Titan Magazines movie timeline
Back in the 1980s, an American Transformers comic and a UK one were able to simultaneously co-exist, the latter weaving around the continuity of the former to create a larger, richer tapestry that essentially remained one singular universe. In the 21st century, Titan sought to continue this dream with their movie-based Transformers comic, but after managing only a few issues that wove themselves around what IDW Publishing was doing with their own titles, lack of room to manoeuvre and a general absence of knowledge about what would be coming next for the movie universe made it apparent that in the long-term, this was an unworkable goal.
To compensate for this hurdle, Titan took a surprising approach: for the remainder of its first volume, the comic would be set in an alternate universe, one where Megatron had won the battle of Mission City, claimed the AllSpark, and dominated the Earth. This freed up the creators to do whatever they wished with the movie characters, and allowed them to incorporate other toy-only characters without fear of disrupting the continuity.
The alternate universe story was brought to a close so that the comic could be rebooted for a second volume, which would tie in with the imminent Revenge of the Fallen. Now realizing the impossibility of a successful interwoven story with IDW's material, Titan essentially said "Sod it," and produced their own prequel to the film, centering on Skids and Mudflap. The original material continued after this story, with new stories set after the second film that firmly established themselves as separate timeline from the "American" one.
The timelines of both these takes on the movie universe are featured in this article. The divergences only settle in 2007, following the events of the Transformers movie, so that is where each timeline begins; for a full coverage of the history of the movie universe prior to this point, see the "mainstream" movie timeline.
Main timeline
[edit]Pre-19th century
[edit]Primus was the first Cybertronian and he begat the Dynasty of Primes, who ruled Cybertron and protected the AllSpark thousands of years ago. (The later Primes, for their part, didn't believe Primus had spawned them) It was a time when warriors stood by a code of honour. But during the rule of seven Primes, one of their number, Megatronus, betrayed the other six in his lust to harvest Earth's sun! He imprisoned them (except when he killed them), but they sacrificed themselves to keep the Creation Matrix from him and imprison him on one of Saturn's moons. His acolytes, the Seekers, remained on Earth and searched for the lost Tomb of the Primes so they could help their master when he returned. Jetfire was the lone Autobot there, switching sides in horror at "the Fallen's" actions. The Seekers continued to search, dwindling in number over the years: Ransack and Jetfire were the longest holdouts. Sentinel Prime profile Jetfire Profile The Fallen Profile
A Prime on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime, ruled the Autobots after the Fallen's betrayal and would continue to do so throughout the pre-war period. Sentinel Prime Profile While he was leader, during the Golden Age it would be Optimus Prime and Megatron, working together as civilian leader and Lord High Protector, who'd do most of the work of running things.Movie Prequel issue 1<ref>Titan's Sentinel profile says he didn't name Optimus Prime his successor until the Ark left and was shot down. Since Optimus was clearly running things long before then, we have to assume Optimus was a de facto leader before he became the nominal one.</ref> Civilian politics were strong and stable, with Ratchet being a noted player who would become Optimus' chief liaison to the High Council of Ancients legislative body. Ratchet Profile
But even back then Megatron was scheming to take power of Cybertron and worlds beyond. He believed the Transformers could gain ultimate power via the All Spark, power to reshape their alternate modes into anything they imagined. Breaking all Cybertronian laws, he made direct contact with the All Spark to test his theory and found himself with a mighty new alternate mode. Megatron V. Optimus PrimeMegatron Profile War was declared and Megatron's army of Decepticons swept the planet. Optimus reluctantly studied the entire history of intergalactic warfare from any datatrack he could find, ensuring he could match Megatron with high strategic knowledge. Megatron V. Optimus Prime Frenzy played a vital role in the early stages of the Decepticon campaign, amassing data behind enemy lines and hacking Autobot Command Hub transmissions. Frenzy Profile Ratchet tried to negotiate a peace and was almost murdered by Megatron in the process, and so he became a battlefield medic as a better way of frustrating the monster's murderous agenda. Ratchet Profile
