The War to End All Wars, Part 4
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| "The War to End All Wars" Part 4 | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 25, 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Breakdowns | Guido Guidi | ||||||||||||
| Finishes | Stephen Baskerville | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | John-Paul Bove | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
As the final battle with Jhiaxus's second generation of Cybertronians reaches its end, trouble brews on multiple fronts back on Cybertron.
Synopsis
In Zero Space, the void of nothingness at the end of all time, Spike Witwicky finds himself imprisoned in energy bonds. A disembodied voice informs Spike that he embodies "the trinity"—human, Nebulan and Transformer—which he will use to cross over into the multiverse. When Spike demands that the speaker reveal themselves, the voice claims it has many aspects, and lets Spike "choose" the form it will take; accordingly, the voice manifests in the form of Spike's deceased brother Buster, and reminds guilt-ridden Spike that it was his inaction which led to Buster's death.
On the Hub Network's Throneworld, Jhiaxus has Rodimus Prime brought before him, and once again petitions him to join his empire. Jhiaxus even offers to incorporate the Autobots of Rodimus's choice—presently held captive in the Hub's "Corral"—into his forces, recreating them with new bodies, save those who have been modified with organic components. The one-sided negotiations are soon interrupted by a panicked Rook, who brings news of explosions within the Hub that are severing worlds from the network and destabilizing it—the work of the Wreckers, moving between worlds via the interplanetary "slam tube" rail system. Jhiaxus orders Rodimus to stop them, killing four of the imprisoned Autobots in an attempt to force him, but Rodimus has no means of contacting the Wreckers, and knows that nothing short of death will stop them. Jhiaxus sends forces out to locate the Wreckers; the fleet's departure is observed by the restored Shockwave and the possessed Starscream, who decide to take some action of their own.
On Earth, Linda Chang readies her troops while G.B. Blackrock tries to repair Optimus Prime following his calamitous clash with Fortress Maximus. Linda needs Prime alive to tell them how to re-open the space bridge, so she can rescue Spike... after which a barrage of missiles will close the portal for good!
Meanwhile, peculiar events are transpiring in the Demons' ghetto on Cybertron, where the confused Dinobots watch as the primordial creatures seal themselves within some form of cocoons. This sight causes Grimlock to have a sudden realization—he has recently been controlled by something, and had his memories of the experience erased. The confused Dinobots try to get an explanation out of him, but he hurries off, leaving them only more puzzled by his references to "the dark" and "VsQs".
Elsewhere on the planet, some Autobot techs in the Star Chamber report to their superior officer on the lack of communication from both Earth and Nebulos. As they are working on the matter, Galvatron suddenly enters the chamber and begins slaughtering them all, dark energy streaming from his eyes as he proclaims himself the ravager of worlds!
Back in the Hub, Jhiaxus's forces have caught up with the Wreckers in the slam tubes, and a firefight has erupted. The second-generation warriors' adaptive shielding is making things tough for the Wreckers, but the well-placed detonation of an atmos-field by the commandos takes out their opponents and severs another world from the Hub. Not far away, Shockwave is also getting in on the act, severing more worlds and defending himself by using his still-existing symbiotic connection with the Ark to hold off attackers with the ship's weaponry. Growing increasingly furious at his faltering control of the situation, Jhiaxus has Rodimus escorted from his throneroom and prepares to enter the fray himself. Just before he takes off, however, he is confronted by Starscream, now fully consumed by the re-emergent power of the Underbase. Jhiaxus recognizes the force possessing Starscream as the four senator cohorts he turned upon in millennia past, who seek to complete themselves by absorbing Jhiaxus back into their communal mindscape. As the Underbase energies consume him, Jhiaxus screams for help, but Rook leaves him to his fate.
As the chaos rages outside, Rodimus overpowers his guards with ease, then quickly proceeds to the Corral to liberate his fellow Autobots. With enough damage having been done to the Hub to push it past the point of no return, everyone flees the disintegrating structure—with Shockwave even pausing to recover the unconscious Starscream, surprising himself with his compassionate act. The Hub Network at last collapses in a series of colossal explosions, but as Rodimus surveys the remains, he can only consider the victory a Pyrrhic one; after all, