The Gloaming

« The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #16 »
Not to be confused with "The Glomping".
"The Gloaming"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	April 24, 2013
Cover date	April 2013
Story by	James Roberts
Pencils by	Agustin Padilla
Inks by	Jose Aviles
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	John Barber
Assistant editor	Toni Korde and Mariel Romero
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2013)

Rodimus and Chromedome wrestle with their emotions in the wake of Overlord's rampage, as Ultra Magnus hovers at death's door and Drift makes a fateful decision.

Synopsis

Then:

At the Battle for Hell's Point, amidst a raging firefight, Ultra Magnus tries to bluff the Warriors Elite, only to be blasted point blank by Megatron himself, sending him tumbling to the ground far below...

On the planet Clemency, amidst the struggle over the Nightmare Engine, Ultra Magnus issues orders to his troops - and then takes a direct hit from an explosive K-Class Decepticon...

During the battle known as the Simanzi Massacre, Rotorstorm and Ultra Magnus pick their way through a swamp, trying to elude a troop of Cybernoughts - but one Cybernought has found them, and unleashes its full firepower on Ultra Magnus...

Now:

Fatally wounded by Overlord, Ultra Magnus lies on Ratchet's operating table aboard the Lost Light. Swerve sits by his bedside and plays his favorite song for him, and Tailgate cleans his body. Neither of the little bots' efforts are particularly appreciated by Ratchet, nor is Drift's disgust at his use of what he calls a "death clock": a medical scanning field that monitors the rate of contraction of Magnus's shrinking spark to calculate a time of death. With the clock giving Magnus only ten more days, Tailgate grows increasingly distraught, partially at the clinical approach the others are taking to the situation. Punctuating this sentiment, Swerve shushes him so they can hear an announcement over the tannoy by Rodimus, who vows to discover who is responsible for Overlord's being on the ship.

Worried about Chromedome's emotional state following Rewind's death, Skids goes looking for him, and finds him outside the ship, on the hull, watching the stars as he used to do with Rewind. Discovering him to be quite calm and collected—eerily so—Skids leaves. Someone who is not so calm and collected, however, is Rodimus, who has just finished trashing his office in a rage when Rung enters. The pair talk about Magnus and the source of Rodimus's fury; Rung opines that his anger is not over his failure to protect his crew, but rather, over the fact that he himself was not responsible for defeating Overlord. The psychiatrist's words evidently strike too close to home, and Rodimus menacingly invites Rung to vacate his office, which he does with all due haste.

Presently, a group funeral is held for those who died during Overlord's rampage, and as everyone settles into place for the speeches, Swerve resolves to distract himself from Rewind's death by finding out what's inside Brainstorm's briefcase. Proceedings soon get underway; Rodimus delivers a eulogy for popular crew member Tripodeca, then invites Chromedome to say a few words for Rewind, noting—after a stern glare from Rung—the little archivist's central role in saving the ship. Chromedome delivers a brief, unemotional farewell for his partner and returns to his seat, piquing Brainstorm's attention. After the deceased's bodies are given a space burial, the scientist follows Chromedome back to his quarters, where he finds him sorting through Rewind's belongings and disposing of them. It turns out Brainstorm has seen Chromedome like this before: the surgeon has had several Conjunx Endurae in his life, and after the deaths of each one, the intensity of the emotional connections he forged with them repeatedly led him to use his mnemosurgery skills on himself, removing his memories of them in order to escape the hurt. Chromedome has been so disconnected because he has been planning to do this to himself; this, Brainstorm explains, is why he does not have any innermost energon—not because he was born without it, but because he has loved and lost so many that he has given it all up as deathbed offerings. Chromedome half-heartedly promises Brainstorm he won't go through with it, but Brainstorm knows better, having had this conversation with him before. The scientist sadly leaves the room after giving him one final gift: a data slug thrown through the doors of the slow cell by Rewind before they closed. Left alone, Chromedome plays the slug to discover a farewell message from Rewind, edited together from his database of video and audio clips in the final moments of this life, which entreats Chromedome to be strong, to go on without Rewind, and to allow himself to be happy. Rewind signs off by telling Chromedome he loves him, and Chromedome, after a moment, retracts his mnemosurgery needles back into his fingers.

As Chromedome is playing the message, much of the rest of the crew gathers in the shuttle bay, where Rodimus addresses them. An investigation into the culprit behind Overlord's presence was not necessary, as Drift has admitted responsibility and explained everything. With barely restrained fury, Rodimus strips him of his Autobot symbol and exiles him from the ship. As he walks towards the shuttle prepared for him, Drift is knocked down by a piece of debris hurled by an angry crew member; Ratchet helps him up, and Drift departs on his little ship.

