The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named
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|colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center" | "The Falling
Interlude:
The First Who Was Named" {{#if: |
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|}{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}
The secret history of "Onyx Prime" is revealed.
Synopsis
[edit]The wounded and chained Optimus Prime is brought aboard Nemesis, flagship of Onyx Prime... or rather, the flagship of Shockwave, who now stands revealed as the true face beneath Onyx's armor. Surrounded by Shockwave's beast legions and Liege Maximo, Optimus demands to know how the 'bot he once thought of as his friend has returned from the dead. Shockwave is only too happy to tell the story...
In his last confrontation with Optimus Prime, in what had seemed to be the final moments of his life, the emotions that had been reawakened in Shockwave—long lost thanks to the shadowplay perpetrated upon him by Senator Proteus millions of years prior—led him to an epiphany: ambition directed only by cold logic has limitations. Shockwave believed his moment of clarity had come too late, as he was then consumed by the singularity created by the collapse of his chronal drive... but rather than die, he found himself flung twelve million years through time, into Cybertron's prehistoric past. Wandering the wilderness for years, he eventually stumbled upon a small nomadic tribe of mostly animal Transformers, led by a shepherd named Onyx. His knowledge of history immediately allowing him to realize who and what he was seeing, Shockwave killed Onyx on the spot. The animals scattered, but one non-bestial 'bot did not: this bold one, Shockwave named "Megatronus".
Taking Onyx's identity as his own, fashioning an armor from the shepherd's remains that disguised his true face, Shockwave became Onyx Prime, gathering the scattered animals and building them into warriors. No longer did Shockwave have to rely on either logic or emotion to guide his actions; everything he did, he did because the history he had spent his life studying told him he had already done it. He unleashed Megatronus on the planet, sending him to carve his way through the scattered tribes, positioning him as a threat that would convince the other Primes and their tribes to come together and build Cybertronian civilization. Shockwave's foreknowledge meant that he knew the civilization they would build was doomed, but as a scientist, he could use it as a "test model" in hopes of discerning why Cybertronians always inevitably seem to fall to war with one another.
Continuing to ensure that history unfolded as recorded, Shockwave urged Prima to begin a plan of expansion, spreading the "enlightenment" of Cybertron to other worlds. Accompanied by Omega Supreme and his Omega Sentinels, "Onyx" and Megatronus set forth on the first expedition to leave Cybertron since the Knights of Cybertron, with Alpha Trion at their side to record their deeds. They were met with resistance by the inhabitants of the first planet they landed upon, and conflict resulted; thus did the rest of the universe learn of, and learn to fear, Cybertron.
Prima blamed Megatronus for the mission's failure, and Liege Maximo—acting on Shockwave's instructions—stoked Megatronus's resentment, leading him to turn on Prima. Solus Prime came to Prima's rescue, but was slain by Megatronus in the process, impaled on the very Star Saber sword she had created. Megatronus fled into space, but Liege Maximo was captured by his fellow Primes and—at Shockwave's suggestion—imprisoned within his Titan, Vigilem, and exiled from the planet. Prima and "Onyx" then set off aboard Prima's Titan Emissary to hunt down Megatronus, locating him on the planet Tsiehshi. History would claim that Prima and Megatronus slew one another in a final battle... but this was merely the story that Shockwave told Alpha Trion upon his return. In truth, Megatronus killed Prima, and was then slain in turn by Shockwave, his usefulness to the once and future Decepticon at an end. Emissary took Prima's body to the stars, but Shockwave ensured that he would crash on some far-off world. Thus did the age of Primes end...
...and thus does Shockwave's story come to a close, but he explains that there is yet more for Optimus Prime to learn. A darkness has descended upon Cybertron, Shockwave warns, "a darkness that fuels the future", that all his millions of years of "test modelling" and preparation have paved the way for. There is a role Optimus Prime must play in this plan... but first, Optimus must share in Shockwave's insight. The Nemesis comes to a halt above the ruins of Crystal City, and Shockwave hurls Optimus from the ship, sending him plunging into the miniature singularity below on his own journey of enlightenment...