Numerous battles raged across Cybertron. Arcee, a freelance guerrilla, would be captured by Decepticon agents and was rescued by Kup. Arcee Profile Starscream would rise to the top of the Decepticons by stepping on the rest of them, with a habit of doing a splashy attack at the end of a battle so he could steal the credit (as he did when Barricade had done all the hard work of breaking the defences at the Autobot stronghold Ky-Alexia). Starscream Profile Scorponok became a scourge of the battlefield, hiding after the other Decepticons had left so he could murder any Autobot stragglers. Scorponok Profile Bonecrusher and Jazz did so well they were both promoted, to senior battlefield tactician and First Lieutenant respectively. This raised a few optics among the Autobots but in Bonecrusher's case, his new job bored him so much (rearguard commanders don't get to hit things!) that he'd go bugnuts in any fight he actually got to have.Jazz Profile Bonecrusher Profile Longview did not do well and needed rescuing from a Decepticon camp. Lost in Space 3
A new generation of robots, such as Sideswipe, would grow up perfectly designed for warfare and knowing nothing but. Sideswipe profile Ironhide, among his other duties, would train up Autobot recruits with on-the-job experience: future heavyweights like Skyblast and Strongarm trained under him. By this point, the Decepticons had overstretched themselves and had automated many of their outposts, so they could be staffed by just one Decepticon. Lost in Space 3
Resolving to keep the power of the captive AllSpark out of Megatron's hands, Optimus Prime decided to move it around the planet and, when this proved to be not enough, to launch it into deep space. While Arcee unwittingly provided a diversion, conning the 'Cons into thinking the AllSpark was at Tyger Pax (only Bumblebee knew the truth), Prime had it fired into space by Arctus... only too late having a vision that this would bring the war to other planets. While interrogating Bumblebee, Megatron observes the relic and realised he'd been tricked. Megatron immediately pursues it into space but is delayed by an Autobot tractor beam before he can stop it from plunging into the Alkaris Anomaly. In response, he has the overzealous Devastator Brawl detonate a foldspace warhead that warps himself, Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz to the four corners of the universe. What goes around comes around though: Megatron tracked the AllSpark all the way to Earth and was so obsessed that he let all his power be drained entering atmosphere, leaving himself to collapse and freeze in the Arctic. Prequel: Optimus Prime Movie Prequel issue 1 Prequel: Megatron Movie Prequel issue 2 En route to Earth, Megatron had found and released the Fallen from his prison around Saturn. Fallen Profile<ref>The profiles and Smackdown feature do state explicitly that Megatron was plotting all along and the Fallen's profile explicitly says Megatron met him at Saturn, where Megatron would not be until late in. So in this timeline, the Fallen just wasn't that influential!</ref>
While lost in space, Ratchet helps quell an alien civil war, Lost in Space 1 Brawl defeats psychic apparitions of his worst fears, Lost in Space 2 and Ironhide encounters digital "ghosts" on a derelict ship with some kind of ancient connection to the AllSpark Lost in Space 3. Jazz found a planet of pure information and was strongly tempted to abandoning the war but the planet turned out to be a predatory organism; he was almost devoured until Ratchet and Ironhide came to save him. All of them returned to Lost in Space 4 where Ratchet found and repaired Bumblebee, all but his voicebox.Movie Prequel issue 1
With the war going badly, Sentinel Prime left Cybertron for deep space on board the first Ark, taking a secret weapon with him. He officially named Optimus his successor, but Decepticon fire blasted the Ark out of the skies and it was presumed destroyed. Sentinel Prime Profile
In one battle, Crosshairs led a small group of Autobots. He was the only one of them to survive a turbofox attack, having been scouting ahead at the time, and was gripped by fear of the creatures and survivor's guilt for years. Creature of Chaos
1897 to 2007
[edit]
