The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever

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Speech this.
"The Falling Chapter 5: Endless Forever"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	July 11, 2018
Cover date	June 2018
Written by	John Barber
Art by	Kei Zama
Finishes by	Casey Coller (pg. 14-19)
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David Mariotte
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

While chaos reigns on multiple fronts on Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee try to escape Infraspace.

Synopsis

Bumblebee thinks back to the time he first met Orion Pax, and how he subsequently joined Orion's Autobot police force as they pushed back against the Decepticon uprising. As the fight wore on, however, Orion became more and more disillusioned and violent, to the point of physically abusing suspects, as he did to Swindle on the day the Autobots raided his weapons-manufacturing warehouse. But still, Bumblebee stayed on Orion's side, because he owed his life to him... and later, when Orion cast off his darkness to rise up against the corrupt Zeta Prime and became Optimus Prime, Bumblebee knew he'd made the right choice. Four million years later, Bumblebee died by Shockwave's hand, and his body was sucked into a miniature singularity... but rather than moving on to the next world, 'Bee instead found himself trapped in the limbo realm of Infraspace, between life and death. There, he has remained for years, alone—until right now, as Optimus Prime, thrown into the singularity by Shockwave, appears to join him. Optimus believes that this is the end, that he will be unable to save Cybertron, but 'Bee is confident that, with the Prime at his side, together they can find a way to escape back to reality.

Back on Cybertron, Arcee's confidence is waning as Shockwave's Maximal army slowly threatens to overcome her, with one even raking Sideswipe's jet pack off her back. She hurls her sword at one of her opponents, but the blade is snatched out of the air by Liege Maximo. Familiar with the Prime of Lies from her youth, Arcee is surprised to see him fighting alongside the "Eukarian army," but Maximo is quick to correct her: though the Maximals may look like the beasts of Eukaris, they are not. Unarmed, Arcee is overwhelmed by the Maximals, but surprisingly, is taken prisoner alive on Shockwave's orders—orders that Maximo hopes he'll soon rescind.

By the dead body of Metrotitan, Shockwave observes Victorion's battle with Devastator, as the Constructicon combiner's sheer bloody-mindedness gives him the strength to push through the pressure Victorion subjects him to with her gravity-manipulating powers. Starscream, meanwhile, slinks away, having had everything he ever wanted ripped out from under him as the punchline of some grand cosmic joke, while Jetfire and Aileron survey the damage done to Metrotitan, and Jetfire catches the Camien up on Shockwave's history. Aileron manages to find the bright side, concluding that, since "Onyx Prime" is actually just "some guy" in disguise and not actually a divine Prime, maybe they can beat him after all.

Elsewhere, Windblade rejoins her fellow council members after conducting a futile search for Optimus Prime. Elita One desires retaliation, ready to order Carcer to attack, but Marissa Faireborn advocates caution. The Mistress of Flame is more concerned with the chaos that has erupted in the streets, as Decepticons and Prime loyalists have come to blows, even as each faction falls to in-fighting over who to actually follow. Soundwave, now persona non grata after his role in the killing of Horri-Bull was exposed, hides in the shadows as angry Decepticons search for him, but things take a turn when the crowd spots Starscream, who is trying to make his way back to the authorities, so he can surrender, be put back in his cell, and go back to not worrying about everyone else's problems again. The other Decepticons haltingly suggest that... maybe... he could... be their leader again? After all, he did a good job leading the planet, and at least they know they're getting a cheating liar if they choose him. Starscream tries to fight the idea, but starts to realize that maybe the Decepticons genuinely don't have a better choice... which prompts an incensed Soundwave to take action.

In Infraspace, Bumblebee tells Optimus about his inexplicable ability to communicate with Starscream as a "ghost." Having had experience with Infraspace, Prime observes that they do not exist physically in the realm; they are just free-floating life-forces, untethered and adrift, without bodies. Perhaps, Bumblebee muses, Starscream's sense of not belonging in his own body was enough to bridge the gap between the realms and let them communicate. Whatever the reason, such thinking soon provides a potential avenue of escape. As Bumblebee apologizes to Prime for his failure to build a working government on Cybertron, and Prime tells Bumblebee he has nothing to apologize for, taking the blame onto himself, their conversation shifts to the Matrix of Leadership, and how Bumblebee knows that, despite what devout believers in the Primes may say, it didn't change who Prime was at his core. Prime agrees; the Matrix is "just an idea." But in Infraspace... everything is "just an idea," a thought without physical form. And while the physical Matrix may be without power, if the idea of the Matrix and everything it represents was powerful enough to start the war all those millions of years ago, perhaps, in this realm, the power of that idea may be enough to free them. Prime opens his chest, and the Matrix glows brilliantly within...