Featured characters
[edit]Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}
- Windblade (4)
- Orion Pax / Optimus Prime (12)|
Autobots }}{{#if:* Needlenose (5)
|
Decepticons }}{{#if:* Ramulus (11) | Maximals }}{{#if:{|border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent" |
|---|---|---|
|
|
!! style="background:#ffeeb8;" | Others }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#d5e6d5;" | Misc }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#fedeb5;" | Misc }} |- {{#if:* Metrotitan (2)
- Windblade (4)
- Orion Pax / Optimus Prime (12)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
- Metrotitan (2)
- Windblade (4)
- Orion Pax / Optimus Prime (12) }}{{#if:* Needlenose (5)
- Soundwave (6)|
| style="background:#ededff;" valign="top" |
- Needlenose (5)
- Soundwave (6) }}{{#if:* Ramulus (11)
- Iguanus (13)
- Snarl (14)|
| style="background:#fbefde;" valign="top" |
- Ramulus (11)
- Iguanus (13)
- Snarl (14) }}{{#if:{|border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
|- |style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"|
- Nemesis (1)
- Mistress of Flame (3)
- Starscream (7)
- Devastator (8)
- Liege Maximo (9)
- Shockwave / "Onyx Prime" (10)
- Megatronus (15)
- Onyx (16)
- Galvatron (17)
- Arcee (18)
- Alchemist Prime (19)
- Solus Prime (20)
|style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"|
- Nexus Prime (21)
- Vector Prime (22)
- Alpha Trion (23)
- The Arisen (24)
- Micronus Prime (25)
- Prima (26)
- Quintus Prime (27)
- Amalgamous Prime (28)
- Omega Sentinels (29)
- Omega Supreme (30)
- Emissary (31)
|}| | style="background:#ffeeb8;" valign="top" |
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| style="background:#d5e6d5;" valign="top" |
}}{{#if:|
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Quotes
[edit]"...twelve million years ago. Well. That should prove sufficient time to plan."
- —Shockwave arrives in the past.
"At the center of everything lies an infinite darkness. When I was young, I fought this. But then, Orion... I realized I must become it."
- —Shockwave
"The fire of progress should light the way, Megatronus... not incinerate."
- —Solus Prime
"Master... I did everything you asked. I followed your guidance, for all these eons... and this is my reward?"
"You were never more than a means to an end. And as for your reward... Cybertron shall remember your name. After a fashion."
- —Megatronus is killed by Shockwave
"You're wrong, Shockwave. It's not darkness that fuels us. It's hope. That's what Solus' sword—and the Matrix held within its hilt—represents."
"Then I hope you have an illuminating voyage, Orion. As I said, I do see myself in you... and I think you would agree... one of me is more than enough."
- —Optimus Prime is thrown into the singularity by Shockwave
Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]Shockwave Did It
[edit]With the revelation that Shockwave is Onyx Prime, the events of many past issues and story points take on new meaning.
- Soundwave's inability to read Onyx's mind in issue #16 now makes sense; as seen in Robots in Disguise #22, the shadowplay Shockwave was subjected to prevents Soundwave from sensing his thoughts. Did Shockwave do something similar to Liege Maximo, whose mind Soundwave also could not read?
- In the IDW continuity, Megatronus's name was unknown to Cybertronians until very recently, so it was not possible for Megatron to have named himself after the fallen Prime, as he did in the Aligned continuity family. Thus the similarity of their names, first commented on in Robots in Disguise #34, was a dangling mystery, explained this issue by having Shockwave be the one who gave Megatronus his name. Megatronus referred to himself by the title of this issue, "the first who was named", back in issue #10.
- Speaking of issue #10, we see its events from Shockwave's perspective. It is not specifically detailed here, but the stories we saw him spin in that issue—from the "Dark Cybertron" prophecy (which included an image of his own face!), to Starscream's anointment as the "Chosen One," to the creation of the Autobot insignia—all now stand revealed as ontological paradoxes that Shockwave deliberately used his knowledge of the future to put in place. It's hard to process just how many aspects of Cybertronian history like this from throughout IDW's comics may be the work of Shockwave, setting things up for his future self and/or lying to Alpha Trion about things so that history would record them differently to how they actually happened.
- Shockwave compares his use of the Primes' civilization as a test model to the time he conducted similar tests with a shipful of Transformers with beast modes, reprogramming them to think they were the classic Generation 1 cast, as seen in Revolutionaries #5 (reinterpreting the events of Hearts of Steel). Of course, now we know that that very ship was sent by Shockwave's own future self, during his Onyx years... which means he probably chose that ship's crew specifically because they all looked like his Great War contemporaries!
- On that note, Shockwave was seen in Revolutionaries #5 commanding the Predacon starship from Beast Wars, and in issue #14, several Maximals were using the same vessel. Evidently, Shockwave retrieved the ship at some point.