Back on Earth, Captain Archibald Witwicky of the National Arctic Circle Expedition discovered Megatron's inert body and was driven blind and insane by the contact. His last three months of sight are spent drawing Cybertronian symbols and he was confined to a 'secure hospital' (cough) in Boston. A new agency called Sector 7, who have already investigated some other paranormal activity from their Boston house,<ref>It's strongly implied in the Movie Prequel comics that this is Sector 7 in 1898, meaning they pre-exist the discovery of Megatron. For Titan continuity, the "Story So Far" in Titan's #7 says Witwicky's discovery "falls into the hands of a new ultra-secret agency"</ref> covered it up and went to the Arctic to start digging up the "Mega-Man". In 1902, under cover of Roosevelt's Newlands Reclamation Act, they dig around the Colorado River and locate the lost AllSpark. Movie Prequel issue 2 Sector 7 finally moved Megatron to the new Hoover Dam in 1935.Movie Prequel issue 3
When World War I broke out, Ransack took the form of a German biplane.Dogfight! (The USS Cyclops went missing in the same war, around the dreaded Bermuda Triangle...) Making Waves
The Autobot-Decepticon war rages on but none are aware that the Ark had survived and drift through space. It finally crashed on Earth's moon in 1962;<ref>In the films it was in 1961 but the comics point to 1962</ref> a fragment landed in Fiesole, Italy, and was buried in the local cathedral by an English priest who feared the object was supernatural and could cause a religious backlash. Fight for Fiesole This helped fire up the space race Dark of the Moon which was won by America because they could nick technology from Megatron. Movie Prequel issue 3
In 1998, a weary Jetfire took advantage of the SR-71 spyplane being decommissioned to get into a museum and take a long sleep. Jetfire Profile Ransack remained active but all other Seekers had gone dormant long ago (all without Sector 7 ever noticing them!). Learning Curve
Bumblebee, tracking the AllSpark in 2003, took a pitstop on Mars and was detected by Sector 7 (hijacking the Hubble Space Telescope). They tracked his planetfall in Virginia but, taking Chevy Camero form, he evaded them. Agent Simmons planned to draw him into an ambush with an artificial AllSpark isotope but Sector 7 were so focused on the Autobot, they didn't notice a Decepticon team of Starscream, Barricade, and Blackout also entering the solar system! Starscream was after the AllSpark (conning the others to think they wanted Megatron too) and the 'Cons found the fake isotope first, slaughtering Sector agents before getting bored and deciding to let Bumblebee do the heavy lifting while Barricade monitored him. Meanwhile, a young Sam Witwicky inherited his grandfather's old junk and didn't care much, not knowing they had the path to the AllSpark engraved in the lenses. Movie Prequel issue 3 Movie Prequel issue 4
In 2004, the United States of America elected/re-elected a President with Theodore Allen as his vice-president. Aftermath Parts 1
Warfare continued on the dying Cybertron up until 2007 at the latest.<ref>Dated "Five Years Earlier" than a scene set right after the third movie, which occurs at least three years after the second - see below.</ref> During one battle, Decepticons Drift and his friend Knucklehead violently stopped Lockdown from killing prisoners. Lockdown vowed revenge, though with Megatron in charge he could never carry it out. (The Megatron who was frozen yes I know) Soon after, Drift would defect to the Autobots. Adrift in Time and Space
On Earth, a rattled Sector 7 created a self-invigorating nano-virus designed to block all the AllSpark frequences in case the cube was used against them. Twilight's Last Gleaming Part 5
2007
[edit]
Then a lot of stuff happens! P.S., Jazz, Blackout, Brawl, Bonecrusher, and Frenzy (and maybe Barricade) are killed. Transformers
In the minutes that follow Megatron's death at the conclusion of the battle of Mission City Los Angeles a city,<ref>The issue said "Los Angeles", based on an earlier draft, but editorial material in the comic would later say "Mission City".</ref> Starscream immediately sets about cementing his position as new Decepticon leader by destroying the lingering AllSpark Mutations and harvesting the animating AllSpark energies from their bodies. Using these energy fragments, Starscream reanimates the bodies of Barricade, Blackout and Brawl as zombies and sends them to attack the Autobots. They initially prove unstoppable, but when Ratchet deduces that they are being animated by AllSpark energy, the Autobots are able to target the cube's energy signature and take them out. Starscream escapes. Starscream's Milita