Down in the medical bay, as Rodimus's announcement plays over the tannoy, Ultra Magnus's arm moves, and his hand clenches into a fist. A little later, Ratchet and Tailgate return to find that he has disappeared! Half-jokingly suggesting they look under the table, Tailgate leans forward, into the path of the scanning field... then looks up to see that the "death clock" is giving him just under three-and-a-half days to live!

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks and/or Rewind's video clips.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Swoop (1) Cliffjumper (2) Impactor (3) Grimlock (4) Ultra Magnus (5) Ore (12) Shock (13) Zetar (14) Cromar (15) Rotorstorm (18) Swerve (19) Ratchet (20) Drift (22) Rodimus (23) Chromedome (24) Skids (25) Rung (26) Rodimus (27) Xaaron (28) Whirl (30) Brainstorm (31) Tripodeca (32) "Toxin" (33) Atomizer (34) Prowl (35) Slamdance (36) Perceptor (37) Mainframe (38) Nightbeat (39) Red Alert (40) Bumblebee (41) Kick-Off (44) Skyfall (45) Ambulon (46) Trailcutter (47) Optimus Prime (48) Springer (49) Bluestreak (50) Rewind (51)	Overlord (6) Sixshot (7) Heretech (8) Killmaster (9) Black Shadow (10) Megatron (11) Numerous K-Class 'bots (16) Torque (17) Snaptrap (42)	Tailgate (21) Cyclonus (29) Nova Prime (43)

Quotes

"At the risk of sparking an ontological argument, certain machines—machines like that—are an affront to nature."

—Drift, on the "death clock"

"Look, I know you want me to tell you it's going to be okay, but—"
"Yes! Yes, I do! Because it's not okay! I know 'okay'—I specialize in 'okay'—and I can tell you pretty emphatically that none of this—none of this business with Overlord and Magnus and Rewind—none of this even approaches my definition of 'okay'!"
"Maybe you should see Rung. You could be suffering from some kind of stress-related disorder..."
"I'm upset! Doesn't anyone do upset anymore? What's wrong with you people? Is this a war thing?"

—Ratchet and Tailgate

"Rewind and I used to come out here a lot. Mapping the constellations... Heh—that makes it sound too grand. We used to make pictures with stars. Over there—look—we have the Vis Vitalis. And there's Prowl being hit over the head by a fusion cannon. Whack!"
"I'm struggling to see that one."
"Yeah, I just made that one up for old time's sake. Prowl being battered was a Rewind special."

—Chromedome and Skids

"Sir, I don't think you did this to your office because of Ultra Magnus. You're angry, but not about that."
"I'm angry because I failed the crew."
"Or maybe... maybe what's really making you angry is the fact that you didn't defeat Overlord yourself. Fortress Maximus and Chromdome and Rewind—dear Rewind—they got him off the ship. They saved everyone; not you. And you hate it, and you hate that you hate it."
"I think you'd better leave now."
"But my point is that you shouldn't hate yourself for feeling—"
"Quickly."

—Rung gets a little too close to the truth with Rodimus

Skids: "I can't believe Brainstorm brought his briefcase to a funeral. Ever wonder what's in—"
Swerve: "Absolutely all the time."
Whirl: "It'll be exquisite, whatever it is. Brainstorm's a frikkin' artist."
Swerve: "Okay, that's it, new mission: open the briefcase. It'll distract me from Rewind."
Skids: "Great. I look forward to the crippling anticlimax."

"It always ends the same way. I'll leave the room and you'll stick your fingers in your neck; and later, when I ask you how you're feeling, you'll give me that blank look. The worst look. Because then Rewind really will be dead."

—Brainstorm, to Chromedome

"Your attention for a moment. This is Rewind, showing you edited footage from my database. I've probably got about 0.8 seconds before game over, so hear me out. I've always been terrified that you'd die before I did, because you and me apart strikes me as intensely wrong. So promise me something. Be brave. And be strong. And keep going without me. And another thing: no more injecting. It will kill you. And remember: you deserve to be happy. The New Institute was the old you. You're a better person now—stubborn and frustrating, but wonderful. And to think, I will never see you again. One more thing—one last thing—because I don't say it enough: I love you."

