Editing Lord of Misrule: Test Flight II

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers (2019 comic)|Transformers]]'' #32
|prev=Lord of Misrule: Test Flight I
|next=Lord of Misrule: Swindle's II
|caption=
|image=TF2019 32 cvrA.jpg
|title="Lord of Misrule: Test Flight II"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 14]], 2021 
|coverdate=June 2021
|written by=[[Brian Ruckley]]
|art by=[[Angel Hernandez]] (pg. 1-15), [[Anna Malkova]] (pg. 16-20)
|colors=[[David García Cruz]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]], [[Tom Waltz]] and [[Riley Farmer]]
|continuity=[[2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''Jumpstream joins forces with some unlikely heroes as she tries to escape the nightmarish kingdom of Exarchon.'''

==Synopsis==
Stranded in the ruins of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] and brought before the lord of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], [[Jumpstream]] can't believe what she's seeing: [[Exarchon]], wearing the bodies of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]], and [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], is the unquestioned ruler of the entire planet! When Jumpstream stammers that he should be dead and gone, the tripartite Cybertronian dismisses her as delusional; he has no further business with the rebel and orders his [[Skywarp drone]]s to hand her off to the [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] so that she can be sold to the [[Voin]]. As the guards haul her away, Jumpstream begins to piece together what's happened. In ''this'' world, she deduces, Exarchon must have won the [[War of the Threefold Spark]], and as she reaches this grim conclusion the drones turn her over to a band of [[Thraal]] on the outskirts of the city.

Though Jumpstream's tired and running dangerously low on [[energon]], the aliens double-time her through the desolate landscape. As she passes one horror after the next, she wonders if some version of ''her'' is buried in the mass graves and charnel pits that litter this version of Cybertron... but these thoughts are quickly pushed to the side when a gigantic explosion immolates the lead Thraal! A battered [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] and a group of Cybertronians leap from their hiding places to finish off the aliens; [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] takes out the first with a [[thermal lance]], and [[Swift (G1)|Swift]] rescues Powerglide by tossing a magnetic explosive onto the second. But when Jumpstream asks if Swift recognizes her, the confused Swift points out that Jumpstream's dead... there's no time to discuss the problem, however, as Bumblebee points out that they need to retreat before reinforcements arrive. An exhausted Jumpstream confesses that she has almost no fuel left, but when she asks if they have any energon to spare, an incredulous [[Blackjack (G1)|Blackjack]] scoffs at the notion: only Exarchon and his lackeys have access to energon and the self-appointed lord of Cybertron has been siphoning the planet's remaining energon off-world. A suspicious Bumblebee demands to know if Jumpstream's working for the enemy; she doesn't get a chance to answer, however, before an explosion blows Swift in half!

[[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] and [[Triggerhappy (G1)|Triggerhappy]] have finally found Bumblebee and brought multiple [[Skywarp drone]]s and [[Insecticon clone]]s to finish the job—willing servants of Exarchon, they're eager to crush the last rebel holdout. Though Bumblebee and his team try to make a fighting retreat, a swarm of Insecticon clones overwhelm Blackjack and drag him under; Jumpstream explains that she doesn't have enough fuel to [[teleportation|teleport]] to safety, but urges the pair to transform and go on without them. Bumblebee reminds her that there ''is'' no energon anymore; he and the others have been forced to use [[nucleon (substance)|nucleon]] for so long that they no longer possess [[alternate mode]]s. Jumpstream makes one last attempt to explain what's happened to her: she's not from ''this'' Cybertron, and without some way to recharge her [[teleportation hybrid-rig|teleportation rig]] she won't be able to return to her own timeline. At that moment, Powerglide finally falls to Triggerhappy; Bumblebee returns the favor by blowing Triggerhappy's head off and shutting the loudmouthed warrior up for good, then tells Jumpstream to scavenge whatever energon and nucleon she can from the two corpses. As Bumblebee takes up Powerglide's discarded weapon, he admits that they lost their war long, long ago; he hands over his own nucleon supply, however, and tells her that he can still do one last good deed by buying enough time for her to escape. The clones close in as Jumpstream fumbles with the controls for a few desperate moments... then successfuly escapes back into [[unspace]], following the dimensional wake from her last trip to guide her back to her own world. As Jumpstream crash-lands in [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]'s workshop in [[Praxus]], she's unaware that her trip has again caught the attention of the mysterious figure floating in the void... 

In [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s hidden laboratory, [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]]'s mental state has continued to deteriorate. Though the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] pleads for [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] to release him, the warrior pointedly ignores his babbling, and advises Vortex to heed his advice as the two change shifts. 

In Iacon's medical center, meanwhile, a miracle has occurred—[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] races through the corridors to [[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]]'s operating room and reunites with [[Provoke]], who's somehow reawakened from her long slumber. Though she's still badly damaged and barely conscious, she has just enough presence of mind to recognize her old compatriot, who tells Provoke that the war is over...

As [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] does what he can for a comatose Jumpstream, Perceptor tries to explain the situation to [[Pyra Magna]], who's furious with the scientist for taking one of her best warriors out of action. Although Perceptor initially believed that Jumpstream had somehow crossed universes, [[Lancer]]'s analysis revealed the presence of decaying [[chronon particle]]s, which suggests a new hypothesis—Jumpstream's last teleport didn't take her across ''dimensions'', but across ''time''. Jumpstream never left their universe at all, but somehow traveled many kilocycles into Cybertron's future—Lancer muses that Jumpstream can tell them exactly what'll happen to Cybertron, ''if'' they can ever wake her up. 

In a realm beyond space and time, the mysterious figure claws its way through unspace and locks onto Jumpstream's trail, an immaterial beacon that guides it back to present-day Cybertron. In an explosive burst of fiery energy, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] re-materializes deep in the wilderness and triumphantly announces that Cybertron's Lord of Misrule has finally returned!

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.<br>

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Jumpstream]] (1)
* [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (13)
* [[Lancer]] (14)
* [[Pyra Magna]] (21)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (22)

|c2=
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (15)
* [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] (16)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (17)

|h3=Threefold Spark|c3=
* [[Exarchon]] (2)
* [[Skywarp drone]]s (3)
* [[Insecticon clone]]s (5)
* [[Triggerhappy (G1)|Triggerhappy]] (10)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (11)

|c4=
* [[Thraal]] mercenaries (4)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (6)
* [[Blackjack (G1)|Blackjack]] (7)
* [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (8)
* [[Swift (G1)|Swift]] (9)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (12)
* [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (18)
* [[Provoke]] (19)
* [[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]] (20)
}}

==Quotes==
"Wearing the colors of a long-dead enemy? You must be tired of your existence. Is that it? The defeat, the fear, the hiding, the failure. All too much for you? I can give you what you need, if so. I '''will'''. The mercy of extinction."
:—'''Exarchon'''


"'''SAY MY  NAME!'''" <br>
"Headless. That's it, right?"
:—'''Bumblebee''' kills '''Triggerhappy'''


"If saving the galaxy from having to put up with Triggerhappy is my '''last''' good deed, I guess it'll do." 
:—'''Bumblebee'''


"I am become what I always was... but never knew... or had forgotten. I have awoken. Let me wake you, Onslaught. Let me show you the new world." 
:—'''Sunstorm''' gets creepy


"Oh, Cybertron. It's been too long. Much too long. But now we can make up for lost time, you and me. Your '''Lord of Misrule''' has '''returned'''... and '''oh''', how I've '''missed''' you." 
:—'''Skywarp'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* Even before the reveal, the comic drops a few hints that the "alternate universe" isn't quite what it seems. ''[[Transformers: Galaxies|Galaxies]]'' [[Wannabee, Part 2|#6]] established Bumblebee as a post-war forging, so in an alternate timeline where Exarchon won it's likely that he wouldn't exist at all. In a later conversation, Bumblebee remembers Jumpstream as one of the warriors who fought Exarchon the "first time round".
* On a similar note, many [[Insecticon clone]]s appear in the future scenes, seemingly serving Exarchon as their progenitors did in the first war. While the present-day clones who appeared in ''[[Transformers: Escape]]'' were mindless, animalistic creatures, the ones here display the ability to transform into robot modes; this ''is'' the future, however, so maybe they've had time to learn...
* In [[Nautica: Home|issue #12]], [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] noted the Thraal's propensity for roboticized warfare: the future Thraal use robot suits to keep their Cybertronian captives in line, and another is shown driving a one-man tank based on the model from [[Escape Part One|''Escape'' #1]].
* The mysterious pillars of purple light that appeared in the previous issue are revealed to be the planet's [[energon]] being siphoned into space. In lieu of their usual fuel source, Bumblebee and his band of rebels are forced to use [[nucleon (substance)|nucleon]] and have accordingly lost their ability to transform, the same fate that [[Treadshot (G1)|Treadshot]], [[Catgut]], and the other members aboard the ''[[Iron Hope (G1)|Iron Hope]]'' all suffered.
* Even in a dystopian future, Triggerhappy has maintained his strange habit of forcing his victims to say his name before he kills them—he previously pulled this stunt on [[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] and his team in [[Rise of the Decepticons: Tremors|issue #21]].
* Powerglide wields a [[thermal lance]], present-day [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]]'s weapon of choice.
* The fact that this adventure takes place in the future and not an alternate reality pretty heavily implies that Exarchon cheated death by stealing an inconspicuous body and is currently lying low, waiting for the right time to re-emerge. As it so happens, several characters who could've conceivably come into contact with Exarchon during the war are behaving oddly:
** Sunstorm, who is very likely one of the many war-forged Seekers alluded to in [[Wheeljack: Orbital Decay|issue #24]], babbles that he has become "what he always was" and has made repeated offers to show his captors something that will "awaken them"—an oblique reference to Exarchon's body-stealing abilities?
** Provoke conspicuously vanished during the final battle of the war and has somehow survived being buried underground for megacycles. She only returns to life ''after'' Jumpstream returns from her trip to the future, and the fact that she only recognizes Cyclonus as someone who fought in the war could be interpreted in several ways.
** Skywarp, of course, worked closely with Exarchon and Shockwave during the war, as per [[Escape Part Three|''Escape'' #3]], and has apparently been stranded in [[unspace]] for some time. It's certainly possible that he's bigged himself up as Cybertron's "Lord of Misrule" for shits n' giggles, but it's certainly a title grandiose enough to fit Exarchon's ego...
* The final page shows a pair of [[flyt]]s eating a [[skitter]]; [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] had previously noted their fondness for eating the critters in [[The World In Your Eyes Part Five|#5]].

===Transformers references===
* In an odd bit of toyline fidelity, the Thraal mercenaries wear the black, triangular [[insignia]] used by the [[Mercenary]] faction in the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (cartoon)|''War for Cybertron'' cartoon]] and [[War for Cybertron Trilogy (toyline)|toyline]]. Two of the mercenaries wear bulky suits of yellow power armor, based on the mech suit worn by the Thraal warlord [[Durguth]] in [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|Titan's ''Transformers'' magazine]].
* Swift namedrops the [[Sonic Canyons]] as the place where her timeline's version of Jumpstream and Cyclonus died.

===Errors===
* On page thirteen, there's a period between Bumblebee's lines "I guess" and "it'll do" when there should be a comma.
* When Jumpstream reappears in Perceptor's workshop, Lancer is drawn based on how she appeared in IDW's ''[[The Transformers: Till All Are One|Till All Are One]]'', with a round head and a visor over her eyes. In [[Anna Malkova]]'s subsequent panels, she returns to her toy-accurate appearance, with a square head and no visor.

===Other trivia===
* Originally solicited for June 30th, this issue lands just two weeks late.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Jumpstream enslaved by a Voin, by [[Dan Schoening]] and [[Luis Antonio Delgado]]
* '''Cover B''': Jumpstream and Skywarp in the void, by [[Josh Burcham]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': Something's followed Jumpstream home, by [[Winston Chan]]

<gallery>
File:TF2019 32 cvrA.jpg
File:TF2019 32 cvrB.jpg
File:TF2019 32 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
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===Reprints===
* '''''Transformers Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far''''' <small>([[June 8]], [[2022]]) ISBN 168405883X / ISBN 978-1684058839</small>
** Hardcover.
** Collects ''Transformers'' issues #31–36, ''Transformers'' Annual 2021, ''Transformers Halloween Special'', and ''[[Transformers: Wreckers—Tread & Circuits|Wreckers—Tread & Circuits]]'' issues [[Tread & Circuits Part 1|#1]]–[[Tread & Circuits Part 4|4]].
** Bonus material includes alternate covers.

<gallery>
TF-IDW-2019v5.jpg|'''''Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far'''''; cover art by [[Cryssy Cheung]]
</gallery>

==External links==
* [http://majorspoilers.com/2021/07/13/preview-transformers-32 Preview]

[[Category:Transformers (2019) issues]]