Editing After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[The Transformers: Lost Light|The Transformers:<br>Lost Light]]'' #7
|prev=Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists
|next=An Axe to Break the Ice
|image=LL7_subcvrB.jpg
|title="After Megatron"<br>(A Dissolution Epilogue)
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[June 28]], [[2017]]
|coverdate=June 2017
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|pencils by=[[Jack Lawrence]]
|inks by=[[John Wycough]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[Carlos Guzman]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era]]
}}
'''As the Autobots take in the wake of their parallel universe adventure, Ultra Magnus must come to terms with the loss of Megatron, while Cyclonus and Tailgate finally have to talk their relationship out.'''

==Synopsis==
Following their return from the [[Functionist Universe]], the Autobots take a moment to relax and reflect. [[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] and [[Rewind (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rewind]] tell [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] the story of his alternate universe counterpart; [[Anode]] reveals her secrets to the reborn, now-fully-grown [[Lug (IDW)|Lug]]—who retains all her memories of her old life—and the pair reconcile; and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] tries to question the plausibility of the methods used by [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] to get them home, but the scientist isn't interested.

Eventually, after seven days have passed since their arrival on [[Necroworld]], [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] calls everyone together to announce a plan to get off the planet: a small group will use the spaceship alternate mode of the dead Decepticon [[Skip]], forcibly [[size changing|mass displaced]] to accommodate them, to pursue the ''[[Lost Light]]'' and re-establish contact with [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], while the rest remain behind on Necroworld to await pickup. After a bit of joking (and some concern over the ghoulish nature of the plot from [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]]) everyone sets about preparing for departure, and [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] observes that everyone seems a little "skittish"—the result of the absence of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], and the release of the unconscious tension his presence caused.

As [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] puts his super-strength to use reconfiguring Skip's enlarged body into alternate mode, he is approached by [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], who expresses concern that Tailgate is avoiding him. Tailgate seems uncharacteristically curt as he brushes off Cyclonus's concerns; he ''does'' speak to other people, he says. Cyclonus reminds him of how his open-ness with others led to the trouble he got into with [[Getaway]], but Tailgate reassures him that he won't be falling under ''anyone's'' influence ever again... then invites Cyclonus to leave him alone as he returns to his work...

[[File:After Megatron - Kaput and Fangry.jpg|left|thumb|170px|If only...]]

In the medibay, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus]] arrives to request the help of [[Kaput]] in donning his [[Magnus Armor]], which does not seem to be functioning properly. Kaput excuses his new assistant, the Decepticon [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]], then examines Minimus for any injuries that might be preventing him from interfacing with his armor. As Kaput works, [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] makes small talk, idly observing how odd it is that Megatron is no longer around. She, of course, only ever knew him as co-captain; Minimus knew him as much more, but comments with respect on the focus and discipline he brought to the ''Lost Light''. Rodimus then buzzes Minimus over his communicator, reminding him he is supposed to conduct an inspection of Skip's ship mode.. something Minimus is actually ''late'' for!

While [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] and Lug goof around, Nautica praises Anode for her above-and-beyond efforts in restoring her partner to life. Emboldened, Anode asks Nautica about the eyepatch she's now wearing; Nautica explains that the injury she sustained in the [[Decepticon Justice Division|D.J.D.]]'s attack is playing up. Their conversation is brought to an end by a bellow from Rodimus, alerting everyone to the fact that they leave in five minutes. Cyclonus goes to collect Tailgate for departure... only for Tailgate to haltingly inform him that he has decided to stay behind, and that Cyclonus should go on without him. Cyclonus seems to greet the information with his typical stoicism... but a moment later, at long, long last, he finally gives in to his emotions, refusing to accept Tailgate's decision. Tailgate tells him that he no longer believes they have a future together, and even tries to return the [[innermost energon]] Cyclonus gave him, but Cyclonus refuses to take it and knocks it from Tailgate's hands.

Meanwhile, following his ship inspection, Minimus has donned his Magnus armor again, but still cannot make it move, and has to be physically carried onto the ship. Rodimus comments on the half-heartedness of the inspection; Magnus glumly responds that that's because there was no ''point'' in being thorough and writing a report, since Rodimus would never read it like Megatron would have. Rodimus admits he has been re-thinking his stance on Megatron, and has concluded that his post-war penitence was proof enough that he was a good 'bot at heart. Magnus is momentarily speechless, then launches into a tirade decrying Rodimus's judgement and denouncing Megatron as a monster. In the heat of the moment, the Magnus armor suddenly reactivates, and Magnus stomps off to conduct a ''proper'' inspection. A call from Kaput subsequently verifies the hypothesis Rodimus was working on: the Magnus armor required a recognizable neural signal to function, and it wasn't reading Minimus's thanks to the cognitive dissonance he was experiencing as a result of his friendship with Megatron. Rodimus has, in fact, not forgiven Megatron in the ''slightest''; he just pretended to in order to get the necessary contrary response out of Magnus that would snap him back to himself.