Searching for Arcee, Jetfire and Aileron come upon the site of her battle, strewn with Maximal corpses and Sideswipe's jet pack. They fear the worst, but it seems the worst is yet to come, as Aileron's attention is drawn to the other side of the battlefield, where the singularity at the heart of Crystal City has begun to flare with light. Then, behind the pair, Shockwave appears, a vial of tainted energon in his hand, and the Nemesis floating behind him. His plan, he declares, is near completion—but for the final step, Jetfire is needed!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Maximals	Others
Optimus Prime/Orion Pax (1) Ironhide (2) Bumblebee (3) Prowl (8) Jetfire (10) Zeta Prime (11) Megatron (13) Ultra Magnus (14) Arcee (20) Victorion (35) Windblade (37) Metrotitan (38) Aileron (39) Roadmaster (43)	Space Case (4) Road Pig (5) Snarler (6) Swindle (7) Finback (9) Shockwave (12) Devastator (34) Acid Storm (44) Soundwave (45) Needlenose (46) Tall Tankor (47) Flip Sides (49) Swift (50) G'nur (51) Submarauder (52, see notes) Skullgrin (53, see notes) Laserbeak or Buzzsaw (54)	Marissa Faireborn (42)	Jawbreaker (15) Archadis (16) Dead End (17) Apache (18) Colada (19) Thunderhoof (21) Steeljaw (22) Powerhug (23) Snapper (24) Diver (25) Scylla (26) Poison Bite (27) Lazorbeak (28) Tonbot (29) Optimus Primal (30) Beast Megatron (32) Mach Kick (33) Transquito (55) Icebird (56) Drill Nuts (57) Snarl (58) Mantis (59) Scuba (60) DJ (61) Heinrad (62) Moon (63) (See notes)	Liege Maximo (31) Starscream (36) Mistress of Flame (40) Elita One (41) Fat Tankor (48) Nemesis (64)

Quotes

"Allow me to introduce Liege Maximo's Maximals."
"I stayed away from the Lost Light in order to avoid wordplay."

—Liege Maximo and Arcee

"[Shockwave's] plans are usually quite bad for everyone."
"Bad's a vague word, Jetfire. I mean, Pyra thinks Optimus is doing bad, but Starscream—"
"Shockwave once attempted to collapse all of space and time to a point—to not only destroy the universe, but to cause there to have never been one."
"Oh, you mean bad. Got it."

—Jetfire and Aileron

"Enough."
"Ha! That's the kind of thing a leader gets to say. When you say it, you sound pathetic. Give me one reason why that's enough."
"I have six reasons loaded, Needlenose. And another eighteen in the magazine, if you require further explanation."

—Soundwave's just about had it with Needlenose

"Those who claim living well is the best revenge have never explored the benefits of time travel."

