Great War (Prime)
| The name or term "Great War" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Great War (disambiguation). |
- The Great War is a historical event from the Aligned continuity family. The exact order of events in the war varies between sources due to the Aligned continuity family's "squint test", but events are outlined in order as best as they can be.
Taking place directly after the Age of Rust, the Great War was a violent outburst of fighting on the planet Cybertron, between the newly christened Autobots and Decepticons. After cycles of social stratification caused by the caste system, the bloated bureaucracy established during the Age of Wrath, and the trauma of the Rust Plague, two prominent individuals emerged in Cybertronian politics: a gladiator named Megatron from Kaon and an archivist from the Iacon Hall of Records named Orion Pax. While initially working together, Orion's ascension as Optimus Prime led to the two forces fighting for several million stellar cycles. Although the two warring factions would temporarily come together to face a common threat, such as the Quintessons and Unicron, these truces were often short-lived.
The Great War can be divided into four distinct eras:
- The War for Cybertron
- The Great Exodus, or the Fall of Cybertron
- The War Across the Stars (as depicted in Transformers: Exiles and Transformers: Retribution)
- The War on Modern-Day Earth (as depicted in Transformers: Prime)
Fiction
Before the War
The Great War
The War for Cybertron
Early Decepticon Victories
The Great War truly began with the High Council's decision that Orion Pax should be the next Prime. Transformers: Exodus One Shall Rise, Part 3 Megatron, furious, kills Halogen in anger, causing the first casualty in the war. While the Autobots maintain control of Iacon and Kalis, the Decepticons operate from the Badlands region, where Kaon and Slaughter City reside.
The war immediately begins in the Decepticon's favor, with Megatron and his Seekers (excluding Starscream) attacking Fort Scyk in Stanix, defeating the unprepared bots there. The spaceport at the Hydrax Plateau becomes the Decepticons' next target due to its proximity to Fort Scyk, the Sea of Rust, and the Badlands. Ultra Magnus and the Council Guardians that would later be known as the Wreckers fought on the eastern front, while Optimus Prime held off the southern advance in his first battle. Decepticons would ultimately prevail, taking control of the majority of Cybertron's eastern hemisphere for much of the war.
Polyhex and Crystal City would be the sites of the next Decepticon victories, with Shockwave unleashing the Constructicon combiner Devastator on Crystal City. Devastator loomed over the Refracting Gardens and smashed open the wall, allowing the Decepticons to flood in, destroying every trace of the city's once dazzling beauty. While the city is lost, many of its' scientists' research and treasures escape or survive the city's fall. Shockwave would begin to operate in the city's ruins, reviving Bruticus, Transformers: Exodus as the Decepticon Biological Warfare Program begins developing biological weapons such as the Cybonic plague. Sick Mind The Autobots abandon Crystal City and fall back to Kalis, recognizing that if the Decepticons gain control of the Energon resources at Kalis, the war is over. Transformers: Exodus
The Decepticons march onto Praxus, which had initially sympathized with the Decepticon ideology before eventually turning against Megatron. Prowl and Ironhide, citizens of Praxus, join the Autobot resistance, with the Autobots having their first all-out stand against the 'Cons. The city-state is ultimately leveled by the fighting, with heavy losses on all sides. Megatron in particular found the Decepticons vulnerable to the same supply chain issues experienced by the Autobots in the Battle for Hydrax Plateau. Angered by the Praxians' support for the Autobots, he begins acting more as a conqueror than a revolutionary, unleashing Bruticus Maximus to massacre Nova Cronum. Exodus
Kalis and Tyger Pax
