Editing The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable

{{Comicstory
|series=op|issueno=21
|prev=The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever
|next=Unstopped and Unstoppable
|caption=Borat Voice My Wife
|image=OP21 cvrA.jpg
|title="The Falling<br>Chapter 6: Unforgivable"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 18]], 2018
|coverdate=Early July 2018
|written by=[[John Barber]]
|art by=[[Livio Ramondelli]] (pg 1-4, 14-16), [[Kei Zama]] (pg 5-11), [[Sara Pitre-Durocher]] (pg 12-13, 17-20)
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era]]
}}

'''Pyra Magna discovers she has an unexpected role to play as Shockwave executes his final gambit.'''

==Synopsis==

[[Pyra Magna]] thinks back to when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] first came to [[Caminus]] and how, due to their past encounter with another Prime—[[Onyx Prime]]—she and the other [[Torchbearer]]s did not share the [[Mistress of Flame]]'s unquestioning acceptance of him. Consequently, the Torchbearers left her service and traveled to Cybertron, where an encounter with the [[Enigma of Combination]] turned them into a [[combiner]]. It is in their merged form, [[Victorion]], that the Torchbearers now fight against [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], who seems strangely resistant to their gravity-manipulating powers...

In the ruins of [[Crystal City]], [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] explains to [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] and [[Aileron]] the task he needs assistance with: ''rescuing'' Optimus Prime from within the miniature singularity he threw him into only a short time ago! Prime's body has been destroyed by the singularity, compressed into "pure information," and it is that information they must extract. Fortunately, Prime himself is working toward a solution; within the singularity, he uses the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to try and free himself and [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]]. The Matrix's light is able to penetrate the singularity and emerges from its darkness to be seen by the others outside, but as it does so, the Matrix itself disintegrates in Prime's hands, as the "information" that comprises it in this realm without physical matter ceases to be, "transmitted" away as light.

[[Image:Arcee_and_Aileron.jpeg|thumb|left|320px]]

Nearby, [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] has been taken prisoner by [[Liege Maximo]] and his [[Maximal]]s. Maximo remotely activates a crystal of [[Ore-4]] embedded in the ''[[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]]'' hovering above, the gravity-controlling attributes of which begin levitating the Maximals and their captive up to the ship. Exploiting the weightless environment, Arcee jerks the chains binding her and whips the Maximals holding the other ends through the air. They collide with Maximo, who drops Arcee's sword, which she quickly recovers and hurls upwards at the Ore-4. The crystal shatters and the gravity field cuts out, sending Arcee and the Maximals all plummeting back toward the surface of the planet at a fatal velocity. Liege Maximo lands first, hitting the crane arm on Devastator's shoulder and dying on impact, his body ruptured in a grisly display. As the rest of the Maximals come raining down to meet similarly messy fates, Arcee is saved by Aileron, who uses her flying alternate mode to catch her and carry her safely down to the ground. With the destruction of the Ore-4, Victorion realizes that it wasn't Devastator's persistence that was allowing him to overcome her gravity powers; rather, the ore was generating a second gravity field that was counteracting hers. With its removal, Victorion shows no mercy; Devastator barely has time to process what's happening before he is ripped to shreds by Victorion's powers. Aileron and Arcee watch as the combiner dies, and celebrate in a most unexpected way: Arcee grabs Aileron, pulls her close, and [[kiss]]es her deeply as thanks for saving her life!

Elsewhere, as [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] continues to address the [[Decepticon]]s, an enraged [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] silently takes aim at the ex-ruler of Cybertron, knowing that, with Starscream as their leader, the Decepticon ideology of equality will be lost forever and they will simply become tools to fuel his ambition. [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]] steps in to shove him, accusing him of being just as bad as Starscream, his first instinct being to take life to ensure he gets his way. Soundwave falters...