And elsewhere aboard the ship, Cyclonus sits alone, solemnly tearing gouges into his face with his claws in grief... until [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] appears, places a hand on his to stop him, and sits down beside him in silence.

[[File:After Megatron-Fangry Buries.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Here I go, burying any chance of a happy ending.]]
After watching Skip take off, Tailgate and Kaput discuss Tailgate's recent spate of destructive sleep fits. Kaput was informed of them by Cyclonus, while Tailgate reveals that Whirl told him the full story behind them too, how he was hurting Cyclonus during them, and that is why he forcibly separated Cyclonus from him. Kaput offers to find a way to de-power Tailgate's super-charged spark in order to cure him, and Tailgate gleefully accepts. After several days of study, Kaput believes he has the answer: concentrated exposure to neutronic radiation. Unfortunately, Tailgate must be sealed in a small subterranean isolation chamber to keep the radiation contained, and the process will take six months. Despite this, and the inherent risk of death involved, Tailgate doesn't hesitate in deciding to go through with it. However, no sooner is he installed within the chamber than Fangry sneaks up behind Kaput and kills him on the spot. In revenge for the beating and humiliation Tailgate subjected him to, Fangry resets the chamber's timer for ''six million years'', then buries it. Thus is Tailgate once more buried alive... long enough for grass to grow over the chamber, long enough for flowers to bloom...

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashback.<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (1)
*[[Rewind (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rewind]] (2)
*[[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] (3)
*[[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] (6)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (7)
*[[Kaput]] (8)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (9)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (10)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (11)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (12)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (13)
*[[Drift (G1)|Drift]] (15)
*[[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] (18)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (19)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus/Ultra Magnus]] (20)
{{!}}}

|c2=
*[[Skip]]'s corpse (17)
*[[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]] (21)
*[[Rapidfire]] (22)

|c4=
*[[Anode]] (4)
*[[Lug (IDW)|Lug]] (5)
*[[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] (14)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (16)
*[[Ten]] (17)
}}

==Quotes==
"What if, just this once, you stopped trying to invent mysteries for the sake of it?"
:—'''Brainstorm''' indirectly addresses the comic's readership via Nightbeat


"Permission to start a petition to leave Swerve behind."<br>
"Don't be ridiculous. What a ridiculous thing to say. You don't need to bother with a petition."
:—'''Whirl''' and '''Rodimus'''


"I suppose I'm lucky—I was able to take him at face value. I didn't know the '''old''' Megatron."<br>
"You didn't know the old '''me''', either. I used to be a lot more uptight."<br>
"I find that genuinely hard to believe."
:—'''Velocity''' and '''Minimus Ambus'''


"I don't want you to leave me."<br>
"But Cyberutopia..."<br>
"...is nothing without you."
:—'''Cyclonus''' and '''Tailgate'''


"It's okay to miss him, you know. I've been thinking about this a lot since we got back. During the war, he did awful things. '''Awful''' things. And yes, in the end, even after we'd given him a second chance, he screwed us over and did a runner. But in between he felt bad, and surely that's enough. We need to respect his pain and how he chose to process it. At the end of the day, he was a good person. He just kept forgetting how to be good."<br>
"I— '''What?''' No. A good person who forgot how to be—? No! '''Feeling bad''' doesn't magically erase millions of years of warmongering. He '''used''' us, Rodimus. We trusted him and he '''abused''' that trust—because that's what he was: a serial abuser. He '''tricked''' us. He tricked '''me.''' His repentance was a '''sham''', his guilt an '''affectation.''' The '''tortured soul''', the '''killer's remorse'''—'''it was all a lie.''' He wore his contrition like a '''shining crown''' because he knew it would '''distract''' us. A good person who forgot how to be good? Wake up, Rodiumus. He was '''evil.''' He was '''always''' evil. I hope he '''rots.''' I hope he '''burns.'''"
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Ultra Magnus''', on Megatron


