The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End

« The Transformers: Lost Light #12 »
He's seen bigger.
"The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	December 27, 2017
Cover date	November 2017
Written by	James Roberts
Art by	Jack Lawrence (pgs 1-7, 12-20), Andrew Griffith (pgs 8-11)
Colors by	Joana Lafuente, John-Paul Bove, and Priscilla Tramontano
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

The Protectobots make their stand against Getaway.

Synopsis

After pushing Riptide into the oil reservoir, Getaway counts to thirty—the length of time it takes scraplets to strip a mech down to their life cord—and considers the deed done. Atomizer feels a pang of guilt over Riptide's death, especially the needlessly cruel way Getaway spoke to him beforehand, but Getaway has already moved on to finding ways to beef up security on the ship. As the Lost Light exits the Warren and returns to regular space (four minutes before they left, thanks to its time-and-space bending properties), Getaway instructs Blaster to put in a call to someone that will be able to help out with that matter. But it turns out that Getaway and Atomizer have left the oil reservoir just a bit too soon: a moment later, Riptide bursts out of its depths, having survived by transforming to boat mode despite the fact the blast he received from Getaway's nudge gun should have made that impossible.

Getaway and Atomizer show Froid the "time window" created by Brainstorm's time case, allowing them to look back on a moment from the recent past when Rodimus, Megatron, and the rest of the team they exiled, were enjoying a drink in Swerve's. Getaway falls silent when he witnesses Skids and Nautica sharing a moment, in which Skids calls the Camien his "best friend," only speaking up again to voice his belief that the castaways have all survived their encounter with the Decepticon Justice Division and will be coming after the Lost Light. But Getaway announces he is perfectly happy about this, since that means they'll be there to see him achieve his victory, finding Cyberutopia and becoming a Prime. Froid idly muses about primus apotheosis, but assures Getaway he doesn't think his desire to be a Prime means he is delusional. Getaway notes that condition was first identified by Rung; Froid notes that his old rival is the most likely candidate to have died at the DJD's hands, and makes a point of describing him as "one of life's good guys."

Later, Getaway takes Atomizer to the medibay, where Thunderclash, Mirage, and the Protectobots all lie unconscious, trapped in memory loops. Sensing Atomizer's growing doubt, Getaway places a gun in his hand and instructs him to choose one of the Protectobots to kill, nominally to prevent them from forming Defensor should they ever escape, but more than that, to deal with Atomizer's wavering conviction by dirtying his hands past the point of no return. Atomizer seems about to blast First Aid, but at the last moment, shoots Rook instead, blowing him to pieces. Atomizer is left distraught by what he has been forced to do, but neither he nor Getaway realize the scene has been witnessed by Riptide, hiding the vents in the ceiling.

On the planet Frayus, the Scavengers are living up to their name scrounging around in the abandoned Decepticon outpost Camp Conclave for a rumored "secret stash" of ununtrium to get rich off of, but they find nothing of use. The misfits emerge from the soundproofed bunker to discover that the forces of the Galactic Council and the Black Block Consortia are at war on its doorstep, with Deathsaurus and his troops—now under the command of former DJD member Nickel—caught in the middle! Nickel is puzzled as to the Consortia's sudden interest in this sector of space; Deathsaurus notes that it is rich in raw materials for cyberforming, but that export of those materials was recently taken over by a mysterious third party. The Scavengers, meanwhile, discover that the teleportal they used to get from their ship down to Frayus's surface has disappeared, evidently due to the orbiting ship being damaged in the battle—but a new avenue of escape opens when another portal appears right in front of them. On the other side, an unseen figure that the group recognizes beckons them through, offering them "everything they've ever wanted," and the Scavengers don't hesitate to jump in... followed a moment later by Nickel, who is unintentionally hurled through by an explosion.