Spotting Jetfire down in Crystal City, Pyra leads the Torchbearers to him, where they find him with Shockwave. Learning that Shockwave and Onyx Prime are one and the same, Pyra lunges at him, determined to gain revenge for the lives he took in the past, but Shockwave brushes off her attacks and, holding her at gunpoint, "invites" her to join in the effort to rescue Optimus. It is Pyra, Shockwave reveals, that he really wants; the "help" he needed for Jetfire was simply to serve and bait to lure her in—for it is she that the Decepticon intends to serve as a host for Optimus's now-bodiless mind! Cracking open the vial of Cybertron's tainted [[energon]] that he has been carrying, Shockwave combines the poisoned fuel with the Matrix-light emanating from the singularity, opening up the pathway and allowing Prime and Bumblebee to escape back to reality. The two Autobots' consciousnesses flood into Pyra Magna's body, meeting with hers in a [[antespace|shared mindscape]] like that which forms in the mind of a combiner. Like a combiner, Pyra and Optimus find focus and unity in their desire to stop Shockwave, and with Pyra still in control of her body, she takes Shockwave down, ripping his gun arm off and aiming the weapon at him. She expects to hear the voices of Prime and Bumblebee telling her to stop, to take Shockwave alive, but hears no objections...

Starscream and the Decepticons watch as the surviving Maximals flee Cybertron aboard the ''Nemesis''. Concluding that Shockwave's mysterious plans have ended in failure, Starscream throws off politics once and for all and leads the Decepticons away to regroup in preparation for their next move. [[Swift (G1)|Swift]] cannot believe any of this, and seems ready to abandon her short-lived Decepticon allegiance—a decision Needlenose also reaches, leaving instead to be with people who actually care about him, like his brother [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]]. [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] descends from the sky and lands by Soundwave's side, inviting him to join her as she rejoins the rest of the [[Council of Worlds|council]] now that it is clear he was not the one responsible for the bombing. Solemnly, Soundwave observes that, just because he was not guilty of ''that'' crime does not mean he has not made mistakes... and he fears that allowing Starscream to ''live'' may be his biggest one ever.

Realizing that, to be true to what she has long preached, she must do what is ''right'', not what will personally satisfy her, Pyra Magna spares Shockwave's life and brings him before the council, adamant that the truth of his nature be revealed to Cybertron, thereby exposing the great lie their civilization has been built on: that the Primes are just robots like any other, not divine. But this, it at last transpires, is what Shockwave has always ''desired''. His ancient plan, twelve million years in the making, has seen him ''create'' religion, so he could expose it as a fiction. He has robbed the Decepticons of their ideology, and he has even found a way to destroy the Matrix. Shockwave has rendered everything that anyone and everyone on Cybertron ever believed in ''meaningless''—and he has done so in preparation for the arrival of chaos, of an entity he calls the "Great Destroyer," which he says the Maximals have gone to join. Now, Shockwave shares a vision of this destroyer with Pyra, Optimus, and Bumblebee in their shared mind-space.

It is [[Unicron]]. And it is ''coming.''

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.<br>
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime/Orion Pax]] (1)
*[[Pyra Magna]] (2)
*[[Skyburst (G1)|Skyburst]] (3)
*[[Stormclash]] (4)
*[[Jumpstream]] (5)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (6)
*[[Dust Up]] (8)
*''[[Superion (G1)|Superion]]'' (9)
*[[Rust Dust]] (10)
*[[Victorion]] (12)
*[[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] (13)
*[[Aileron]] (15)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] (16)
*[[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] (20)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (51)

|c2=
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (11)
*[[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] (14)
*[[Acid Storm (G1)|Acid Storm]] (42)
*[[Squeezeplay (G1)|Squeezeplay]] (43)
*[[Flip Sides (G1)|Flip Sides]] (44)
*[[Swift (G1)|Swift]] (46)
*[[Octane|Tall Tankor]] (47)
*[[Tankor (BM)|Fat Tankor]] (48)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] (49)
*[[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]] (50)