Later, continuing the Decepticon clean-up operation, Ironhide is teamed with a squad of Army Rangers to hunt down Scorponok, still hiding in the Qatari desert. Ambushed by the arachnoid Decepticon, Ironhide's motor functions are overridden by Scorponok and he is forced to attack his allies until they can shoot Scorponok off him, allowing Ironhide to finish him off. Scorpion Sting<ref>Yep, Scorponok was explicitly blow to bits! Since he returns in Revenge of the Fallen, we have to assume he either got rebuilt or he has a twin brother, like Devastator and Brawl.</ref>
Meanwhile, Cybertron has finally been abandoned. The Autobot twins Skids and Mudflap are the only Transformers to remain on the planet. Training Day
At some point around all this, the Fallen had made contact with the Decepticons and taken control of them. Transformers Comic issue 2.1<ref>The complete absence of the Fallen until issue 2.1 implies nobody at Titan knew he was showing up that the Decepticons only met him in the 2000s, when they entered Earth's solar system like Megatron. Logically it's around 2007, as Starscream goes from assuming he now runs the show in "Starscream's Militia" to following orders in "Training Day".</ref>
2007 to 2009
[edit]Starscream comes under the command of The Fallen, and returns to the dead Cybertron to assemble an army that will scour Earth for the Matrix of Leadership. Training Day Soundwave, meanwhile, establishes a staging base on Phobos, a moon of Mars, from which the army shall carry out its attack on Earth. The pair apparently get the notion to take the power of the Matrix for themselves, cutting the Fallen out of the deal. Back-to-Back
In response to the message Optimus Prime sent into space, Arcee and Sideswipe arrive on Earth and join up with the new joint Transformer-human organization being established on the planet, NEST. New TricksReversal of Fortune Skids and Mudflap also receive the message, but blow it off, electing to remain on the deserted Cybertron where they can have fun. Their minds are changed for them when they stumble across Starscream and his army and overhear talk of the Star Harvester, and they decided to head for Earth to pass the information along. Training Day Starscream's troops fail to prevent their escape to Earth, so The Fallen has Soundwave call upon one of his Seekers, Ransack, to intercept them and prevent them from making contact with the other Earthbound Autobots. Bumblebee saves the Twins from Ransack. Dogfight! The Twins refuse to give their intel to anyone other than Optimus Prime, but he is away on an extended mission in Australia with Arcee, hunting the Decepticon Sideways.
Reversal of Fortune The other Autobots are not convinced by the Twins' claims, prompting the two young 'bots to defy orders and tag along on a NEST mission to Las Vegas in order to prove themselves. Unfortunately, their interference allows Grindor to escape with the memory core of a deactivated Seeker. Learning Curve Ravage is dispatched by Soundwave to learn what the Twins have done with their information. The ferrous feline knocks out their training instructor Sideswipe to get to them, but the Twins are able to use a training simulator to take him down. Unfortunately, Ravage escapes, and Sideswipe believes that the Twins were responsible for everything, causing the Autobots to further distrust them. New Tricks
The Twins' reputation steadily worsens when Optimus and Arcee return with the captive Sideways. A resurrected (new?) Scorponok somehow bypasses all of NEST's security to break Sideways out, and the Twins' bumbling accidentally allows both Decepticons to escape. Believing this deliberate and that the bumblers had helped Scorponok through security, the Autobots take them into custody and prepare to exile them from the planet. Reversal of Fortune Having observed the Twins' series of unfortunate events, Soundwave exploits it for his own ends by sending Wheelie in to "rescue" the pair from the Autobots. Now on the run from their own faction, the Twins are approached by Soundwave, who offers them a place in the Decepticon ranks. Outlaw Blues They pretend to accept in hopes of gaining more concrete proof of the villains' plans, unaware that Soundwave intends to use them as bait to flush out Ransack, who knows the location of the Matrix but is refusing to answer to anyone other than The Fallen directly. Turnabout They succeed in bringing Ransack to the Decepticon's Phobos base, but as Soundwave and Starscream attempt to force the information from him, the Twins make their play, allowing Ransack to escape, threatening to tell the Fallen of Soundwave and Starscream's conspiracy (he is quite likely murdered before he can talk). The Decepticon army from Cybertron arrives and Skids and Mudflap fear they are done for... until Optimus Prime and the Autobots arrive to save them, convinced of their good intentions at last. Welcomed into the ranks of NEST, the Twins decide to keep that "Fallen" stuff to themselves. Back-to-Back
