Generations Selects Special Comic Finale

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« Generations Selects Special Comic Finale Part 2
Publisher TakaraTomy Mall
First published April 8, 2021
Manga Hayato Sakamoto
Additional art by Masaru Sakamoto (p 6, panel 1)
Alex Milne (p 7, panel 5)
Nick Roche (p 9, panel 1)
Shōji Imaki (p 15, panel 1)
Rakurai Tsunetaka
Lebanon Sugi
Rui Onishi
Tai Koshii
Colorist Rakurai Tsunetaka (1, 8, 17p)
Lebanon Sugi (2, 3, 21, 22p)
Zoner (4, 5, 13p)
Josh Perez (6, 7, 9, 18, 19, 20, 23p)
Rui Onishi (10, 12p)
Tai Koshii (11, 14p)
Kyarara Rena (15, 16p)
Editor Kouji Nimura
Tori O'Regan
Continuity Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

It all ends (and begins?) here as Optimus Prime and Galvatron's fantastic journey comes to its epic conclusion!

Synopsis


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(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots/Maximals Decepticons/Predacons Primus Vanguard Others

Seacons

New Primus Vanguard

Golden Age

Selectors

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Right off the bat, in Primus's vision of his future (the Known World's past), he is trapped within the Matrix of Leadership, which Primacron describes as "Your [Primus's] Matrix" and claims that it was the very thing that created this new universe, as if to say that the Matrix of Leadership was itself created from the Silver Matrix.
  • Also in said vision, Primus's new simian body is the very same one as Primacron's assistant from the episode "Call of the Primitives", as part of a long and complex retcon to bring the Primus character in the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon universe, first begun by the Kiss Players series.
  • Primacron remaking Primus into not just his new assistant but specifically into an ape-like form was previously foreshadowed back in "Part 1" with his Assistant Corps consisting entirely of Partner Drones with gorilla-based forms.
  • Primacron also states of Primus, "And you can call [life] forth, just as one lights a fire." This particular wording feels like a callback to a similar analogy Primacron gave in the Transformers Generations 2014 Vol. 1 comic story "Controverse", in which Primacron compared his ability to create robotic life with souls to one knowing how to build a fire but not actually bringing forth said fire into existence. Here, the latter ability is firmly attributed to Primus, with Primacron using his new assistant to bring forth new robotic life.
  • In the Generation 1 cartoon, the Matrix of Leadership was presented as a fount of wisdom and energy capable of destroying Unicron, but was never shown to be a life-giving object like its counterpart in the Marvel comic, the Creation Matrix, was. Here, however, as further part of the big Primus retcon, it is indeed used to create new life as Primacron has Primus create new life via the Matrix's power, also tying it back into the Silver Matrix's universe-creating ability with the Zodiac.
  • Primacron has Primus, as his assistant, create beings belonging to five familiar robotic races from Generation 1 animated media: A Xetaxxian, a Lanarqan (both from "The Quintesson Journal"), a Lithone, a Junkion (both from The Transformers: The Movie), and an inhabitant of Twin Star (from "Battle for Defense of the False Planet").
  • Unicron's creation by and defiance of Primacron, as well as Primus's fleeing of Primacron within the Matrix of Leadership, are taken straight out of "Call of the Primitives". Likewise, the barren planet that the Matrix/Primus flees to is said to be at the center of the galaxy, also stated in that episode. Though, as further part of the big Primus retcon, it was declared by TakaraTomy that (at least in the Japanese version) all of the scenes set on that planet in the episode took place in the distant past after the Primitives had arrived there via time travel, so as to make that ancient planet the original past form of Cybertron (when it was originally a completely different planet that existed in the present day with no time travel involved in the original English version of the episode).
  • Additionally, when he arrives at this barren planet, Primus says, "I'll create a paradise here... A happy world covered in green." This is yet another piece of the big retcon that refers to how Cybertron originally had a lush, organic ecosystem before the first Transformers came and turned it into a metallic world, as given by the Beast Machines cartoon. This world is soon met by the alien Quintessons, who mechanize the planet and imprison Primus within Vector Sigma, uses his power to create the Cybertronian race, firmly connecting both Vector Sigma and the Quintessons to the Primus retcon as well.
  • The Quintessons claim to have used a cyberforming ray to mechanize Cybertron. This process was shown to have specifically been done using the Key to Vector Sigma in the Legends pack-in comic included with Grand Maximus. Although, in the two-part episode that first introduced said key, "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1" and "Part 2", its ability to turn organic matter into technomatter was supposed to have been an anomaly created when it was taken off Cybertron and brought to Earth, but which has since pretty much become its defining trait even when on Cybertron.
  • The humanoid Quintesson leader who uses the Matrix to control Vector Sigma is none other than It, an ancient entity found within the Matrix seen first in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2" and later again in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2". Here, it is depicted with a full body of its own, based on Floro Dery's original Quintesson design. It also sports a spiffy Rodimus Prime-esque color scheme, based on a brief glimpse of It seen as such in the former episode.
  • Seen among the Quintessons who first arrive on the planet that would become Cybertron is Mara-Al-Utha from the episode "Madman's Paradise". He is wearing his Red Wizard robes at a point set long before he would be banished to Menonia and become known as said wizard. Guess he was always a fashionable Quint.
  • The five early Cybertronians seen created by Vector Sigma, who all bear some resemblance to Rodimus Prime, are the same five who were seen in Rodimus's journey into the Matrix back in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4".
  • The Cybertronian slave revolt against the Quintessons (from "Forever Is a Long Time Coming"), Vector Sigma giving life to the Stunticons (from "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1"), and the events leading up to Cybertron's destruction (from "Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1" and "Part 2") are all witnessed in Primus's vision.
  • It is revealed that Primus's energy is good Angolmois Energy. Before it was revealed to be Unicron's energy in Beast Wars Neo, Angolmois Energy was depicted in Beast Wars II as the sacred life energy of Planet Gaia, which could be used for either good or evil depending on its user. This revelation of it also being Primus's energy seems to tie back into the original idea of there being both good and evil variants, also explaining why the Matrix of Leadership could destroy Unicron, in that good Angolmois Energy can counteract evil Angolmois Energy.
  • Optimus Prime recognizes Lio Convoy by name, and knows that he is from the future, after having previously met and teamed up with him back during the events of Robotmasters.
  • Lio Convoy just showing up out of nowhere on Earth in 2050 actually does align with what was revealed about him in episode 29 of Beast Wars Neo. In that episode, it was said that the wormhole that he ended up in (at the end of the final episode of Beast Wars II) sent him back in time to the planet Dinosaur to witness its destruction by Unicron. A flashback of said planet's destruction showed Unicron to still have his giant planet body that was destroyed back in The Transformers: The Movie, meaning that Lio Convoy was sent all the way back to, at the latest, the early 21st Century at some point before the events of the movie. His showing up here, and declaring his hesitance of interfering with history, coupled with his full knowledge of Angolmois Energy's true nature when he first appears in Beast Wars Neo, all suggests that he returned to his future time by taking the long way back home. Yikes.
  • When Green Megatron is possessed by "the final Megatron", he adopts a Cybertron Alliance cape and gains a fiery glow in his right eye. This is a visual callback to an appearance by this particular individual seen at the end of the "Cybertron Magna Convoy" comic, now revealed to be none other than Megatron himself (that is, the Megatron of 2050 purified by good Angolmois Energy).
  • When the newly-revived Unicron is defeated in 2011, he is ultimately sealed away within the Triple Z Point, setting up the status his physical remains by the time of both Beast Wars Neo and Unite Warriors (however, see "Continuity errors" below).
  • When the inhabitants of Earth leave the planet in 2050, they first go to the Moon before Spike says that they'll spend some time on Mars before truly departing into space. Their going first to the Moon seems to be setting up the fact that the androids Artemis and Moon (who have been seen working with humans on Earth in previous chapters) will be stationed on the Moon by the time of Beast Wars II. Similarly, Spike's statement about Mars explains why there were both ruins of an ancient civilization and a messenger drone found on Mars in the Beast Wars II episode "Emissary of the Fourth Planet".
  • The Transformers erasing all information about Earth to keep its Angolmois Energy safe and hidden provides an explanation for why Planet Gaia was so mysterious a planet by the time of Beast Wars II, and also coincides with how Earth-space was deemed a forbidden zone by the Maximal High Council in the Beast Wars episode "Deep Metal".
  • When Lio Convoy's powered-up green form made its debut in the episode "Legend! The Green Warrior", it was described in narration as "legendary" despite the fact that that was the first time he had ever assumed that form. Here, with Lio Convoy powering up to that form in 2050, we are given the explanation that the green lion form of his "became a legend" in the aftermath of Megatron Omega's defeat, creating a predestination paradox in the form's legendary status.
  • Finally, the last two pages of this story provide a long-awaited answer for how the original Spin Off stories involving Convobat and Magna Convoy fit into this larger storyline, in that they all take place in the Precursor World after all of these Selects comics, but still at a point before the Precursor World meets its end and forms the new universe of the G1 World. In the final shot, we see the seven individuals who have inherited the Seven Lights of The One as originally glimpsed at the end of the "Cybertron Magna Convoy" comic.

