Dawn of the Predacus

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« Transformers Timelines #12
Combiner Wars
"Dawn of the Predacus"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published April 7, 2016 (BotCon 2016)
Writers John-Paul Bove
Art Corin Howell
Colors John-Paul Bove
Color assists Ed Pirrie
Letters Chris Mowry
Editor John Barber
Continuity IDW Beast Wars continuity

During the last hours of the Great War there can be only one winner...

Synopsis

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots / Maximals Decepticons / Predacons Others

Quotes

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Ironhide references having been killed by G1 Megatron before
  • The profile card for Optimus Primal's BotCon 2006 toy stated that he was a veteran of the last Great War which resulted in the defeat of the Predacons.
  • The profile card for Razorclaw's BotCon 2009 toy (tying into his appearance in "Dawn of Future's Past") stated that he was doublecrossed and assassinated by the Tripredacus Council. However, see below.
  • The downsizing to more energy efficient modes referenced in the show takes place here.
  • The origin of Protoforming technology is established here.
  • The Predacons take their faction name in honor of the G1 Predacons
  • Unicron's head is still in orbit of Cybertron following the events of The Transformers: The Movie
  • The destruction of the moon explains its absence by the time we see Cybertron in Beast Wars.
  • This would not be the last time Primal would have an encounter with Unicron's head...
  • Optimus Primal is a low status exploration and science ship captain during the war.
  • Galvatron, Optimus Prime and Perceptor are all killed off screen.
  • Plans for Magmatron's body and Ravage's Transwarp Cruiser are seen.
  • Tarantulas' manipulation of Megatron started long before the Beast Wars
  • Megatron's dragon obsession is in evidence here
  • Megatron is seen reading a Covenant of Primus shortly before announcing his name
  • Waspinator appears to have always been accident prone


Transformers references

  • Magnaboss references the "such heroic nonsense" line from the movie and gives Prowl and Ironhide a chance for some catharsis...
  • The Swarm is mentioned.
  • One of the Decepticons under Megatron's command is Transformers (2010) Terradive.
  • The Universal Greeting is referenced.
  • Cicadacon laying down the Decepticon sigil echoes Optimus Prime's surrender in Marvel G1 Surrender!
  • The inconsistent units of time used in the G1 Cartoon and Beast Wars are made fun of by Ramhorn

Real-life references

Ironhide refers to BW Megatron as a "Knock-Off" referring to the practice of cheap, low quality copies of official toys.