Back on the Lost Light, Riptide awakens First Aid from his memory loop and fills him in on recent events; the medic is able to deduce that Riptide is "naturally immune" to the nudge gun thanks to his low intelligence. The pair wake up the other sleepers, and, realizing that the whole ship is against them, they decide to make a run for it. However, Getaway and the security team are in the shuttle bay to greet the new arrival Blaster contacted earlier, so to get past them all, the team make a stop at the ship's morgue to pick up the corpse of Ambulon, who is able to take the departed Rook's place as a leg for the Protectobots' combined form. As Defensor, the team smashes into the shuttle bay and start tearing through the security team, while Thunderclash tackles Getaway himself. Unfortunately, Thunderclash is immediately blasted by Getaway's "new hire": former enforcer of the Tyrest Accord and religious lunatic Star Saber! Mirage entreats Star Saber to stand down and listen so he can explain what is going on, but Star Saber is heedless: he slices Mirage to pieces, then cleaves Defensor into his component Protectobots. The security team cuts them down where they stand, save for First Aid, who tries to lug Thunderclash to safety with Riptide's help. They are only able to escape when Atomizer has an attack of conscience and leaps on Star Saber's back, blasting him with the nudge gun, allowing the three survivors to flee aboard Star Saber's ship.

As they exit the Warren again a little later, Getaway contacts Froid to request another "favor" from Sunder: Getaway has murdered Atomizer with his bare hands in retribution for his betrayal, and needs the security team's memories altered to make them think Thunderclash did it during the fight. Sunder's rising life cord price is too steep to pay, but before they can argue it out, Blaster breaks into the call with incredible news—the Lost Light has just arrived at its final destination. Before the ship lies a brilliant, shining, rainbow-hued metallic world.

They have found Cyberutopia!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Atomizer (1) Getaway (2) Mainframe (3) Perceptor (4) Jackpot (5) Blaster (6) Smokescreen (7) Inferno (8) Riptide (9) Brainstorm (10) Megatron (11) Rodimus (13) Swerve (14) Skids (15) Nautica (16) Minimus Ambus (17) Tailgate (18) Velocity (19) Thunderclash (21) First Aid (22) Rook (23) Hot Spot (24) Groove (25) Blades (26) Streetwise (27) Grimlock (30) Mirage (39) Ambulon's corpse (40) Defensor (41) Pointblank (42) Aquabat (43) Grotusque (44) Dogfight (45) Doublecross (46) Powerflash (48) Boss (49) Sunder (50)	Fulcrum (28) Misfire (29) Crankcase (31) Krok (32) Spinister (33) Eaglebreast (34) Deathsaurus (35) Liokaiser (36) Tigerbreast (37) Nickel (38)	Cyclonus (12) Froid (20) Galactic Council troops (34) Black Block Consortia troops (35) Star Saber (47)

Quotes

"You're winning, Getaway. You needn't be so cruel."

—Atomizer

"Look, I know what you've been thinking. Ever since Froid. Ever since Sunder. 'He's gone too far.' And you know what? You're right. I have gone too far. And now... so have you."

—Getaway torments Atomizer after making him kill Rook

Fulcrum: "If there had been any ununtrium, I bet it would've been hidden behind a series of traps—each one more deadly and elaborate than the last."
Misfire: "Yeah, but by overcoming each trap we'd have learned something important about ourselves."
Crankcase: "Just so we're clear, by the end of our labors, would we have realized that friendship is more precious than metal?"
Spinister: "Great—another pretend adventure you've had without me."

"On the day Primus was handing out brains, you were at the back of the line. In fact, you weren't even in the line. You joined a different line by mistake."
"I don't understand."
"...is a gentler way of putting it, yes."

—First Aid and Riptide

"So we're outnumbered. With an emphasis on vastly."
"Would it help if there were fewer of us?"