- In Revolutionaries #3, hieroglyphs of Shockwave's face appeared within the Tomb of Amtoltec, which housed the mysterious Talisman — an artifact closely associated with "Onyx Prime".
- Back in Robots in Disguise #34, it was observed that the planets Shockwave had chosen for his Regenesis ores to grow upon were the worlds to which the surviving Thirteen had gone. That was always hazy (since many of them were dead or spaceborne) and how Shockwave could have had that knowledge was always questionable, but this issue indicates that the young Shockwave did not know this about those planets when he chose them, and that his future self, as Onyx, specifically orchestrated it so that the worlds he simply happened to choose became the resting places of the Thirteen. Specifically, this issue shows Megatronus dying on Tsiehshi (the world where Ore-8 grew, introduced in Spotlight: Kup and named as a Regenesis world in Robots in Disguise #17), and Prima's remains ending up on another world (see below for more on this one). Fans questioned how there could be a planet for Alpha Trion when he did not die or leave Cybertron; this issue also resolves that quandary by revealing that Onyx dedicated the first world the Primes made contact with on their expansion mission to Trion.
- Lastly, we'll note that, back in issue #14, Bludgeon spoke of the coming of a mysterious "master." Onyx seemed like a good candidate at the time... but who could have guessed he was really talking about the guy we already knew was his master, since he's been serving Shockwave for years?! The timeline's still kinda wonky on that, actually... what're the odds that's the next big continuity fix?
Other continuity notes
[edit]- Shockwave's description of Starscream – "Your adversary rises." – is strikingly similar to a line from the version of the Dark Cybertron prophecy heard in The Transformers #50: "Thus shall the adversary arise."
- In recounting his past, Shockwave recalls his rebuilding of Orion Pax to add a Matrix chamber to his chest in The Transformers vol. 1 #23, his subjection to shadowplay by Senator Proteus in More than Meets the Eye #11, and his apparent death in a singularity of his own making in Dark Cybertron Finale.
- The animal Transformers that make up Onyx's flock consist of the same collection of generics seen in his service in past issues.
- Shockwave mentions an event from ancient Cybertronian history known as the "War of the Headmasters." Ancient Headmasters were introduced in Heart of Darkness #3; they were a continuity error at the time, but that situation was rectified when their story was revisited and expanded on in Robots in Disguise #34. The way Shockwave talks in this issue, though, it sounds as if the war in question is a different conflict that took place prior to the one seen in Robots in Disguise #34.
- Note the single figure hidden in shadow among the Primes on page 10; this is The Arisen, the mysterious Thirteenth Prime, who many believe is somehow Optimus Prime. This is his first tangible on-panel appearance (having otherwise only appeared in a painterly "fantasy sequence" in Till All Are One #9), which confirms he definitely was a real guy. How he and Optimus are connected... well, we suspect we'll learn that very soon.
- The Camien belief that the Matrix of Leadership was once the crystal on the hilt of Prima's Star Saber (a notion taken from wider Transformers media, but first expressed in this continuity in Windblade vol. 2 #1) is revealed to be true.
- The concept of Omega Supreme as leader of the Omega Sentinels originates with other Transformers media (see "Transformers references," below) but was first established in IDW continuity in the 2012 Robots in Disguise annual.
- Solus speaks of the "fire of progress lighting the way" (quoted above), which is a fitting sentiment from the 'bot who would inspire the Camien religion the Way of Flame, which espouses similar beliefs.
- The basics of the story of Megatronus and Liege's betrayal, and Solus's death at Megatronus's hands, were previously laid out in Till All Are One #9. Art in that issue, reinterpreting an illustration from The Covenant of Primus, indicated Megatronus had shot Solus (as in the Aligned continuity family), but this issue reveals he actually stabbed her with the Star Saber.
- The story of Liege Maximo's imprisonment within Vigilem and exile from Cybertron was told in Till All Are One #8 and #9. In particular, Shockwave mentions Vigilem undergoing "a process not unlike shadowplay"; in Till All Are One #8, Metroplex mentions "taking Vigilem's mind from him".
- The world on which Prima's remains wind up is not named in dialogue, but there are some clues that allow us to identify it as Elonia, home of Rom the Space Knight. Rom's armor has been strongly suggested to be made from one of Shockwave's ores in multiple previous stories, and the single panel that shows the planet shows a blue-skinned native; many Elonians have blue-grey skin. Additionally, this native is carrying a slain animal across his back, porcine in appearance with purple fur and four green eyes. A plush toy based on this animal was owned by Stardrive in her youth on Elonia, as seen in Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #1.
