Editing Grimlock the Defender

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: King Grimlock|King Grimlock]]'' #2
|prev=Grimlock the Rebel
|next=King Grimlock issue 3
|caption=
|image=KingGrimlock 2 cvrA.jpg
|title="Grimlock the Defender"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[September 1]], 2021 
|coverdate=September 2021
|written by=[[Steve Orlando]]
|art by=[[Agustin Padilla]]
|colors=[[Jeremy Colwell]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]], [[Tom Waltz]] and [[Riley Farmer]]
}}

'''Grimlock and Arko struggle to cooperate as they encounter dangers both familiar and unfamiliar in the Menonian wilderness.'''

==Synopsis==
As he pushes his way through the forests of [[Menonia]], [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] is confronted by a  group of armed cyclopes, each carrying a blade inscribed with the [[Autobot]] [[insignia]]. Though the monsters fight for the [[Golden One]], the "chosen one of [[Soltron]]", the creatures prove no challenge for the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] commander: their weapons and fists simply bounce off of his metal hide, and when he [[transformation|transforms]], the monsters are momentarily awestruck by the sight of ''another'' shapeshifter, for only the Golden One has ever performed such a feat. The moment Grimlock obliterates the creatures with a burst of white-hot fire, however, the Dinobot leader is entangled by living vines and dragged underground, straight into the mouth of an enormous subterranean predator! Grimlock shifts back into robot mode to break free from the vines, but more appendages take their place—as jagged stone teeth close around him, however, the barbarian girl [[Arko]] leaps in after him, and uses her own sword to free him from the monster's lethal embrace.  Despite Grimlock's insistence that he could've handled things alone, Arko explains that they're inside a gigantic [[ridge worm]]: the only way they can escape now is to fight their way through the creature's rocky intestines, fighting gut worms as they go.

As the pair battle their way through the monster's digestive system, Grimlock asks Arko about Soltron: the human explains that Soltron is the god of the Golden One, a deity who wears the face inscribed on Grimlock's chest. This confuses the Dinobot; as he explains to Arko, ''he'' worships the [[Mortilus|Necrobot]], and all Dinobots fight in the hope that their conquests will outstrip the Necrobot's capacity to log the deaths of their victims when they finally die. Arko snaps that Grimlock would've surely perished had she not intervened, and although Grimlock sulks that it would've been a ''worthy'' death, Arko declares that his strength is worthless without knowledge—indeed, Grimlock won't last a day in her world without her. Grimlock takes offense at the remark, and even unsheathes his energy sword, and despite the overwhelming odds Arko refuses to give in: she will not beg for Grimlock's respect and will gladly duel Grimlock to the death to save her village and her world. But when the barbarian girl charges in, Grimlock simply turns away and walks off, letting her sword bounce off of his armor. Arko's got the intelligence and anger of a warrior, Grimlock tells her... but fighting her would be too easy, and Grimlock will not use his strength to crush someone who can't fight back. Arko suggests a deal: teach her ''true'' strength, enough to kill the Golden One, and in return she'll teach him about Menonia. After a moment's contemplation, Grimlock accepts the offer.

Not long afterwards, Grimlock sees an opportunity for this first lesson when the pair spy a settlement aflame, under siege from invaders. Arko points out that the fishing village of [[Angloria]] has nothing of value, even for the likes of monsters like the Golden One. When Grimlock wonders if Arko will stand aside and let the weak be crushed, Arko points out that it's the same justification ''he'' used when her father asked him for help... but Grimlock's internal heads-up-display revelas that whatever's attacking the town isn't human: the town's under attack from huge, humanoid creatures carved from wood. Though Arko warns her compatriot that those are soldiers of the [[Mara-Al-Utha|Red Wizard]], Grimlock tells her that there is no strength to be found bullying the poor and weak. If these creatures want a ''real'' fight, they can take Grimlock and Arko instead! 
Like a knight on horseback, Arko rides Grimlock's dinosaur mode into battle as they ford the river, charge the village, and reduce the wooden creatures to splinters. As he cuts his way through their army, Grimlock demands to know why warriors like them would reduce themselves to picking on the weak, but Arko tells him to save his breath—these are [[wood-bot]]s, mindless necromantic constructs slaved to the animating will of the Red Wizard.

Elsewhere, one of the surviving cyclopes reports to the Golden One on their recent failure to defeat Grimlock—the arrogant sorcerer has no patience for their excuses, however, and promptly disintegrates the emissary with a single blast of arcane power. As the other cyclopes cower, his minion [[Clatta]] points out that Grimlock ''is'' still alive and might yet decide to fight for the people of Menonia. Arrogant as ever, the Golden One remains confident that Grimlock fights for no one but himself—and if Grimlock attacks the Red Wizard out of disgust for his actions, then the Golden One will have removed a potential rival for the throne and subtly turned the rambunctious Dinobot to his side.