—Rewind's final message (edited together for readability)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Magnus's first flashback is to the Battle for Hell's Point, a conflict previously mentioned in "Chaos Theory," Part 1 and Impactor's Autopedia profile in Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 (and sure enough, Impactor does cameo on the first page).
• The Warriors Elite were the subgroup from which the later Phase Sixers would be chosen; they were first mentioned by name back in issue #2 and had their origins properly explained in issue #14. This issue gives us our first look at Heretech, only previously mentioned in #14, and reveals that the wand-wielding Killmaster (intermittently mentioned through Roberts's works starting with issue #5) is also a member of the group. He was not listed among them in #14, indicating he was brought in after Overlord as the fifth (and final?) member.
• It was noted in "Chaos Theory" that the Battle for Hell's Point was Megatron's first outing with his pistol alternate mode, reflected in this issue when Magnus doesn't realize the gun Heretech is holding is Megatron until he speaks.
• Magnus's second flashback is to the battle on the planet Clemency which we saw the Decepticon side of in issue #8. Clemency is revealed to be the location of the Nightmare Engine, a mysterious Decepticon weapon mentioned in Last Stand of the Wreckers #4.
• Magnus's team is on Clemency to save Pious Maximus, a religious figure who appeared in issue #10.
• The K-Class Decepticon with Magnus's name written on his side is Torque, who appeared in issue #8 with Magnus's name on display even then.
• The third flashback takes us to Simanzi, home to the Crucible and site of a famous massacre first mentioned in Rotorstorm's Autopedia profile from Last Stand of the Wreckers #1.
• Magnus's team falls foul of a Cybernought on Simanzi; one of these gigantic battle mechs previously appeared in issue #8.
• We thought Magnus's flashbacks were offering us some insight into a few of his foibles in the More than Meets the Eye series: he smiles at the Warriors Elite (the "one time" that he smiled "and regretted it" referred to in his short bio on the "Meet the Cast" page), his Autobot symbol is crooked at Clemency, he's waist-deep in filth and called "Mags" at Simanzi. Rotorstorm even refers to Magnus' wisecracks, something Skids mentioned in issue #6. All these ran counter to the grim, dirt-hating, badge-obsessive protocol freak we'd seen for the past year, and every time something horribly violent happened to him. Actually, the real reason was something else entirely. At the time, an evil James Roberts said the flashbacks were so we could "remember him as he was"...
• Swerve is playing The Empyrean Suite for Magnus, a piece of music that we learned was running through Skids's head back in issue #8. There, we learned the music has a sinister connotation that we are not yet aware of, but which, per Swerve's dialogue, is evidently common knowledge.
• Skids refers to Trailbreaker's change of name (to Trailcutter), referred to previously in-dialogue in More than Meets the Eye in issue #6, which was explained the same month this issue was published in Spotlight: Trailcutter.
• We get our first glimpse of the decorative flames painted on Rodimus's doorframe, in imitation of those on his chest. They were previously described in the prose story Signal to Noise.
• Unseen Autobots Spoke and Lockstock get another mention, having first been spoken of in issue #12. The running gag is that they're clearly a big noise on the ship, but we never get to see or hear from them; here, they're established to be friends with the super-popular Tripodeca.
• Chromedome's lack of innermost energon was mentioned in issue #12.
• Five previously-seen scenes from the past issues of MTMTE can be spotted among Rewind's collage of video clips:
  • Rodimus addressing the crew after the accident with the quantum engines (issue #2)
  • Prowl urging Rewind to change Chromedome's mind (issue #1)
  • Brainstorm placing a bet on when Rodimus would say "Till all are one" (Annual 2012)
  • Tailgate inquiring about the ending of Rewind's "epic story" (issue #11)
  • Trailbreaker holding Shock's extracted brain module (issue #3)
• Rewind's clips also include a "deleted scene" of sorts, of Swerve saying "this is" with Tailgate behind him. This is from when he introduced Tailgate to Rewind (obviously saying "This is Tailgate") which took place in issue #2, but only Rewind's response is actually in the issue itself.
• Also among Rewind's clips is a shot of Snaptrap behind bars. He's obviously in the brig of the Lost Light following his capture in issue #12, and is still sporting the stab-wound in his faceplate he sustained in that issue.

Transformers references

• Among Magnus's team on Clemency are the Powerdashers, of whom the drill and jet types appear on-panel (but more are indicated to be present). Magnus issues orders to a character named "Cromar"—while this name is not explicitly attached to a character on-page, it was the name given to the jet Powerdasher when it was released by GiG and Joustra in Europe.
• Brainstorm names three of Chromedome's past lovers as Pivot, Scattergun and Mach. The first two are new names, while Mach was the name of a member of the Multiforce from Victory. Same dude? Why not!
• Tripodeca's design seems strongly influenced by Mini-Con High Wire from Transformers: Armada.
• Artist Agustin Padilla accidentally drew Chromedome amongst the Autobots gathered in the shuttle bay on page 17. With a quick edit to the lineart and a new blue, green and white paintjob, colorist Josh Burcham turned the figure into "Toxin", an unofficial redeco of Chromedome created for fan-run Canadian convention TFCon 2011.
• The last clip in Rewind's message features a scraplet in a Petri dish. While they've previously been mentioned, this is the species's first on-panel appearance in the IDW continuity.