The war comes for Kalis, but surprisingly Autobots have their first major victory. This occurs for three reasons: First, the absence of Decepticon seekers; Second: the defeat of Bruticus by Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, and Jazz, and Third; Autobots manage to drive off land-based Decepticons using long-range combat techniques. Meanwhile, Megatron pulls Shockwave out of Crystal City to control Tarn and Vos. Shockwave, upset at being taken away from Crystal City, suppresses any dissenters remaining in the cities, before manipulating the two cities into destroying each other. Shockwave's focus on Tarn and Vos allows Minicon saboteurs to steal and reverse-engineer Shockwave's secrets, and before long the Autobots create their own combiners. Exodus Optimus Prime assigns Ultra Magnus to lead the unruly squadron known as the Wreckers in the hopes of instilling discipline into their ranks Project Predacon and with the aid of the newly created Defensor the team defends the Tagan Heights against the Constructicons, although the fighting between Defensor and Devastator demolishes the area. Exodus
After centuries of stasis, the AllSpark creates a final generation of Transformers, most of whom side with the Autobots. Among them is the Autobot Bumblebee, who distinguishes himself on the battlefield and becomes one of Optimus Prime's closest compatriots. Exodus Another young Autobot named Smokescreen enters the boot camp of the Elite Guard with hopes of becoming a full-fledged soldier. New Recruit
As the war continues, the Autobots are gradually outnumbered and outgunned. Optimus Prime makes the painful decision to eject the AllSpark from Cybertron, so that Megatron cannot create more Transformers. The Battle of Tyger Pax occurs, with Bumblebee encountering Barricade and Megatron himself Bumblebee at Tyger Pax. The Allspark was fired into deep space Transformers: Exodus Bumblebee at Tyger Pax, and Megatron destroyed Bumblebee's voice box. A medic, Ratchet, would save Bumblebee's life, but his voice box was lost. Transformers: Exodus Bumblebee at Tyger Pax Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 A standstill ensues. Exodus Predacons Rising
Various events take place at unspecified times during the war: Optimus Prime survives an assassination attempt by Skyquake at the Battle of Technahar, Masters & Students while Arcee and her combat partner Tailgate serve in Delta Team for most of the war. After a raid on a Decepticon munitions depot, both of them are captured and interrogated by the Decepticon Airachnid. Although Arcee is rescued by Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, they are too late to save Tailgate. Predatory At least some battles take place off Cybertron with the Wreckers having an adventure on Sandokan. Loose Cannons Meanwhile, Autobots eject the data cylinders from Cybertron to prevent Decepticons from using the vital knowledge within, T.M.I. while Primus warns Windblade of a rising evil, and sent her to Earth after modifying her body and enhancing her sensors. The Buzz on Windblade
The Dark Energon Crisis
Just like a Christmas tree!
Seeking a new edge in the war, Megatron storms Trypticon Station and wrests control of it from Starscream, empowering himself and other Decepticons with Dark Energon stored there. As part of their next strike, the Decepticon-allied Seekers travel deep underneath Cybertron in search of the long-abandoned Geosynchronous Energon Bridge beneath the ruins of Crystal City, which will allow the manufacture of new Dark Energon for the Decepticons' use.
Megatron leads a group of Decepticons into Iacon, to find a means of traveling to the very core of Cybertron to spread the Dark Energon. Though Sentinel Zeta Prime attempts to stand in his way, he is soon defeated by the vengeful Decepticon—but unbeknownst to Megatron, Omega Supreme is reactivated due to these events, and is intent on stopping the Decepticons. The Decepticon forces manage to cripple the Guardian's alternate mode, and Megatron and his troops soon defeat him on ground level. Because of this, the Decepticon leader manages to reach Cybertron's core and corrupt it with Dark Energon—a critical blow against the Autobots. Exodus War For Cybertron
The Autobots muster a counter-attack to rout the remaining Decepticons from Iacon. Sentinel, now imprisoned in Kaon, manages to send a transmission, and a small group of Autobots, lead by Optimus, soon launch an incursion into the prison to recover him. However, the former Prime perishes just as he has been rescued, and his body is returned to Iacon. Heading down through Cybertron's inner layers, Optimus finds much of the planet is thoroughly infected by Dark Energon. Exodus War For Cybertron
Primus, speaking to Optimus as the Core, tells Prime that Cybertron is so greatly corrupted that it will take millions of years of shutdown to undo the grievous damage done by Megatron's Dark Energon. Optimus is given the Matrix of Leadership by the Core, which contains a portion of Cybertron's spark. Exodus War For Cybertron One Shall Rise, Part 3 With the core's shutdown, Windblade is left in stasis on Earth. The Buzz on Windblade