Continuity errors

  • In a bit of toy-accuracy promotion, Unicron's face is blown off by Primus/Oracle, revealing the inner working details of his head as seen on his Planet class toy. However, this is at odds with how, when his physical remains are later seen in both Beast Wars Neo and Unite Warriors, his face is completely intact.

Transformers references

Trivia

  • Black Go Prime's glowing spirit form has a blue hue to it that calls to mind the original use of his toy mold: Thundertron. Though, the deco layouts are not identical (Black's head glows dark blue rather than white, for instance, looking more like Prime Leo Prime's noggin), so it's not a repurpose.
  • This whole series has played around with the idea of one of the Transformers' deities hailing from a universe predating the present one and carrying over into the next, wherein their polar opposite is created as an eternal rival. This idea originated in the Marvel comic series as the backstory for Unicron, with Issue #74 stating that he existed in an old universe and while Primus was created to oppose him in the new one. Here, the story is turned on its head with Primus hailing from the old universe while Unicron is created in the new one. Unicron was even (unwittingly) partly responsible for Primus's creation in the comics, while here it is Primus who (against his will) helps to create Unicron. Oh the irony!
  • Selects series colorist Josh Perez released a Twitter thread commemorating the comic's conclusion detailing his influences for the designs of the various Sentinels.[1]
    • The Yellow Order Sentinel is very specifically modeled after Bumblebee's Legends class Classics toy as something of a signature, Perez being a noted Bumblebee collector.
    • The Green Order Sentinel is primarily based on the Unicron of Light, with a splash of Green Lantern and Ben 10 for spice.
    • The Purple Order Sentinel continues the established motif of the Purple Order by closely mapping the character model of SSSS.Gridman character Akane Shinjō, as much as a space shuttle can look like an anime schoolgirl anyway.
    • The Black Order Sentinel is loosely inspired by the Brave character Dino Geist, as well as Bass from Mega Man.
    • Lastly, the White Order Sentinel is based on the McDonald's/Tomy Commandron toys, which Perez had previously used as inspiration for the color scheme of Sterling. Perez notes that any resemblance to Halonix Maximus was entirely coincidental.

References

  1. ↑ Josh Perez's Twitter
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