Thanks for that, guys. P.P.S. Grindor, Ravage, Devastator, Sideways, Jetfire, and even the Fallen himself are killed. Revenge of the Fallen And perhaps Ransack did as well. Revenge of the Fallen novel
2009 to 2010
[edit]
Following the defeat of The Fallen in Egypt, the Decepticon faction is once again left in disarray despite the resurrection of Megatron, with many warriors carrying out their own agendas. More and more Autobots continue to arrive on Earth, and although they are put through their paces by NEST and veteran combat officer Springer, Rules of Engagement a lot of them remain reckless and impetuous: not least of all Jolt, who blacks out all of Las Vegas apprehending Bludgeon. Culture Shock He, Rollbar, and Dune Runner are placed in a training unit and put through their paces to become a proper team. Spare Parts!
Skywarp recovers the remains of Devastator and attempts to rebuild him in the mountains of British Columbia, but the plan is foiled when it is inadvertently discovered by the Autobot Stratosphere. Head in the Clouds
Other assorted Decepticons—including Reverb, Tankor, Brakedown, Dirge, Lockdown (temporarily in a new form), and the dreaded Hoist (what, what?!)—arrive on Earth but are ignored by Megatron and are swiftly rounded by the Autobots as well. Culture Shock Spare Parts! Rules of Engagement Inside Out!
However, the fractured Decepticons are not all the Autobots have to worry about: human enemies also spring up in the form of groups like the Free Men militia, Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime and although Megatron himself remains behind the scenes, he begins experimenting on the protoforms from the Nemesis, creating the monstrous Dead End. It's Rollbar that shows true Autobot spirit when his team take Dead End down and instead of killing him, he has them take the Decepticon to Ratchet to be cured. Spare Parts!
Now aware the Transformers exist, the human race slowly gets used to the fact. Theodore Galloway, on the other hand, continues to try and shut down NEST out of sheer pettiness, though this seems to fizzle out. Culture Shock
2010
[edit]
Concurrently with the World Cup final in Bloenfontein, South Africa, Bludgeon stages an escape from NEST's local holding facility with the aid of the smuggled-in Scalpel: he had, in fact, been deliberately arrested so he'd be able to stage a jail break. The numerous Decepticons that he frees fall into line behind him as a splinter faction of Decepticons under his command. Inside Out!
Decepticons like Reverb prove dissatisfied with Bludgeon's leadership, prompting the attempted recruitment of those Autobots with more violent tendencies, such as Blazemaster, to thankfully no success. Turn and Burn The numerous acts of destruction Bludgeon's forces are able to carry out turns public opinion against the Autobots, prompting the formation of a new stealth unit-Bumblebee, Hubcap, and Slap Dash-operating below NEST's radar. They successfully take out Crankstart, Brimstone, and Trenchmouth, convincing Bludgeon to declare full-scale war. Shadow War
As all of this goes on, Soundwave and Starscream are left to investigate Earth's mysteries on their own. Soundwave stumbles into the Bermuda Triangle, Making Waves while Starscream tries looking for anything in the Amazon rainforest, and winds up being worshipped by a native tribe. The Kingdom of Starscream
The Autobots deduce the location of Bludgeon's primary command hub in Russia, but their stealthy approach is blown when Wheelie, angered that the Autobots have yet to fully accept him into their ranks, returns to his old Decepticon ways and reveals their position to Bludgeon. As the Autobots and Bludgeon clash, Wheelie then contacts Megatron himself, calling him down upon the battle so that he can put his house in order by defeating all those who would oppose him. Divided Loyalties Wheelie's dreams are realized as Megatron lays Bludgeon low and reconsolidates the Decepticons under his command, but the scrap done doesn't live long enough to enjoy it, as the marauding Dead End rips him apart for spare parts before proceeding to track down Bumblebee... A Short, Sharp Lesson!