The Fall of Cybertron
The Great Exodus Begins
As soon as Prime reaches the surface, he orders that an exodus from Cybertron will take place immediately. Preparations are made to flee the planet, but many of the escaping galactic transports are shot down by Trypticon Station before they can leave Cybertron's orbit. Trypticon itself comes to life, thanks to multiple sparks implanted by Shockwave, and Optimus Prime leads his forces in a battle to knock it out of orbit. The ensuing battle results in Trypticon hurtling towards Cybertron's surface. However, Trypticon is not killed, and it transforms into its robot form. After another battle with it, Optimus and his forces regroup at the site of the Ark, a deep-space interceptor and the flagship of the makeshift Autobot fleet. Exodus War For Cybertron
The Dark Spark
With the Decepticons in control of most of Cybertron, the remaining Autobots begin fuelling the ship with scavenged Energon. Both factions develop an interest in the ancient, powerful artifact known as the Dark Spark, and the Decepticons manage to locate and open the vault below Crystal City that contains it. Shockwave makes contact with the Insecticons, subterranean creatures that have been driven to the surface after Cybertron's core shut down. The Decepticon scientist manages to form an alliance with these creatures, and their sentient representatives- Kickback, Hardshell, and Sharpshot- join the Decepticons, pledging the support of their numerous feral brethren.
However, the Decepticons and Insecticons are tailed by the Autobots, and a running battle ensues, with both groups trying to return the artifact to their respective strongholds. Eventually, the Decepticons succeed in bringing the Dark Spark to Megatron at Kolkular, where he places the artifact in his chest in imitation of the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus Prime arrives to confront the Decepticon leader, but is set upon by a horde of undead Autobots reanimated by the Dark Spark's power. The Autobot leader overcomes these corrupted foes and engages Megatron, and the two combatants unleash the powers of the artifacts in their chests. The power of the Matrix of Leadership wins out, violently ejecting the Dark Spark from the Decepticon leader and into space. With the artifact no longer a threat, Optimus orders the Autobots to fall back to Iacon and the Ark. Rise of the Dark Spark
Origin of the Dinobots and the Ark's Departure
While most of the Autobots ready the Ark for liftoff, the Lightning Strike Coalition warrior Swoop discovers a massive reserve of untainted Energon in the Sea of Rust. He tries to contact Grimlock and the other Autobots, but is captured by Shockwave before he can reveal the nature of his discovery. Grimlock and the rest of his squadron disobey Prime's orders and hijack an Autobot dropship to rescue him. Grimlock, Snarl, Slug, and Sludge reach the outskirts of Shockwave's tower, but are overwhelmed by Shockwave's Insecticons and taken captive by Shockwave, who has plans for the quintet of warriors. Inspired by alien lifeforms he has viewed with ancient Space Bridge technology, he begins experimenting on them. Transformers Hall of Fame Fall of Cybertron (game) Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (comic)
Shockwave uses the critically injured Sludge as a test run, successfully rebuilding his alternate mode into a sauropod dinosaur, before ordering Kickback to dump his body in the tunnels underneath the Rust Sea. Beast Hunters #2 Shockwave rebuilds the rest into powerful berserkers with saurian alternate modes and imprisons them in his tower, intending to use them as his own personal warriors. Transformers Hall of Fame Fall of Cybertron (game) Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (comic)
With Grimlock missing in action, Optimus leads his warriors to buy time for the Autobots to shut down Iacon and launch the Ark. Optimus discovers the existence of Metroplex, an enormous Autobot incorporated into Iacon's structure who has lain dormant for millions of years. Optimus and Metroplex team up to help fight the Decepticons, and despite suffering numerous injuries Metroplex manages to deal a lethal blow to Megatron, grievously injuring him. However, the attack depletes all of the Autobot's remaining supplies of energon. With Megatron out of commission, Starscream takes advantage of the situation and declares himself the new leader of the Decepticons.