Dicussion Points

  • Larry DiTillio had differing views on the origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council and, through the creation of Transmatter, Unicronian technology as well as G2 tech is used in part to unlock First Generation Transformers. How Marvel G2 and Sunbow G1 continuity can co-exist is unclear but was never clear how Marvel G1 and Sunbow G1 events were both referenced in Beast Wars itself.
  • Ironhide and Prowl are alive at this point in the story despite their death in Transformers: The Movie. Ironhide makes reference to his return from the dead but not how. Returning from the dead is not without precedent in Transformers fiction however and both Ironhide and Prowl were established as being back as part of Magnaboss in Beast Wars.
  • The author has stated that the story was originally part of a mini series that would feature events following G1 Season 4 and the return of Galvatron and the end of the Golden Age. Pretender and Micromaster technology would have been shown.
  • Many of the characters are not wearing faction symbols. The author has stated that clear factions (especially on the Decepticon side) had fallen down post the events of Season 4 and not every future Maximal and Predacon is an Autobot and Decepticon at the time of the story though they may be supporters/sympathisers. [3]
  • Unit-3 is asked to fill some big shoes and later becomes one of the legs and feet of Magnaboss.
  • Rattrap seems to nickname Optimus Primal within a scene in this book making reference both to his resemblance to Optimus Prime and to mock their mission from the Primal Council.
  • Primal tells Rattrap (as yet unnamed) to shut his "trap" as a possible nod to his future name he gives himself in Beast Wars Part 1.
  • This story predates the existence of Maximals and Predacons, and there is no indication that any sort of downsizing has taken place yet. According to the author ships like the Axalon as well as many buildings were scaled to Generation 1-sized Transformers and then retrofitted post war to accommodate more decks and smaller inhabitants. [4]
  • Many Maximals and Predacons from the cartoon, plus some who didn't appear in the cartoon, existed concurrently with some of the Autobots and Decepticons of old, including several major Generation 1 characters. However, only BW Megatron has any real interaction with Decepticons and Autobots.
  • Many who eventually ended up in the Beast Wars were present at the end of the Great War, with some playing rather prominent roles during the war's end:
    • Beast Wars Megatron seizes a role of authority following Galvatron's demise, bossing Predaking around.
    • Tigatron and Airazor are incredibly important Autobots, to the point that Prowl says that Tigatron is "respected by all sides for his desire for peace," sending him as an emissary to the Decepticons due to his widespread reputation. This echos his later personality traits when awoken on prehistoric Earth and he would again be sent as an emissary by the Vok.
  • Protoforming technology is established as initially a weapon of war. Stasis pods (or a similar technology - see Continuity Errors) were initially used as a form of life support for Autobots and Decepticons who were critically damaged by transmatter the Tripredacus Council members weapon derived in part from Unicron, with "protoform" now describing a quantum state of being suspended between dimensions and realities. Optimus Primal takes possession of some of these stasis pods, stating that he'll "do what we can for them." Based on the use of Protoforms as a means of stasis in the cartoon it is clear that the technology was mastered between the events of this book and the cartoon. The author states that Optimus Primal would be key in unlocking that technology but that at least some of the stasis pods on the Axalon would be protoforms that he had not managed to save. This also answers an unintentional continuity error within the cartoon that when characters who awaken on Earth (with their entire life histories wiped) Primal and others do not react to the loss of their former colleagues and friends. [5]
  • The Tripredacus Council's use of transmatter to change a transformer to a protoform that can then assume a new form is the first use of the technology that would become commonplace during the Beast Wars.
  • Transmatter, possessing biological and technological quantum realities makes the organic aspects of their later beast forms a logical extension.
  • Airazor is in one of these stasis pods (labeled "Airazor") and Tigatron is not, which makes the status quo of "Dawn of Future's Past" difficult to extrapolate. In "Dawn of Future's Past" Airazor is going by a different name and both she and Tigatron look very different implying that Airazor is brought back but not as Airazor.
  • The sight of Generation 1 Inferno becoming a protoform opens the possibility that his protoform could be the basis for Beast Wars Inferno. However, the author stated at BotCon 2016 that this is not necessarily a fact as it was deliberately left open to the reader's interpretation and hasn't ruled out G1 Inferno's return if the story were to be continued.
  • In "The Agenda (Part 1)," the Tripredacus Council talk about having "worked secretly towards the day where we might rise up and take what is rightfully ours", "ever since the Autobots defeated our Decepticon ancestors," which is later contradicted by Tarantulas in "Other Victories" where he states that he and the Tripredacus Council have different origins to Autobots and Decepticons. In Dawn of the Predacus we learn that the Tripredacus Council predate the factions as "First Generation Cybertronians" though they have served the Decepticons.
  • Unnamed 'bots that resemble pre-beast forms of Air Hammer and Blackarachnia are seen walking around in an epilogue set after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia.
  • The death of Predaking, is the origin of the faction name used in Beast Wars. The purple insect face iconography used by the Predacons is unexplained.


Continuity Errors

  • The profile card for the "Dawn of Future's Past" version of Generation 1 Razorclaw says that after the defeat of the Decepticons in the Great War, he led the nascent Predacon faction against the Autobots until the Tripredacus Council seemingly assassinated him. In addition, Divebomb himself appears alive in "Dawn of Future's Past", and the profile card for "Dawn of Future's Past" Laserbeak says that Divebomb recruited Ravage to the Predacons. Those events do not play out here, where Razorclaw's entire team is killed off by Predacus, in the final battle of the Great War. The profile cards have not always connected smoothly with the published fiction and it is unclear if the Funpub Bio Cards connect to the IDW continuity at all.
  • The stasis pods in this story are labelled whereas the pods in the show weren't labeled with who was inside them, aside from the obvious exception of Protoform X. However 300 years passes between this story and the events of Beast Wars and the pods Optimus Primal loads look more like a streamlined coffin than the pods used in the show (which have smaller windows and have kibble attached to the side) so may not be one and the same.

Other trivia

Covers

  • BotCon Edition:
  • Diamond Edition:

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/wordmongerer/status/716433907621736448
  2. ↑ http://wordmongerer.tumblr.com/post/142758963250/this-past-weekend-my-first-transformers-story
  3. ↑ http://wordmongerer.tumblr.com/post/142758963250/this-past-weekend-my-first-transformers-story
  4. ↑ http://wordmongerer.tumblr.com/post/142758963250/this-past-weekend-my-first-transformers-story
  5. ↑ http://wordmongerer.tumblr.com/post/142758963250/this-past-weekend-my-first-transformers-story
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