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| :''The Magnificence is an artifact from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]]''
| | #REDIRECT[[Epistemus]] |
| [[File:SpotlightHotRod Magnificence.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Sometimes, you have a plot device, and some other times, you have THE Plot Device!]]
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| '''The Magnificence''' is nothing less than a complete database and map of the known universe, and every exploitable resource within it. This coveted artifact is the ultimate Magic 8-Ball; any question posed to it will be granted an immediate and accurate answer. Just ''how'' this works remains a bit of a mystery.
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| {{quote|So it's a search engine." <br> "A '''sentient''' search engine!" <br> "In the shape of a ball!" <br> "A ball with an '''eye''' in it! An eye-ball!|[[Nickel]], [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]], [[Fulcrum]], and [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]]|"[[The Ties That Bind]]"}}
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| ==Fiction==
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| ===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
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| Sometime after becoming on speaking terms with the [[Omega Guardian]]s, [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]] became convinced the Magnificence was in actuality one of the legendary [[Knights of Cybertron]], one that had such an insatiable quest for knowledge that they had relinquished their body. Whether or not this theory was correct, there were markings on the Magnificence tying it to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. When the Omega Guardians "ascended", the Magnificence was left behind in the [[Omega Bunker]] on [[Ki-Aleta]], guarded by fearsome drones. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}}
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| During the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], a team of Autobots led by [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] sought out the Magnificence to keep it out of Decepticon hands. The team managed to decoy the Omega Guardians successfully with holograms and automated gun systems. However, sabotage from the Autobot known as [[Doubledealer|Dealer]] led to the decoy system failing and the majority of the team being slaughtered by the Guardians. Dealer was unable to procure the Magnificence, though, as Hot Rod made good his escape and hid the artifact in parts unknown. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hot Rod}}
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| [[File:SPDHotRodM.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|"Reply hazy. Ask again later."]]
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| After extended urging from [[Doubledealer|Dealer]], Hot Rod sought out the Magnificence from where he had hidden it. This turned out to be Ki-Aleta, much to Dealer's surprise. High atop a rock formation surrounded by ionized clouds, it was inaccessible to mechanical life forms save by making the treacherous climb up the rock face itself. Upon retrieving it, Hot Rod demonstrated that it was not only a chronicle of old information, but new information as well. After using it to reveal Dealer's treachery (and dealing with him accordingly), he then queried it as to the details of the [[Expansion]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}
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| Hot Rod then sent the Magnificence to [[Garrus-9]] where it was entombed beneath the [[Aequitas]] supercomputer. When [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]] was arrested however, the Autobots decided his chest was a more secure place and installed a tamper-proof brace within the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]'s chest so that the Magnificence could only be surrendered if Grimlock wished it so.
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| Around 2009, shortly after the [[Surge (event)|Surge]], [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]] and [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]] escaped Garrus-9 and fell into the service of the enigmatic [[Grand Architect]]. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}} At some point, the pair used the network of wormholes known as the [[Warren]] to go back for Grimlock; teleporting Grimlock onto [[Worldsweeper|their ship]], they tortured the Dinobot until he unconsciously surrendered the artifact, at which point the two disposed of the brain-damaged Autobot by dumping him in a [[stasis tube]]. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}}
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| Somehow, the Magnificence went missing under as-yet undescribed circumstances and fell into the possession of [[Mengel]], a [[Catharsian]] merchant on [[Troja Major]]'s [[Howling Town]] and another one of the Grand Architect's associates. Mengel was able to succeed where the Grand Architect's other contacts had failed by using the Magnificence's endless supply of information to carry one of her genetically engineered [[protoform]]s to term, creating the first viable "[[Infinite]]." {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}} On the side, she used the artifact — which she called the "Resus Cradle" — to boost her business, boasting that it could resurrect mechanical life forms. Seeking to revive the recently departed [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] came to [[Howling Town]] to try and bargain with the Catharsian for use of the artifact. {{storylink|An Axe to Break the Ice}} What Mengel didn't know was that Scorponok's detachment sought to reclaim the artifact, and shortly after the creation of the Infinite a contingent led by Flame travelled to Troja Major to reclaim it.
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| After the [[Infinite]] had escaped her custody and seemingly perished at the hands of the [[Black Block Consortia]], the ex-Autobot came to Mengel and demanded the relic, ordering his men to ransack the compound when she refused to hand it over. His men found it and they brought it back to their Worldsweeper with the self-revived Infinite, presenting both to [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]]. {{storylink|Chasing the Infinite}}
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| He discovered however, that the artifact had continued to evolve, even developing a moral code that allowed it to refuse any questions asked of it that violated its sense of ethics. Thanks to Scorponok's [[Binary bonding|binary bond]] with [[Abraham Dante]] many years before, Scorponok's brain patterns were not entirely Cybertronian, allowing him to bypass the brain-scanning procedures that the Magnificence employed. Using the information within the Magnificence, he embarked on a new endeavor to rebuild the Decepticon forces by creating an artificially engineered "organic Decepticon" he called the "[[Firstborn]]." {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}
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| In the meantime, Mengel fled to the ex-Decepticon antiquarian [[Agonizer]], where the two compared notes on the artifact. Realizing the Cybertronian history behind the Magnificence, Agonizer summoned the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] to him via teleportal and, after some exposition for [[Nickel]]'s benefit, sent them after the relic with the promise of making them fabulously wealthy. Sent to the desert planet of [[Confluence]], they were quickly captured by Scorponok's forces and imprisoned. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind}} By making it seem like Grimlock had killed them, the Scavengers were able to escape their cell and demand that Scorponok hand over the artifact. Using it, they were able to learn that Scorponok was in the process of producing organic Decepticons. Scorponok quickly overpowered the group and prepared to extract their sparks, prompting Nickel to consult the Magnificence to learn how to defeat the Decepticon scientist. Thanks to its suggesetion, the Scavengers were able to paralyze their foe by using a recording of [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]'s voice, and used a nearby transmat portal to escape to Garrus-9 in the hopes of returning the Firstborn to normal.
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| On arrival, however, they realized that they'd been teleported into Grimlock's old cell, locked from the outside, and that the Magnificence had gone dormant, leaving them trapped in the abandoned prison with no way out. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}
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| {{--}}
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| ==Notes==
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| *The Magnificence has a superficial resemblance (including coloration) to the [[Pearl of Bahoudin]] from the [[1985]] ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'' episode "[[Trans-Europe Express]]".
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| *[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?t=5032 In a Q&A], [[Simon Furman]] said he originally intended to show that using the Magnificence had a price: "the information or what information precipitates mostly turns out to be a poisoned chalice... there was going to be a Hot Rod payoff, in which he goes well and truly through the wringer as a consequence of his mining of the Magnificence". Due to the revised (and shorter) nature of ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'', this subplot was dropped, though Hot Rod ''did'' go through the wringer in ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]],'' but for different [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|reasons]].
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| *In the same Q&A, he said he considered making the Magnificence a [[Quintesson]] artifact but changed his mind.
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| [[Category:Generation 1 objects]]
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| [[Category:MacGuffins]]
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| [[Category:IDW Generation 1]]
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