—Hot Spot and Groove

Notes

Continuity notes

• The time window in Swerve's was introduced in More than Meets the Eye #50. The final panel of that story revealed that Getaway had discovered it, at some point prior to the events of this story. Atomizer notes that the window was originally discovered while he and Getaway were "in the brig," between issues issue #49 and 50.
• As we observed in our notes for last issue, Getaway believes he is destined to be a Prime because, as revealed in More than Meets the Eye #31 he has displayed the Signs of Affinity for the Matrix of Leadership. The signs are listed in this issue as being: "liberty blue" optics, the same color as the Matrix Flame; finding sentio metallico wet to the touch; becoming "giddy" while standing on a hot spot; and being able to make a photonic crystal "snap" when placed in your chest (though Roberts notes the specific meaning of the word "snap" in this context is deliberately left ambiguous, possibly referring to making it break, making it make a noise, or something else). Of these, the idea that one's optic color is connected to Matrix affinity was first expressed in the prose story "Zero Point," in which Springer's eyes were noted to be "an arresting, thousand-watt Matrix Blue," indicating that he was "Compatible."
• Primus apotheosis, the identity sickness that makes one think they are Optimus Prime, was introduced in Last Stand of the Wreckers, in which Pyro suffered from it.
• It's not clear if "Camp Conclave" is the literal name for the Decepticon base the Scavengers explore, or if it's a nickname Misfire is giving it. Either way, the name refers to the "conclave" of high-ranking Decepticons originally mentioned in More than Meets the Eye #4, at least one of whom it was noted was needed to be present to formally perform the Rite of the Deceptibrand, which Crankcase describes undergoing in this story. Its design—a giant honking Decepticon symbol carved into a mountain—is very similar to a Decepticon base seen in Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #5.
• Crankcase reveals that before undergoing the Rite and receiving his Decepticon badge proper, he was a Genericon—a lowly ranking class of cannon fodder troops introduced in More than Meets the Eye #4 where First Aid noted that their badges were a different size and shape. See also "Real-life references" below.
• The Scavengers are visiting Camp Conclave in search of ununtrium, the super-metal used to create Phase Sixers, introduced in More than Meets the Eye #14. The same issue noted that Overlord's infusion with the substance likely represented the last ununtrium remaining anywhere at all.
• The Council and Consortia were previously established to be fighting over Frayus last issue, when Getaway turned down a request for aid from the planet's natives.
• Deathsaurus and Nickel last appeared in More than Meets the Eye #55, when they abandoned the DJD to their fate at Megatron's hands. Deathsaurus was noted to be famous for cyberforming organic worlds in issue #39, while Fulcrum had been established to have been part of a cyberforming unit in issue #8; this issue consolidates the two by revealing that Fulcrum served under Deathsaurus.
• The Breastforce were originally shown to be under Deathsaurus's command in More than Meets the Eye #39. This issue reveals that they have the power to combine into Liokaiser in this continuity. How they accomplished this is unexplained—despite how easy it is to steal the Enigma of Combination, it seems unlikely Deathsaurus's Warworld of exiles have been to Cybertron recently. Second-hand Combiner technology does exist, however, such as Swindle's creation of Menasor in The Transformers vol. 1 #5 or even the human Count von Rani engineering Predaking in Revolutionaries #4.
• Riptide's lack of intelligence has been his predominant characteristic since More than Meets the Eye #31, in which he sorrowfully recalled how much he struggled with exams.
• Ambulon died in More than Meets the Eye #19, and had his remains rebuilt into a cannon by Ratchet in issue #20. Evidently, Ratchet restored him to normal and reattached the bisected halves of his body for interment.
• The idea that a dead Transformer can still combine with others was established in The Transformers vol. 1 #28, in which the Constructicons were able to do so with Scrapper. Defensor winds up a lot more mobile than Devastator did, however; the Constructicon combiner had a "dead leg" as a result.
• Star Saber was last seen in More than Meets the Eye #21. Getaway refers to the "bad blood" that exists between him and Cyclonus, who defeated him in a duel in that issue, and shrugs off his own bad blood with Saber (who helped imprison and torture him) by saying he was only following Tyrest's orders. It might seem strange that the zealot is already so close to Cyberutopia when his rendezvous with Getaway occurs, but the ship is shown travelling through the Warren at least once more afterwards before finally arriving.