At Christmas, Sam Witwicky allows Bumblebee to secretly observe the festivities at the family home. Dead End attacks during the night, but Bumblebee defeats him, leaving the Witwicky parents none the wiser. The Nightmare Bee-4 Christmas
2011
[edit]An archaeologist in Italy discovers a fragment of some alien artifact and calls in NEST. The Autobots are unaware of what it is but the Decepticons know: it's a fragment of Sentinel Prime's Ark and could lead the Autobots to him, a prospect that seems to terrify Starscream and Soundwave.<ref>In the film, Soundwave is on Megatron's plan to bring Sentinel back but yet here he is, trying to undermine it. This is the same Soundwave who tried to cut the Fallen out of the loop so maybe he's playing his own angle.</ref> Starscream makes a single-handed attack on Fiesole Cathedral, almost dying in a (successful) attempt to steal the fragment. Fight for Fiesole
OUR TIMELINE!
Soundwave is responsible for some minor incidents, first attempting to crash the global economy with the discovery of El Dorado Gold and Blood and then allowing NEST to track him so he could take wounded hostages and blackmail Optimus into a fight to the death. While Optimus survived, the incident caused Robert Epps to quit NEST. Dealing with the Devil
The lingering anti-Transformer sentiment would reach a head when Marcus Castor led a rally that was interrupted by a Decepticon attack. After seeing the Autobots try to save them, the protestors mobbed the Decepticons to stop them killing their enemies and Castor switched to being a pro-Autobot agitator. Automatic for the People
2012 to 2017
[edit]<ref>No date for the events of Dark of the Moon is provided in the film but as Sam has recently graduated college, it's at least three years after Revenge of the Fallen; the Dark of the Moon video game and the novelization of the film puts the movies at three years/"several years" apart respectively. That puts us at 2012.</ref>
Something happened involved Sentinel Prime and some big explosions in Chicago! He, Starscream, Soundwave, Ironhide, and a whole lotta Decepticons are killed. Dark of the Moon Knucklehead was part of the mission but once Megatron was dead, Lockdown butchered him as he'd promised five years ago. Drift built him a grave on the moon. Adrift in Time and Space In the aftermath of Chicago, the humans became frightened of all Transformers, Autobot included; it became clear the Autobots may no longer be able to work with their former allies. Thousand Island Fight There's also some crazy-bad people hunting down all Transformers. Age of Extinction
The Autobots began hunting down the last of the Decepticon forces, tracking one cell to Indonesia. Thanks to quick thinking by the newly arrived Crosshairs, an attempted Decepticon ambush became a victory when he subverted their plan. Unknown to the heroes, Lockdown was running the Decepticon resistance and had avoided being killed with the rest. Thousand Island Fight Soon after, one of KSI's early Stinger drones escaped and went on a rampage disguised as Bumblebee in order to draw the Autobot out; this meant even more humans distrusted the Autobots. Accept No Substitutes!
Lockdown left Earth to continue bounty hunting. One of his older jobs caught up with him though: Sojex, member of a crime family he'd nabbed the leader of, let herself be captured so she could wipe him out. He managed to survive. He then travelled back to Earth, having a new job offer from the Creators. Locked In! His calling card was to release one of his turbofox's on the planet. Optimus Prime and Crosshairs took it down: Crosshairs able to face his fear of the creatures through the wonders of violence. Creature of Chaos
Five years after the Battle of Chicago, another apocalyptic Transformer battle happened but this time in China! Both Lockdown and Stinger are killed. P.P.P.S. Megatron comes back to life as KSI's prized prototype Galvatron. Age of Extinction
Alternate timeline
[edit]Under the universal stream terminology, this timeline counts as Tyran 208.28 Gamma.<ref>"Tyran" meaning "the movie" and "Gamma" meaning a comic, and the first issue was 28/2/08</ref>
2007
[edit]
The Battle of Mission City results in Decepticon victory; Sam Witwicky is killed, Megatron gains the AllSpark, and Optimus Prime is taken prisoner, kept in cryo-stasis in Sector Seven's old base at Hoover Dam. North America is conquered, resulting in the death of the President of the United States. Megatron develops a control module that allows him to directly manipulate the AllSpark's energies without fear of harm, and sets about using those energies to transform Earth into a new Cybertron. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Mikaela Banes and Tom Banachek go underground as rebels. Russia works alongside NATO, trying to prevent the Decepticons from expanding their borders. Twilight's Last Gleaming Parts 1-5
2008
[edit]
"Dear god, what is this?"
