||Murray Gold}}]]
- "The Universal" by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Blur (band)|{{#if:Blur|Blur|Blur (band)}}]]
Foreign localization
[edit]Japanese
- Title: "Hikari no Naka ni Tamarite 3: Kiriwake Rareshi Jiga" (光の中に溜まりて3 切り分けられし自我, "Gather in Light 3: Cut-up Self")
Swedish
- Title: "Stanna i ljuset 3 av 5: Personlighetsklyvning" ("Stay in the Light 3 of 5: Split Personality")
- This version of the story retains the erroneus mention of Impactor as a Point One Percenter.
Covers (3)
[edit]- Cover A: Star Saber, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
- Cover B: Cyclonus and Whirl, ready for action with some scavenged swords, by Sean Chen and Tom Chu. Similar to his cover last time, Chen has drawn Cyclonus with heavy reference to a toy, rather than his in-comic appearance: in this case, his Universe figure.
- Cover RI: Ultra Magnus's empty helmet, by Nick Roche and Priscilla Tramontano
-
Unhinged Samurai. -
Ready to carve some sushi? -
Looks so lonely.
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[edit]- Robots in Disguise #19
- Regeneration One #93
- KISS Kids
- My Little Pony: The Magic Begins (back cover)
Reprints
[edit]- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 5 (November 13, 2013) ISBN 1613778023 / ISBN 978-1613778029
- Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #17–22.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, and the prose story "The Sound of Breaking Glass".
- Trade paperback format.
- Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Box Set (December 2, 2015) ISBN 1631404741 / ISBN 978-1631404740
- Collects More Than Meets the Eye volumes 1–5.
- Bonus material unknown at this time.
- The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 5 (February 22, 2017) ISBN 1631408445 / ISBN 978-1631408441
- Collects Primacy issues #1–4, Robots in Disguise issues #19–20 & #21–22, and More than Meets the Eye issues #17–21, #22 & "The Sound of Breaking Glass".
- Hardcover format.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 57: Remain in Light (August 21, 2019)
- Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #14–21, and "Signal to Noise" & "The Sound of Breaking Glass".
- Bonus material includes a cover gallery and a forward by Simon Furman.
- Hardcover format.
- Transformers: Krig och hågkomst (July, 2021)
- Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #14–22, a special illustrated version of "The Sound of Breaking Glass", and Spotlight: Orion Pax.
- Swedish reprint. Hardcover format.
-
More Than Meets the Eye Volume 5 – cover art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez -
More Than Meets the Eye Box Set – cover art by Marcelo Matere -
The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 5 – cover art by Marcelo Matere and Tom B. Long -
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 57: Remain in Light – cover art by Don Figueroa (Skids) and Alex Milne (Overlord) -
Krig och hågkomst – cover art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
