Expansion

The Expansion is the great plan of the Cybertronians of the Dead Universe. Their goal is to expand the Dead Universe to consume the living universe, where the Cybertronians will bring their greatness and govern all in a new order.

“	The Expansion is upon us. No one can stop it. Not you, not I.	”
—Galvatron, "Spotlight: Galvatron"

Fiction

IDW comics continuity

The Expansion had its origin over 6.7 million years ago, during the reign of Nova Prime. Confident that the Transformers were the highest form of life, Nova believed that they should expand their influence across the cosmos. He commissioned the Ark under the pretense of exploration, secretly planning a conquest. Spotlight: Optimus Prime However, Galvatron, one of the crew members, directed the Ark into the Dead Universe portal in the Benzuli Expanse. The full truth of their time there is unknown, but the Ark crew was driven to a state of living death, and Nova became the fearsome being known as Nemesis Prime. Spotlight: Galvatron More significantly, the Cybertronians were only able to venture to the "living universe" for a short amount of time, or else they would die. The only one able to avoid this effect was Galvatron, and they did not know how he was able to, let alone replicate the process. Spotlight: Cyclonus Needless to say, this added a wrinkle into the Expansion.

Millions of years later, after Cybertron was laid waste and Optimus Prime became leader of the Autobots, Nightbeat traveled to Gorlam Prime, where he was apprehended by Galvatron and others. Nemesis decided that it was time to prepare for the Expansion, having Straxus place a device in Nightbeat's cerebral chamber. Spotlight: Nightbeat He ordered Jhiaxus to prepare the Nega-Core, which would play a significant role in making the Expansion come about. He also sent Galvatron to retrieve Thunderwing from Hound's unit on Cybertron, killing Leadfoot in the process. Spotlight: Galvatron After this, Galvatron was dispatched to Earth to prevent the Reapers from destroying it, as Earth was part of the Expansion. Devastation

When Jhiaxus finished the Nega-Core, Nemesis Prime dispatched Cyclonus to prepare it for activation, using Thunderwing as its guardian. Learning that it was almost ready, Nemesis Prime ordered his minions to prepare for the Expansion. Spotlight: Cyclonus Activating the implant in Nightbeat's head, Jhiaxus revealed to Hardhead that Gorlam Prime was part of his experiments in converting organic species to the Cybertronian form, as well as preparing them for the harshness of the Expansion to come. The resulting event was to be a merging of the existing universe with the strange lifeless realm of the Dead Universe, after which the Cybertronian elite would govern all. Spotlight: Hardhead

Prompted by Dealer, Hot Rod recovered the Magnificence, which gave the Autobots much-needed information about the Expansion. However, Nemesis Prime used the Darkness to strike down Optimus Prime, who needed to be gone before the Expansion could occur. Spotlight: Doubledealer

Using the information gained from the Magnificence and technology Bludgeon had developed to control Thunderwing, the Autobots who underwent polydermal grafting managed to steal the Nega-Cores from their guardians. Nemesis Prime, who found that the Darkness wished to take Optimus Prime, was killed by Galvatron, who offered to take the Darkness from Optimus. He agreed, but the Autobot leader then hurled the fully possessed Galvatron into a solar pool. With control breaking down, Jhiaxus was attacked by his former creation Arcee, and was chased through Gorlam Prime. Hound's team on Earth went for Grindcore and Straxus, with Sideswipe managing to take them both on. The grafted Autobots managed to push the three Nega-Cores into the Dead Universe, and get out before they exploded, sealing the Dead Universe. This caused every Cybertronian outside the Dead Universe to immediately die, with the exception of Jhiaxus, who was near the portal on Gorlam Prime. However, Hardhead, who was now a resident of the Dead Universe himself, blocked Jhiaxus' escape, allowing Arcee to decapitate him and kill him for as long as she wanted. With Nemesis Prime dead and the Darkness destroyed with Galvatron, the Expansion had come to end.

But not really, for on Garrus-9, a hand rose from the solar pool that Optimus Prime had tossed Galvatron into... Spotlight: Sideswipe

Trivia

• Expansion was also the name for what would have been the six-issue miniseries set after (the originally six-issue) Revelation miniseries, and would have extended the storyline of Nemesis Prime and Jhiaxus's schemes. Unfortunately, IDW Publishing canceled Expansion and truncated Revelation in favor of All Hail Megatron.