—Shockwave

Notes

Continuity notes

• This issue's title, "Endless Forever," is paraphrased from a line delivered by Shockwave in Dark Cybertron #1: "A circle within a circle within the same circle... endless and forever." Optimus Prime idly draws a circle in the dirt later in the issue.
• Following the events seen in flashback in issue #5, this issue's opening flashback continues to follow Orion Pax's descent from "optimistic hero cop" to "embittered violent lawman," leading in to how he was depicted in Autocracy.
• As referenced in a footnote, Bumblebee met Orion Pax in the 2017 Transformers annual, and learned the lesson about being stronger together than apart.
• Jetfire mentioned the time Orion "stood up to the Senate," as seen in The Transformers vol. 1 #23.
• Swindle claims his license to sell arms was signed by "the mayor of Vos... or something." Undoubtedly, the signer was Starscream, who we know from both the 2018 Optimus Prime annual and last issue served as precinct senator for Vos.
• Page 2, panel 4, recreates Autocracy #8, page 4, panel 2, showing Pax ripping off Zeta Prime's vamparc ribbon.
• We also flash back to the events of Dark Cybertron chapters 11 and 12, to see Bumblebee's death, and Optimus, Megatron, and Ultra Magnus try to outrace the singularity.
• Liege Maximo talks about Arcee "murdering [her] way across the galaxy," which was what she was in the middle of doing all the way back when we first met her in Spotlight: Arcee.
• Fat Tankor recalls starring in the movie about Starscream's life, which a footnote reminds us happened in the 2018 annual.
• On page 17, panel 2, one of the Decepticons visible in the crowd is the Decepticon bartender who appeared in The Transformers vol. 2 #44. He was nicknamed "G'nur" by that issue's colorist, Josh Perez; "Rung" spelled backwards, because of his resemblance to the Autobot psychiatrist.
• Flip Sides makes her first appearance in modern times, appearing with other Decepticons in the crowd. Having previously only appeared in flashbacks, she becomes the third known female Decepticon in IDW continuity, after Nickel and Swift.

Transformers references

• Unicron Trilogy characters cameoing in this issue include Armada Cyclonus and Cybertron Sideways among the Decepticons in Swindle's sweatshop, and Armada Thrust in the crowd of Decepticons who ask Starscream to lead them.
• More Maximals, more problems! Aside from recurring cameo stars Optimus Primal and Megatron, all the beasts seen in this issue are block-colored, so it's impossible to tell whether they're the American Beast Wars characters or the Japanese-exclusive characters with whom they share a mold. However, several unique characters are identifiable, including Beast Wars II Scylla and Moon and Beast Wars Neo Dead End, Colada, and Heinrad. For simplicity's sake, we've opted to take the presence of these Japanese-exclusive characters as an indicator and consider all the other characters to be Beast Wars II or Neo characters, for the purposes of our cast list above. We've made exceptions where this is impossible; for instance, since Hydra appeared and died on Regalis V in issues #13-14, the character sharing his mold and striped deco pattern on page 19 must be Lazorbeak.
• In addition to intact (or mostly intact) remains of characters listed above, on page 19, dismembered parts of certain Maximals' bodies are visible after Arcee's done with 'em, including a bat wing we'll assume belongs to the Mutant Soundwave, and a claw that look to belong to Razorclaw/Rockbuster. There is also a claw from Sea Clamp (certainly not Gimlet), though Sea Clamp appears intact and alive in Unicron #1.
• Also appearing among the wrecks of Arcee's defeated Maximals foes on page 6 are 2015 Robots in Disguise characters Thunderhoof and Steeljaw, who have already been reimagined as Generation 1-continuity Maximals by Fun Publications' series of Beast Wars: Uprising prose stories.

Errors

• On page 17, panel 2, Skullgrin and Submarauder appear in the crowd. Skullgrin was established to have survived his apparent death in Stormbringer #3 over in Lost Light #15, so that's not a big deal—the error is that the pair are drawn to look exactly like their Pretender shells, which they've never had in IDW continuity.
• As in issue #17, Devastator is depicted with Bonecrusher and Scavenger's treads on the sides of his torso, like his Combiner Wars toy, instead of on his forearms. This error would also show up in the next issue.

Other trivia

• Originally solicited for release in June, this issue arrives late, in the second week of July.

Soundtrack

• "Never Land" by The Sisters of Mercy
• "A Means to an End" by Joy Division

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Optimus Primal and Beast Wars Megatron, by Kei Zama and Josh Burcham
• Cover B: Our cast, within the silhouette of Bumblebee, by Casey Coller and John-Paul Bove
• Retailer incentive cover: Black-and-white lineart version of Cover A

• 
  Megatron's a Maximal now, yeeesssssss.
• 
  Bumblebee's back. Yay?
• 
  This is just Prime!

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Reprints

• Optimus Prime Volume 4 (November 21, 2018) ISBN 1684053633 / ISBN 978-1684053636
  • Collects Optimus Prime issues #15–21.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 85: The Falling Part 2 (June 3, 2020)
  • Collects Optimus Prime issues #18–24.
  • Bonus material includes a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• 
  Volume 4 – cover art by Marcelo Matere
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 85: The Falling Part 2 – cover art by Dreamwave and Kei Zama

External links

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