Transformers references

• Liokaiser is drawn based directly on his Transformers: Victory cartoon character model, but is colored like the Combiner Wars Liokaiser toy, with a black-and-yellow helmet (teal on the original), a grey abdomen, and teal hips (both black on the original). But, see "Errors."
• First Aid laments about the fact he never got to know Rook, a tongue-in-cheek reference to his sudden addition to the Protectobot team as a result of the Combiner Wars toyline back in 2015.
• Groove's above quip is similar to what Drag Strip said in the Robots in Disguise episode "Bee Cool".

Real-life references

• Crankcase refers to the Genericons' badges as "learner plates"; in James Roberts' native United Kingdom (and a few other countries besides) probationary drivers are required to display L-plates on their vehicle before they have passed their driving test.

Errors

• On the final page, Blaster's face is colored grey rather than yellow.
• Having been drawn based on his classic character model, Liokaiser therefore has Hellbat for a left arm. In IDW continuity, Hellbat died in Empire of Stone #4, and wasn't part of Deathsaurus's unit—stand-in member Deathcobra took his place, and should be the arm here. Also, the wings on Liokaiser's chestplate, which should be teal since they're part of Leozack, are incorrectly colored (one magenta, one blue) as if they are part of Guyhawk and Hellbat; only his left hip is teal while his right is grey like the rest of his pelvis and abdomen; and he's got blue thighs, which isn't based on either the classic colour scheme or the Combiner Wars one that's otherwise being used here.
• In the same scene, Deathsaurus is sporting his distinctive golden-winged Tigerbreast chestplate... except Tigerbreast himself is clearly visible standing separate from his master.
• The situation with Ambulon and Defensor is ridden with errors:
  • Getaway identifies First Aid and Rook as Defensor's legs, but Rook only ever formed one of the combiner's arms in previous appearances. We will note, however, that Rook and First Aid are forming his legs in TFWiki's picture of the toy...
  • Regardless, Combiner Wars showed Enigma-generated combiners as having fully-interchangeable limbs, rendering the whole point moot.
  • Getaway further states that only the Protectobots, not Mirage or Thunderclash, can combine... but Mirage is a combiner limb, having been merged into Optimus Maximus during Combiner Wars. This could be chalked up to Getaway not knowing about Mirage's combining ability, but if he managed to find out about Defensor, it seems likely that he would also know about Mirage. What's worse is that Mirage and the Protectobots should definitely know, meaning they don't actually need to use Ambulon's dead body to complete Defensor! This could be no-prized by everyone assuming that Mirage can only function as an arm (as he does as a component of Optimus Maximus) rather than a leg, or can only combine as part of Optimus Maximus.
  • Defensor suffers no obvious ill effects from using a "dead" leg. Previously, when the Constructicons tried this with the cadaver of Scrapper, Devastator ended up with a non-functioning leg. Of course, Devastator was on the surface of Cybertron, while Defensor is confined within the shuttle bay of the Lost Light—ill effects might not be as obvious within this context.
  • Half or all of Ambulon's corpse was turned into a gun back in "Arm the Lonely". His body could have been rebuilt as a matter of respect, but then why has he just been lying in the morgue for years instead of being properly buried? First Aid's long-standing issues with corpses and Ambulon's death in particular may have something to do with it.
• It's kind of odd that Mirage would think that Star Saber—a vicious murderer infamous enough to have documentaries made about his fanaticism, would stop and listen to reason. Even if Mirage was somehow ignorant of Star Saber's past, he should certainly know about the guy's prior alliance with Tyrest and their attempt to wipe the crew of the Lost Light (and a goodly chunk of the Cybertronian population) out only a few years before. Mirage doesn't even attempt to use his power of invisibility to avoid the maniac's charge!