|h3=[[Maximal]]s|c3=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Bighorn]] (17)
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] (18)
*[[Megatron (BW)|Beast Megatron]] (19)
*[[Insecticon (BW)|Insecticon]] (22)
*[[Scourge (BW)|Scourge]]? (23)
*[[Rartorata]] (24)
*[[Skywarp (BWII)|Skywarp]] (25)
*[[Bigmos]] (26)
*[[Rhino (BW)|Rhino]] (27)
*? (28)
*[[Nightglider]] (29)
*? (30)
*[[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] (31)
*[[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] (32)
*[[Randy (BWN)|Randy]] (33)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Retrax]] (34)
*[[Scarem]]? (35)
*[[Rav (BM)|Rav]] (36)
*[[Dillo]] (37)
*[[Mol]] (38)
*[[CatSCAN]] (39)
*[[Apelinq (BM)|Apelinq]] (40)
*[[Scissor Boy]] (41)
:''(See notes)''
{{!}}}

|c4=
'''Cybertronians'''
*[[Mistress of Flame]] (7)
*[[Liege Maximo]] (21)
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (45)
*[[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] (52)
*[[Unicron]] (54)

'''Humans'''
*[[Marissa Faireborn]] (53)
}}

==Quotes==
"'''Geez''', Prime, I know I sounded all '''gung-ho''' when you showed up, but I was here for, what, a few '''years?''' I didn't actually expect you'd find a way out in your first few '''minutes.'''"
:—'''Bumblebee'''


"It's a funny mistake for the Prime of Deceit to make, but you're fooling yourself if you ever thought you were in my league."
:—'''Arcee''' schools Liege Maximo


"You need my '''scientific knowledge''' to free Optimus?"<br>
"Ridiculous '''self-flattery''', Jetfire. You are no more than a '''protoform''', clapping '''ecstatically''' as it completes a circuit in its '''plaything.'''"
:—'''Jetfire''' gets trash-talked by '''Shockwave'''


"Why did you let him '''live,''' Pyra?! You are the '''Torch''' of the '''Living Flame.''' Sometimes you must burn. Or—is it the will of the '''True Prime''' inside you? Has '''he''' commanded that '''Onyx''' live?"<br>
"There's no '''Prime''' in my head... just '''Optimus.'''"
:—'''Mistress of Flame''' and '''Pyra Magna'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Pyra Magna opens the issue by flashing back to the events of ''[[Combiner Wars (comic)|Combiner Wars]]'', specifically Optimus Prime's arrival on Caminus and the reveal of the Matrix from [[The Sum and Its Parts|''Windblade'' vol. 2 #1]]. She also recalls the events of the ''[[An Uneventful Night|Combiner Hunters]]'' one-shot, in which she and the other Torchbearers became combiners.
*Pyra also remembers her first encounter with "Onyx Prime," and the deaths of [[Praesidia Magna]] and [[Fastbreak (G1)|Fastbreak]], from [[Ghost Stories|the 2017 ''Transformers'' annual]].
*Another Regenesis ore is revealed, Ore-4, "Gravity," from Caminus. The acquisition of this ore is revealed to have been the reason that "Onyx Prime" and his beasts were on Caminus during the 2017 annual. Though not explicitly stated, we can conclude that the subterranean singularity that ended the battle in that issue was created by the gravity ore.
*The revelation that Caminus possesses deposits of a Regenesis ore also explains why the Matrix glowed when Optimus Prime arrived on the planet in [[The Sum and Its Parts|''Windblade'' vol. 2 #1]], an event which he noted as having been strange in [[Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|''The Transformers'' #47]]—as recognized by Pyra Magna in [[Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|''Optimus Prime'' #1]], the Matrix of Leadership glows in reaction to nearby ore.
*Liege Maximo and his Maximals were seen flying without apparent physical means in [[The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|issue #19]]. Presumably this was also an application of Ore-4, as none of them use any flight powers to stop falling when the ore crystal gets shattered.
*Now that Cybertron's energy has been tainted by the [[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]], Shockwave says he can use it to "inoculate" the Transformers. Indeed, back in [[Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|''Revolutionaries'' #8]], while still in his "Onyx Prime" guise, Shockwave did claim that the purpose of the Talisman was always inoculation—our first implicit confirmation that the subsequent events of ''[[First Strike]]'' were all part of his epochs-spanning plot.
*The combiner mindscape ("[[Antespace]]", Pyra calls it) was previously seen in [[All That Remains|''Windblade'' vol. 2 #3]], when Optimus Prime and the other Autobots were merged together into [[Optimus Maximus (G1)|Optimus Maximus]].
*Unicron draws near! The planet-eater was awakened by a signal sent from Cybertron in [[First Strike issue 6|''First Strike'' #6]], and his approach was further foreshadowed in [[The Curtain|''Transformers vs. Visionaries'' #6]]. With the conclusion of "[[The Falling]]," the stage is set for ''[[Transformers: Unicron]]'', the six-issue summer event mini-series that will bring the entire IDW universe to an end. This issue was supposed to be released before [[Unicron issue 1|''Unicron'' #1]], but a series of delays led to it coming out a week ''after'' it. Consequently, a few of this story's events were spoiled by that issue, like Shockwave's defeat and capture, the destruction of the Matrix, and the fact that the Maximals have joined with Unicron for reasons as yet unknown. Chronologically, though the release schedule always had it coming out after ''Unicron'' #1, it looks like ''Optimus Prime'' #22 is also set before it, as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee still have to have their consciousnesses transferred out of Pyra and into new bodies before the events of the ''Unicron'' series begin.