By the start of the following year,<ref>Theodore Allen claims two years have passed since the Decepticon conquest began in #23; events are being assumed to take place in the year they were published, for ease of book-keeping.</ref> NATO's efforts to contain the Decepticons have met with failure, and Paris, France is bombed in retaliation. The Autobots finally stage a desperate rebel action to rescue Optimus and call in a handful of offworld reinforcements under Skyblast and Arcee. While humanity's remaining powers go for the nuclear option, Bumblebee and Mikaela penetrate Hoover Dam to get Optimus and recover a nano-virus designed by Sector Seven to block the AllSpark's energy, while Ironhide and Ratchet simultaneously target the Savannah, Georgia facility that houses the AllSpark. But both rebel teams are compromised, by Optimus being in an unexpected cryo-stasis and by Savannah's guards under Bonecrusher creating an ambush, while NATO is routed and the French government & NATO command decapitated in ten minutes of humiliation. Megatron himself arrives to stop Bumblebee, who is outmatched once again. Luckily, Starscream sees a chance to nobble his leader and deliberately causes the Autobot reinforcements to leave the moon and join the fight: the Savannah team overcome the enemy and Ratchet destroys the AllSpark, leaving only scattered fragments, while the Autobots at Hoover Dam give Mikaela the time to free Prime from cryo-stasis and locate the virus. Prime takes over the fight, giving Bumblebee the chance to infect Megatron's system with the virus. His control over the AllSpark broken, Megatron's body is torn apart by its energies and he is apparently destroyed. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Parts 1-5
Unbeknownst to any present, however, he actually uploads his consciousness into the AllSpark interface module, which Starscream unwittingly recovers and integrates into his own systems. The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself The victory is further tarnished by the sheer scale of the damage Decepticon rule has done: NATO troops have to temporarily occupy the continent for security reasons, millions are living in shelters and reliant on food aid, and the people are frightened and the new President Theodore Allen is distrusting of the Autobots. The Decepticons, now under Starscream's command, begin waging scorched earth tactics to prevent the liberated America from recovering, and use cerebro-strips to covertly control key human beings... including Allen. Aftermath, Parts 1-2 Worse, the All Spark is no longer 'cyberforming' Earth but its infection has gone to the planet's core nonetheless, causing our world to tear itself apart. In the midst of this chaos, Ratchet uses an AllSpark fragment to resurrect Jazz, but the AllSpark's energies prove to have been corrupted through extended contact with Megatron, and Jazz returns to life as an amoral double-dealer who abandons the Autobots for a mercenary career. Dark Spark
Increasing numbers of Autobots arrive on Earth and join the effort to suppress the worsening AllSpark-born devastation of the planet. Believing an untapped fuel from Cybertron known as Nucleon may hold the answer, Optimus Prime sends a team of Autobots back to their home planet, where they discover that a small rebel cell of Decepticons led by Stockade has already started using Nucleon as their own power source. Stockade's Decepticons have made contact with a mysterious entity from deep space, one that resembles the All Spark in enough ways that it could possibly restore the dying Cybertron to life... but when it arrives, it possesses the planet, revealing itself to be Unicron the Anti-Life. The planet-eater teleports the transformed Cybertron into the Solar System with the intent of consuming Earth, but Optimus Prime and Stockade's teams join forces, draining off the nucleon for use on Earth, and leaving Unicron with no power source, reducing him to a dead husk. Unfortunately, while the Autobots' attentions have been focused on Unicron, the Decepticons have exploited the opportunity to make Mikaela their latest mind-controlled pawn. Alerted that the Autobots are away and with Mikaela minding the Autobot base in Savannah, Starscream seizes control of it and uses it as the centre of a Decepticon Heartland, restoring Decepticon dominion to a large chunk of the southern states. Return to Cybertron, Parts 1-4
