Coalescence

From MediaWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search


It is being brought.
It is being brought.
Oh, he's doin' somethin'...

Another editor is doing extensive changes to this article right now, and is requesting that all other editors hold off on any edits until their work is finished, in order to make sure nothing important gets lost.

« Transformers Timelines
text story 		»
« Shattered Glass »

I hope you like this, you had to wait five years for it!
"Coalescence"
Publisher Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive)
First published December 28, 2016
By Jesse Wittenrich
Illustrations Josh Perez
Editor Luke Thompson
Continuity Shattered Glass
Chronology 2009, 2011, 2016
Page count 84pp

Worlds collide when the Underbase and its attendants threaten the multiverse, as an ancient evil seeks new worlds to conquer...

Synopsis

Universes away, the Fallen is on the cusp of victory, ready to unleash his ultimate weapon. Unfortunately for him, the one being who can stop the god-like Transformer arrives to stop him. As the last descendant of his brothers tears through him, the Fallen finds a fold in space-time and, desperate to escape, plunges himself into it. He soon realizes he's made a miscalculation, however; tumbling through the multiverse, he falls to the edges far beyond where his brothers and sisters in the Thirteen reign, and the normally fiery fallen Prime finds himself shivering...

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Decepticons Autobots Humans Others

Shatteredverse

Others

Shatteredverse

Classicsverse

Others

Quotes

"Stuck? No, no, no. You misunderstand. He can go back to any positive universe he wants. But that is exactly what he doesn’t want. You see there is balance in those universes, in the form of his brothers and sisters. He is alone here though since they’re reluctant to come this far… And he wants to go even further. You see he theorizes that there are more negative universes. And, well, I do believe he wants them."

— Beta Maxx


"The ultimate truth, the real truth is… that there is no truth. None whatsoever. Our existence is merely to have our names added to the historical ledgers. And as Optronix, my name wasn’t even a footnote. But as Optimus Prime, ruler of the Autobots and conqueror of worlds, I think I’ve done better."

—Optimus Prime


"Why does this universe hate me so?"

— Doesn't matter what universe he's in, the universe will always hate Waspinator.

Notes

  • Having spent years in the pipeline, this story follows up on the plot threads of "Transhuman".
  • The main story, first epilogue, and second epilogue take place some time between "Reunification: Part 6" and "Invasion". The third epilogue takes place some time after "The Future Buried...".
  • According to a post by Jesse Wittenrich on the Allspark Forums, the story's original outline was different, with the Underbase sending out agents who would attract Unicron's attention. This was scrapped since the events of Another Light brought Unicron into Shattered Glass via other means. Likewise, the original ending would have had the post-Shroud Nexus Prime components meeting the Shattered Glass version of the Fallen, but Wittenrich felt it better to resolve Depth Charge's story.[1]
  • Wittenrich also stated the time skip was done to "smooth over" some of the inconsistencies without having to devote time on them.


Continuity notes

  • Cyclonus betrayed the Decepticons in "Reunification: Part 4" but is later seen back with Galvatron, his toy bio saying he realised his mistakes while in jail. This story fills in the blanks as the chronologically first story after he was let out. Galvatron has pardoned him of all crimes, to everyone else's distaste.
  • Stonecruncher is noted in this story to have a penchant for changing his chassis, accounting for his differing body designs in "Do Over" and "Distant Fissures".
  • Readers who followed the previous Shattered Glass stories may notice Jetstorm is suddenly a teeny bit more, ah, "effusive" than he used to be, acting much more like his Beast Machines counterpart, which goes without explanation or comment.
  • Star Saber (referred to as just "Saber" in this story) was the first to find out about the Underbase, back at the end of "Transhuman".
  • The Nexus Prime components return, but with a few differences, their names having been changed around–minus Heatwave's–because they are now all native Shattered Glass versions, save for Heatwave as Wittenrich decided to let him keep his name.
  • After years of only existing in his profile and second-hand references, Beta Maxx finally gets to personally appear and star in a Transformers story, in which he is depicted as a companion of Shattered Glass Alpha Trion, as previously noted in his original profile.

Transformers references

  • Per the writer, the opening with the Fallen being killed is not actually Revenge of the Fallen, but it could be a variant Tyran reality.
  • Highwire was actually called Haywire, a more obvious villainous name, but his voice being muffled means he handily has to have a Street Action Mini-Con Team name.
  • Sephie accidentally crippling a foe who is subsequently fixed mechanically harkens back to Circuit Breaker's own origin.
  • Jetstorm, Demolishor, Hot Shot, Windblade, Strongarm, and Side Burn are in fact sentient droids made out of Transformium. Beta Maxx follows up on that by grumbling about the silly name being coined by a small-minded alien, referring to Joshua Joyce, the man who gave the substance its unoriginal name in Age of Extinction.
  • In a cheeky nod to how he originally had control over fire, The Fallen has semi-control over ice in a negative universe, incidentally answering a question long posed on the multiversal singularity page.
  • Demolishor lands in Crystal City shortly before its being attacked by a female Devastator, additionally spotting Doc.
  • Two of the hostages are from planet Beest (that particular spelling of the planet's name originating from the Dreamwave Summer Special story "Welcome to the Jungle"), with one being that universe's version of White Leo, who in turn is also that universe's version of Daburu.
  • Beta Maxx's former occupation as the "sovereign" of the Underbase is likely a reference to the Titan Master Sovereign, whose design is based on Beta Maxx's.

Real-world references

  • Darkwing jokes about intruding on Cyclonus's Fortress of Solitude.
  • Sephie refers to the recent development of touchscreens.
  • Ravage talks about the TV show Stranger Things, specifically mentioning the Upside Down.
  • The revelation about Crasher's unique brain is a subtle nod and wink to her origins, being based on the GoBot Crasher–GoBots of course being cyborgs with organic brains.
  • The game Windblade created for Strongarm is based on Pokémon Go.
  • Hanzo, McCree, Zenyatta, and Genji all hail from the popular PvP game Overwatch. A hero released after this comic was published, named Moira, also has an ultimate ability called "Coalescence". It's probably a coincidence.

Errors

  • There's some inconsistencies in this story compared to the earlier Shattered Glass prose stories, to be expected with a different author. However, those that are outright errors include:
    • Jetstorm is depicted in this story as being essentially the same character as his Beast Machines counterpart, whereas in "Transhuman" he was monotonous and emotionless.
  • Early on, the story notes that Sephie and Rick are in San Diego. However, previous stories showed that California was destroyed in World War III.

Other notes

  • Not strictly an error, but the Shattered Glass version of Arkeville is referred to as "Dr. Arkeville" like his positive-universe counterpart, whereas previous stories have referred to him as "Professor Arkeville" to distinguish him.

References

  1. ↑ Post by NightViper on The Allspark Forums, 2016/12/26
Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.duckdns.org/index.php?title=Coalescence&oldid=1433584"