===Transformers references===
[[File:OP21 Soundwave AtHisLimit.jpg|right|300px|thumb|]]
*It's literally impossible to tell if all these friggin' Maximals are Japanese or American characters and it feels like some of these guys have been in two places at once and some of them might have even been dead last issue and they're just crowdfillers anyway and now a lot of them are dead and god help us we're so tired of trying to identify them.
*Soundwave's visor turns yellow when his targeting system is engaged, homaging his original G1 toy.
*As in the previous issue, [[Thrust (Armada)|''Armada'' Thrust]] again appears as part of the crowd of Decepticons listening to Starscream.

===Errors===
*The ''Combiner Hunters'' one-shot is incorrectly referred to by the title ''Titan Hunters.''
*On page 3, panel 2, Jetfire talks about the "indigent" tone of his voice; that ought to say "indignant."
*Like [[The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|issue 17]] and the [[The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|previous issue]], Devastator is depicted with [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] and [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]]'s treads on the sides of his torso, like his [[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]] toy, instead of on his forearms.

===Other trivia===
*This issue isn't the first time a [[kiss]] between Cybertronians has been depicted in ''Transformers'' media, but historically, kissing isn't usually presented as part of Cybertronian culture. Outside of instances where it was done for comedy (a [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]] planting a smacker on [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]'s snout in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] giving [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] a "my hero" smooch in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]"), about the only actual on-screen romantic kiss was a peck on the cheek from [[Elita One (G1)|Ariel]] to [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]] in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] episode "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" (which was pretty anomalous for the cartoon). [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] in ''Beast Wars'', and Rattrap and [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] in ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' were implicitly depicted kissing, but the camera would always cut or swing away, keeping the actual act off-screen in what you can only assume was some kind of "plausible deniability." Following an almost-but-not-quite kiss between [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] and [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] in a dream sequence in [[The Price of You|''Till All Are One'' #10]], Arcee and Aileron's lip-lock in this issue becomes the first IDW kiss, and the first genuinely romantic, on-the-mouth, unobfuscated, fully-on-screen/panel kiss between Transformers in recorded history, and by extension, the first same-gender kiss, too!

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKMSgZo9c8s Cygnet Committee] by {{w|David Bowie}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Arcee and Aileron reach for each other, by [[Kei Zama]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover B:''' Our cast, within the silhouette of Pyra Magna, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[John-Paul Bove]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Black-and-white lineart version of Cover A
<gallery>
File:OP21 cvrA.jpg|
File:OP21 cvrB.jpg|
File:OP21 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''Optimus Prime'' #22
*''[[Transformers: Unicron]]''
*''[[Transformers vs. Visionaries]]'' TPB
*''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]] vs. The Six Million Dollar Man'' TPB
*''The X-Files: Case Files'' #1
*''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' #7
*[[Unicron issue 1|''Transformers: Unicron'' #1]]

==External links==
*[https://graphicpolicy.com/2018/07/17/preview-transformers-optimus-prime-21/ Preview]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falling Chapter 6: Unforgivable, The}}
[[Category:Optimus Prime issues]]