With the last of the wood-bots routed, Arko's initially pleased that they've saved the village, but Grimlock is troubled by the existence of the wood-bots. Arko explains that the wood-bots are unalive, unthinking beings, necromantic creations of the Red Wizard who kill the living so that they might rise again as the Red Wizard's undead servants. Grimlock explains that all [[Transformer|Cybertronian]]s are born with [[spark]]s; an animating life-force from whence they derive life, sentience, and free will—the wood-bots did not ''choose'' to be born or carry out such heinous acts, and Grimlock considers this a crime worse than anything the Golden One could possibly concoct. Although the Anglorians are throwing a feast in their honor, Grimlock announces his intent to confront the Red Wizard and make him pay—ignoring Arko's warnings that even the Golden One gives the Red Wizard a wide berth. From his tower, the Golden One gloats that while an Autobot wouldn't have hesitated to overthrow his cult of Soltron, a ''Dinobot'' is another matter entirely. Even now, Grimlock is easily misled and blinded by rage... as Arko voices her incredulity at the fact that he still won't fight for Menonia but will gladly pick a fight with a dangerous lich, Grimlock tells her that he won't abandon his kind. With that, Arko storms off—if Grimlock will throw everything away for a personal crusade, what can he teach her about ''real'' strength?

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]s|c1=
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (1)

|c3=
* [[Arko]] (4)
* Other Anglorian (8)

|c4=
* Cyclopes (2)
* [[Ridge worm]] (3)
* [[Wood-bot]]s (5)
* [[Clatta]] (6)
* The [[Golden One]] (7)

}}

==Quotes==
"Me '''Grimlock''' no find '''god''' in the '''sky'''... he look to the '''battlefield'''. That where him '''Necrobot''' can be found. Every '''Dinobot''' knows story of Cybertron's '''great chronicler of death.''' Every Dinobot hope when their spark burn out... they leave '''log of bodies''' so long, '''Necrobot''' run out of '''data storage'''."
:—'''Grimlock'''


"We need your strength, but it's nothing without knowledge of the realm. This savage world is my home... for all your strength, you won't last a '''day''' without me!" <br>
"Them who '''talk''' like that to Grimlock last '''even less'''."
:—'''Arko''' and '''Grimlock'''


"Soltron sees all... '''AND FORGIVES NOTHING.'''"
:—'''The Golden One''' ices a cyclops


"All Autobots, '''all Dinobots''', when we come online... it with spark. Spark give us '''freedom'''... make '''sentient'''. Red Wizard make wood-bots. But no let them '''think?''' No let them '''live?''' Them wood-bots '''abominations'''. But no ask to be."
:—'''Grimlock'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* The cyclopes in [[Grimlock the Rebel|issue #1]] were wielding weapons emblazoned with the [[Autobot]] insignia. The significance wasn't clear at the time, but this issue reveals that, in the land of Menonia, the Autobot insignia is synonymous with the deity [[Soltron]], patron god of the Golden One. Whether Soltron actually exists—or if he's just a garbled version of a previous Autobot visit to the planet—isn't yet clear.

===Transformers references===
* Grimlock notes that Dinobots worship the [[Mortilus|Necrobot]] as their god. This character originated in the pages of ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]''; although he was believed to be a mythological folk hero who bore a silent witness to the deaths of every Cybertronian, he was later unmasked as the decidedly mortal "Censere", who was still later revealed to be an alias of [[Mortilus]], the [[Guiding Hand]]'s god of death.
* The idea of the Autobot insignia having supernatural connotations is not a new one: ''[[Optimus Prime (comic)|Optimus Prime]]'' [[Origin Myths|#18]] established a connection between the symbol as the "First Face" supposedly worn by [[Primus]] himself, although later developments in the continuity would throw this connection into question.
* In the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] episode "[[Madman's Paradise]]", upon which ''King Grimlock'' is largely based, the Red Wizard was an alias for the disgraced Quintesson sorcerer [[Mara-Al-Utha]], who'd been banished to Menonia for the crime of practicing magic.  Although the Golden One identifies him as an "outcast", he stops short of revealing his species. 
* In the cartoon, the Red Wizard used several wooden, Transformer-like automatons as his servants. Here, he's noted to have created a legion of necromantic "wood-bots", although these wooden golems are decidedly more monstrous looking than their cartoon counterparts. 

===Real-life references===
* In keeping with the theme of the miniseries, this issue is named after {{w|Conan the Defender|another ''Conan'' novel}}. The Dinobots' faith in the Necrobot is also reminiscent of Conan's attitude towards his patron deity, Crom.

===Other trivia===
* Backmatter for this plus-sized issue includes another ''Dungeons & Dragons''-style profile sheet for Arko, which reveals that she's a Chaotic Good barbarian with 2021 experience points (the year of her creation). Grimlock's sheet in the previous issue stated that he has only 1984 experience points; this would make them both level 3 characters, but she's closer to leveling up.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Grimlock vs. the worm, by [[Alex Horley]]
* '''Cover B''': Grimlock in a lot of blood, by [[Ilas Kyriazis]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': Fire-breathing Grimlock, by [[Paul Harding]]

<gallery>
File:KingGrimlock 2 cvrA.jpg
File:KingGrimlock 2 cvrB.jpg
File:KingGrimlock 2 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

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==External links==
* [https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/08/19/idws-transformers-king-grimlock-issue-2-itunes-preview-439633 Preview]

[[Category:King Grimlock issues]]