2009
[edit]
Almost immediately upon the Autobots' return to Earth, Optimus Prime is targeted for assassination by Jazz, hired for the job by Starscream. When a rival assassin named Kullt tries to steal the kill, Jazz takes him down instead, but refuses Prime's offer to rejoin the Autobots. The circumstances of Jazz's ambush makes it clear that President Allen is under Decepticon control. Hard Target Presumably, the nucleon is used to heal the AllSpark corruption soon after. That done, the Autobots stage a rescue mission, disabling the cerebro-strip controlling Mikaela with a jamming frequency and recovering her from the Decepticon Heartland. With this failure, Starscream realizes that his actions have all along been controlled by Megatron, whose consciousness has been dwelling within his own mind he absorbed the AllSpark interface module. The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself
Aware that they're living on borrowed time, Optimus covertly contacts Tom Banachek (now the head of Sector Seven) and has him start identifying who in the government is a Decepticon servant. He also makes contact with Stockade, striking up a deal (though he doesn't expect the Decepticon to live up to his end). As Prime expected, the Decepticons stage a series of lightning strikes around the United States in order to force the government to the bargaining table with the promise of peace in return for the Autobots being exile from the planet. Pressured into compliance, the Autobots depart, only for Starscream to have them shot out of the sky by a nuclear missile that he instructs President Allen to order the firing of; a full Decepticon onslaught across the Eastern Seaboard follows, with the cerebro-compromised government and military preventing the humans from fighting back. However, the Autobots have merely staged their demise and secretly returned to Cybertron. While Stockade's team heads to Earth and defend it against the Decepticons, who are utterly unprepared for them and are swiftly driven back to the Heartland,
the Autobots get to work on the systems of the inert Unicron. Revolution, Parts 1-3 Starscream uses an AllSpark fragment and the interface module to restore Megatron to life in his own body so that he can put down Stockade's rebellion, but no sooner has he returned than Prime and the Autobots make their move, using Unicron's teleportation systems to send all the Decepticons to Cybertron, then teleport the planet itself to the far reaches of the galaxy, with no hope of return. The Decepticons are left exiles on an dead world, while the Autobots themselves are happily "stranded" on Earth, a clean-up ahead of them but still victorious at last. Mikaela and Bumblebee rode off into the sunset to see what was out there.Revolution, Parts 3
(They didn't let on but they then sent a fellow Autobot, Circuit, to the dead Cybertron: Circuit's scheming had caused that much anger. Timelines Circuit bio card)
Onwards
[edit]Of course, it never ends. The Fallen detected what had happened to the Decepticons and gathered a new army for revenge. Blue Maximus, Chopsaw, Undertow, and Duststorm answered his call, while new Autobots including Bodyblock, Downshift, Fallback, Mindset, and Deep Dive moved to the planet. Later, Sentinel Prime would arrive as well but the skittish Strafe would reveal Sentinel's true monstrous nature.
Epic battles would be fought but whatever the threats and challenges, the Autobots and their harried humans allies have constantly risen to the occasion. Maybe one day, we shall see them again... Ask Vector Prime
Other chronologies
[edit]- Movie timeline—The chronology of the "mainstream" live-action movie universe.
- Movie expanded universe timeline—The secondary chronology of the movie universe that also includes novels, comic books and various other elements that don't contradict each other.
- Sector Seven ARG timeline—Detailing the history of the "alternate reality" that presents Transformers as real beings, and the fiction associated with them a cover story propagated by Sector Seven. Also includes material from Titan's letters pages, which take the same approach.