Real-life references

• "Gloaming" is an old Scottish word meaning "twilight". That it is also the name of a Radiohead song from their 2003 album Hail to the Thief is only coincidence [1], despite Roberts' predilection for dropping musical references into his work.
• The death clock may or may not be a reference to Professor Farnsworth's invention of the same name and purpose in the Futuama episode "A Big Piece of Garbage."
• The name Chromedome gives a constellation, the "Vis Vitalis", is the name of a classical alchemical principle of a "life force" possessed by living creatures. It was later revealed that famed Autobot Thunder Clash has a ship named the Vis Vitalis.

Other notes

• James Roberts cites this issue as the one he's most proud of, particularly the scenes with Chromedome and Brainstorm and Rewind's final message. He'd wanted to end the Chromedome/Rewind story with those three words but only told IDW & Hasbro late in the day, vaguely worried that this would be controversial. As it turned out, both were supportive.
• When it was initially released through digital retailer Comixology, buyers of this issue found they received a copy of Robots in Disguise #16 instead. The comic was fortunately updated to the correct one within just over an hour.
• Rewind's shattered head-camera is among the drifting debris at the top of page 5.
• Chromedome is wearing a black Autobot insignia in mourning.
• We get one shot of Overlord's smashed body drifting in space, on page 7. He's... preeeetty clearly making a fist, with a handy piece of space debris floating past in the foreground obscuring what may or may not be in that fist. Worrisome.
• Among Rewind's belongings seen on pages 14 and 15 is a black tablet with a blank label. This is a copy of Rewind's Lost Light documentary, "Little Victories", which wound up not getting labelled before the issue went to print.
• The "Meet the Crew" page is completely overhauled this issue, with new mini-bios for everyone. The red "x" implying his death last issue is removed from Ultra Magnus's entry, while the dispatched Pipes and Rewind are replaced with Fortress Maximus and Perceptor. Chromedome's position is listed as "lamentatorem", Latin for "mourner".
• For the first time in the series, the last names of the inker and colorist of the issue were on the front cover.

Errors

• In both past and present sequences, Ultra Magnus is consistently drawn with his original Generation 1 body, a look he's never worn in IDW G1 continuity.
• The name of the Decepticons' giant battle mechs is spelled "Cybernaught" here, but was spelled "Cybernought" back in issue #8. The TPB retains the 'Cybernaught' spelling despite correcting all other typos.
• Swerve and Tailgate are both drawn at around the same height as Ratchet, when they should be much shorter.
• When Chromedome and Skids are standing on the Lost Light's outer hull, neither is wearing magna-clamps on his feet.
• The five coffins at the funeral are each marked by a colored flame. On page 11, they are red, green, white, and two are blue. On page 12, however, Tripodeca's flame is none of these colors, appearing yellow instead.
• As he contemplates playing Rewind's data disc, Chromedome's finger-needles are not shown. He extended them just before this scene, and he has them extended in the very next panel.

Crew manifest

• Tripodeca is revealed to have been among those killed in Overlord's rampage. Four other caskets are jettisoned along with his; assuming one contains Pipes, and that Rewind didn't get one since he left no remains to jettison, that would mean three other unnamed crewmembers were victims of Overlord too.
• Ultra Magnus has ten days of life remaining.
• Tailgate's only got three! Wha-huh?
• 11 deaths, 1 fatal wounding, 5 new arrivals (plus 20 or so Faders), and 1 boxed since the launch.

Soundtrack

• Your Funny Uncle by Pet Shop Boys
• Holes by Mercury Rev
• Tracy by Mogwai
• Les Jour Tristes by Neil Hannon & Yann Tiersen
• The Sadness of Things by Momus
• Embers by Byrne
• Run by Snow Patrol
• Lullaby by Arco

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Drift turns from a shattered Autobot insignia, by Alex Milne and Joana Lafuente
• Cover B: Rodimus, post-tantrum, in his wrecked office, by Nick Roche and Priscilla Tramontano
• Cover RI: Monochrome white (with a few red highlights) bust shot of Drift by Marcelo Matere, continuing the previous three months' "bust" theme for the RI covers, paralleling the RI cover to Robots in Disguise #16.

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External links

• Preview
• Creator Commentary with James Roberts