Transformers references
[edit]- At least two new beast Transformers appear among Shockwave/Onyx's shadowed legions on page 2 of this issue: Iguanus, in his Transmetal 2 form and Beast Machines Snarl.
- The idea of Omega Supreme as a member of a group of mass-produced sentinel robot originates with the Generation 1 cartoon episode "The Secret of Omega Supreme," though the robots were known only as "guardian robots" in the series. Dreamwave Productions gave them the name "Omega Sentinels"; the red, grey, and blue color scheme they sport in this issue is based on their appearance in Dreamwave's comics, which was in turn inspired by the colors of the guardian robots' predecessors, the Dark Guardians, from the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Forever Is a Long Time Coming."
- The name of Prima's Titan, Emissary, is one used by other characters connected with past incarnations of Fortress Maximus, who isn't a Titan himself in IDW continuity, but is in others. It originated as the name of the mid-stage head module of Robots in Disguise Fortress Maximus, and was later re-used as the name of Titans Return Fortress Maximus's small stage Titan Master.
Other trivia
[edit]- This issue was originally intended to come out in the final week of April 2018, one week after the delayed issue #17. However, a scheduling error caused it to be released digitally on the same week as #17, and copies to be shipped out to some stores. Any preview pages from this issue would have spoiled the shock ending of issue #17, but despite a preview being released (linked below) the day before release, Transformers news sites stood in solidarity and did not report on it, keeping the spoiler under wraps as best as could be accomplished.
- So...we see that the real Onyx was quadrupedal just like he's always been portrayed in the metafiction...so the Onyx Prime we've seen only walking around on his hind legs...is because he's really the bipedal Shockwave...
- John Barber, man.
Soundtrack
[edit]- "Blackstar" by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}David Bowie|{{#if:||David Bowie}}]] (Natch.)<ref>{{#if: (Spoiler-free) OPTIMUS PRIME #18 playlist, part 1: Blackstar—David Bowie https://t.co/0ezBMBikOS |"(Spoiler-free) OPTIMUS PRIME #18 playlist, part 1: Blackstar—David Bowie https://t.co/0ezBMBikOS"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096 |John Barber|John Barber}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2018 |, 2018{{#if: 04 |/{{#switch:{{#len:04}}|1=004|04}}{{#if: 17|/{{#switch:{{#len:17}}|1=017|17}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376513288196096%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref>
- "Killing Game" by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Skinny Puppy|{{#if:||Skinny Puppy}}]]<ref>{{#if: OPTIMUS PRIME #18 playlist, part 2: Killing Game—Skinny Puppy https://t.co/Fs9WibXmqM |"OPTIMUS PRIME #18 playlist, part 2: Killing Game—Skinny Puppy https://t.co/Fs9WibXmqM"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608 |John Barber|John Barber}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2018 |, 2018{{#if: 04 |/{{#switch:{{#len:04}}|1=004|04}}{{#if: 17|/{{#switch:{{#len:17}}|1=017|17}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/986376678095044608%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref>
Covers (3)
[edit]- Cover A: Solus Prime, by Kei Zama and Josh Burcham
- Cover B: Megatronus and "Onyx," by Livio Ramondelli
- Retailer incentive cover: Black and white lineart version of Cover A
-
"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning..." -
"Onyx, you really need a manicure." -
RI cover
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[edit]- Optimus Prime #19
- Redemption of the Dinobots TPB
- Dungeons & Dragons: Evil at Baldur's Gate
- The X-Files: Case Files
- IDW Star Trek: Discovery comic
- CGC Comics
- IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #1-4
Reprints
[edit]- Optimus Prime Volume 4 (November 21, 2018) ISBN 1684053633 / ISBN 978-1684053636
- Collects Optimus Prime issues #15–21.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers.
- Trade paperback format.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 85: The Falling Part 2 (June 3, 2020)
- Collects Optimus Prime issues #18–24.
- Bonus material includes a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
- Hardcover format.
- Transformers: Best of Shockwave (November 9, 2022)
- Collects Spotlight: Shockwave, The Transformers (1984) #5: "The New Order", Robots in Disguise #17: "Shockwaves", Optimus Prime #18: "The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named", and The Transformers (1984) #225: "Aspects of Evil!" & #277: "Internal Affairs!".
- Bonus material includes an art gallery.
- One-shot format.
-
Volume 4 – cover art by Marcelo Matere -
-
Best of Shockwave – cover art by James Biggie