"You know, when it comes to other people, you can be so '''insightful'''... and yet you don't really know yourself. You're your own '''blind spot.'''"<br>
"Oh, I know what I'm like. That's the trouble. I know '''exactly''' what I'm like—I just can't stop myself."<br>
"I suppose that's why you need people like me around."<br>
"Well... it's certainly why I need people like Ultra Magnus."
:—'''Drift''' and '''Rodimus'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Rodimus laments the destruction of the [[Rodpod]], which occurred in [[The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|''More than Meet the Eye'' #50]]. It was in its destruction that Nautica's eye (and indeed, much of the rest of her face) was injured; she was repaired off-panel between the end of ''More than Meets the Eye'' and the start of ''Lost Light''.
*Kaput talks about "discredited spark types" such as "Estriol Positive"—an in-joke reference to [[Twenty Plus One|''More than Meets the Eye'' #31]], which originally identified it as Nautica's spark-type, before Roberts thought the better of it and had it removed for the trade paperback collection of the issue. "Discredited," indeed!
*As referenced in a footnote, Fangry received his beating from Tailgate in [[Dissolution Part 2: Anomie|issue #2]].
*Cyclonus was previously shown to express grief through self-harm, cutting gouges into his face, way back in [[Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|''More than Meets the Eye'' #17]].
*Tailgate doesn't let on to Cyclonus that he knows, but given that he's able to tell Kaput about it, it's obvious that [[Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising|issue #4]]'s cliffhanger resolved off-panel with Whirl telling Tailgate about his dangerous fits and the damage he had caused Cyclonus, the effects of which we saw in issues #2 and [[Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|#3]].
*Ultra Magnus and Megatron had been getting pretty chummy since Megatron joined at the start of season 2, something Rodimus has even noted and disapproved of [[Silent Light|on occasion]].
*Cyclonus gave Tailgate some of his innermost energon while he was recuperating off-panel between the events of [[The Lopsided Triangle|''More than Meets the Eye'' #47]] and [[Speak, Memory! (Part 2)|#49]], in accordance with the traditions laid out in [[Before & After|issue #12]].
*Thus does Tailgate's story reach an... end? ...the way it began, all the way back in [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|''More than Meets the Eye'' #1]], with him buried alive for six million years...

===Errors===
*On page 14, panel 5, Ratchet's left shoulder is miscolored as white.

===Other trivia===
*If the joke surrounding Skip's name (in which it is suggested he might turn into "a skip") falls flat for you, it's probably 'cause you're not from the UK, where a "skip" is a name for a dumpster.
*Speaking of jokes not working... why does there need to be a caption on page 4, panel 2, explaining Fangry's "stifled laughter" when it's perfectly obvious that's what he doing?
*In his vehicle mode, Skip loses the green colour that his robot mode clearly displayed.  His chest obviously becomes the roof of the spaceship...

===Soundtrack===
For all of "Dissolution":
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEI75kn9FTc Neither Here Nor There]" by {{w|Lost in the Trees}}

For this issue alone:
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvOoQ0Ff2nA Threnody]" by {{w|Keith Kenniff|Goldmund}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrulQAZq7Y8 Medicine]" by {{w|Daughter (band)|Daughter}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ybYYKBd_40 Without You]" by {{w|Tobias Jesso Jr.}}

===Covers (4)===
*'''Regular cover:'''Ultra Magnus in repose, by [[Jack Lawrence]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
*'''Subscription cover A:''' A photo strip of Ratchet, Drift, and Rodimus, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Subscription cover B:''' Ultra Magnus and Megatron shake hands, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Ultra Magnus by [[James Raiz]] and [[John-Paul Bove]]
<gallery>
File:LL7 regcvr.jpg|
File:LL7 subcvrA.jpg|
File:LL7 subcvrB.jpg|
File:LL7 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''Lost Light'' #8
*"The Hasbro Tribune" editorial page promoting June's [[Hasbro Universe]] titles, including this issue [[G.I. Joe vol. 5 issue 7|''G.I. Joe'' #7]], [[Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|''Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook'' #2]], [[What It's Really Like|''Optimus Prime'' #8]], ''Revolutionaries'' #7, [[The Transformers: Salvation|''Salvation'' one-shot]], and [[If I Know You|''Till All Are One'' #11]].
*[[Jem|''Jem and the Holograms: Infinite]]''
*''[[The Transformers: Salvation]]''
*''[[Optimus Prime (comic)|Optimus Prime]]'' Vol. 1 TPB
*IDW ''Clue'' comic

==External links==
*[http://www.multiversitycomics.com/previews/transformers-lost-light-7/ Preview]

[[Category: Lost Light issues]]