Jazz and Cliffjumper go searching for Grimlock and his forces in the Sea of Rust, where they find Shockwave's tower, Sludge's body in stasis lock and the uncorrupted Energon Swoop had discovered earlier. However, on Starscream's orders, the Combaticons attack the Autobot convoy, then combine into Bruticus and crash the transport, recovering half of the Energon. Starscream is unimpressed with their performance and orders their imprisonment. Meanwhile, Soundwave has recovered Megatron's remains and rebuilds his body, using an infusion of Dark Energon to revive him. Megatron confronts Starscream and resumes control of the Decepticons. Seeking use of Trypticon, Megatron heads for his location in Iacon and successfully scavenges many of his components.
In Shockwave's lab, a disgraced Starscream discovers Grimlock, who he attempts to recruit to his cause. Grimlock throws Starscream into the wall and escapes. As he fights his way through Shockwave's cadre of Decepticons and Insecticons, Grimlock reunites with the surviving members of the Lightning Strike Coalition, although he believes Sludge is dead. Now operating as the "Dinobots", Grimlock confronts Shockwave and destroys his space bridge. Both are caught in the ensuing explosion.
Metroplex sacrifices his life to ensure that the Ark can launch. Optimus and many of the Autobots escape aboard the Ark. They are pursued, however, by Megatron aboard Trypticon, now a spacecraft dubbed the Nemesis. The two vehicles and their respective crews battle as they race for the space bridge above the planet, which explodes, scattering the two vessels across the galaxy. Exodus Fall of Cybertron Some stay behind on Cybertron, including Shockwave, the Dinobots, and Ultra Magnus and his Wreckers. Rage of the Dinobots
The War Across the Stars
The War on Earth
Aftermath
Major events of the Great War (Prime)
- After several adventures through the cosmos, Optimus clashes with Megatron on Earth, following which, the Decepticon leader departs into space to search for an army. While the Autobots ally themselves with the United States of America, Starscream is left in command and lays low, leaving the smaller conflict stagnant until he kills Cliffjumper three years into their stay on Earth. Three human children, Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Raf Esquivel are caught up in the conflict and become members of Optimus' unit. Megatron soon returns and brings Dark Energon to Earth, officially renewing the war. Darkness Rising
- The Autobots and Decepticons ally to defeat Unicron, who is revealed to be Earth's core. One Shall Stand
- After a lengthy arms race over relics scattered on Earth, both factions battle over the right to revive Cybertron through the Omega Lock, but when forced into a corner, Optimus destroys it, dooming Cybertron to remain lifeless. The Autobots are dealt a crushing defeat by Megatron in retaliation, Darkest Hour but eventually successfully regain lost ground when Ultra Magnus arrives on Earth. Rebellion
- On the verge of creating a new army of cloned Predacons, the Decepticons lose more than half of their military strength thanks to a mishap involving a Terrorcon infestation, severely weakening their war effort. Thirst This coupled with Predaking revealing his sentience causes Megatron to terminate the cloning scheme, and he resolves to repair the Omega Lock. Evolution Minus One
- When the Omega Lock is completed, the Autobots attack the Nemesis, killing Megatron and reviving Cybertron, effectively ending the Great War with an Autobot victory. Deadlock After reclaiming the AllSpark, Optimus returns to Cybertron to find Unicron attacking the planet, and seals the Chaos Bringer away. Optimus sacrifices himself to restore the AllSpark to the Core of the planet, while a revived Megatron dissolves the Decepticon movement. Predacons Rising
- ↑ Assorted promotional material for the Fall of Cybertron video game dates this period to 70 million years ago. This seems particularly excessive, even for a race that normally measures its history in millions of years, and is clearly only employed to justify the presence of dinosaurs on Earth, so Shockwave can create the Dinobots by studying them. IDW's Fall of Cybertron comic addressed this by making it clear that Shockwave was looking through time as well as space, as he makes mention of the dinosaurs' extinction by meteorite, establishing that this era is after the dinosaurs died out. This is also reinforced (perhaps unintentionally) by the fact that Snarl and Sludge transform into a Stegosaurus and an Apatosaurus- dinosaur species that lived almost a hundred million years before T. rex, Pteranodon, and Triceratops. Later, solicitations for IDW's first Beast Hunters comic issue would establish that series's setting as "a few thousand years" after this era, and that comic's exact point in time would be spelled out in the final two Beast Hunters issues, placing it towards the end of the Prime cartoon in the present day era.