Other trivia

• Originally solicited for release in November, this issue arrives noticeably late, in the final week of December.
• This issue's covers all lie. Defensor isn't formed with Rook and never even gets close to Getaway, and as for Mirage being invisible and covered in blood... your guess is as good as ours.
• Rook's toy bio mentioned that he was constructed of "Durabyllium Super-Alloy Armor". Apparently its actual effectiveness leaves much to be desired if one shot is all it takes to kill a Cybertronian made of the stuff.
• Andrew Griffith's art looks noticeably different to his usual work. He notes on Twitter that he "was trying to fit in with the feel of the book without sacrificing [his] usual style too much."
• It's not really clear on the page why Riptide isn't eaten by the scraplets despite being able to transform, since he's still submerged under the oil for thirty seconds regardless. His high-speed exit from the reservoir, launching himself to safety in a way that wouldn't be possible in robot mode, suggests he's been whizzing around below the surface, evading the critters until he could burst free.
• While it sure looks like Streetwise, Groove, Blades, and Hot Spot were killed off here, issue #25 would reveal they did, in fact, survive.
• The interlude with the Scavengers was originally going to feature a scene taking place in the UK Marvel Comics continuity in which Omega Supreme would have been taken out by a 'bot resembling Primus, explaining his absence in "Target: 2006." "Primus" would then be revealed to be a dimension-hopping Rewind, who had jumped universes as part of a complicated ongoing subplot. When said subplot ended up getting cut as a result of Lost Light ending earlier than planned, the scene was replaced with the Scavengers interlude.

Crew manifest

• Exiled: Brainstorm, Chromedome, Cyclonus, Megatron, Minimus Ambus, Nautica, Nightbeat, Ravage, Rewind, Rodimus, Rung, Skids, Swerve, Tailgate, Ten, Velocity and Whirl were effectively removed from the crew by Getaway's mutiny; Ravage and Skids have since died; Megatron is trapped in the Functionist Universe; Tailgate is buried alive on Necroworld.
• 25 bots: reduced to life cords floating in engex.
• Killed by Atomizer: Rook.
• New arrival: Star Saber.
• Killed by Star Saber: Mirage.
• All but offlined by security team: Streetwise, Groove, Blades, Hot Spot.
• Escapes the Lost Light in Star Saber's shuttle: First Aid, Riptide and the injured Thunderclash.
• Killed by Getaway: Atomizer.

Soundtrack

• "Planet Sizes" by Steve Mason
• "Beat Surrender" by The Jam

Covers (4)

• Cover A: Defensor looms over Getaway, by Jack Lawrence and Joana Lafuente
• Cover B: An invisible Mirage, spattered with energon, by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham
• Cover C: Getaway versus Defensor, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
• Retailer incentive cover: Megatron by Livio Ramondelli; companion piece to Ramondelli's Optimus Prime cover for Optimus Prime #13

• 
  "What about me, little one?"
• 
  Mirage likes to air-dry after a shower.
• 
  "Devastator Defensor SMASH!"
• 
  RI cover

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Reprints

• Transformers: Lost Light Volume 2 (February 14, 2018) ISBN 1684051487 / ISBN 978-1684051489
  • Collects Lost Light issues #7–12.
  • Bonus material includes a cover gallery.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 79: Primeless (November 14, 2018)
  • Collects Optimus Prime issues #9–12, and Lost Light issues #9–12.
  • Bonus material includes information about the end of the IDW Universe, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Three: Volume 3 (September 27, 2022) ISBN 1684059070 / ISBN 978-1684059072
  • Collects Revolutionaries issues #5–8, Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #2: "Upgrade", Lost Light issues issues #8–9 & #10–12, Optimus Prime issues #7–8 & #9–10, Transformers Annual 2017, and Salvation.
  • Hardcover format.

• 
  Lost Light Volume 2 – cover art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 79: Primeless – cover art by Don Figueroa and Livio Ramondelli
• 
  The IDW Collection Phase Three: Volume 3 – cover art by Sara Pitre-Durocher

External links

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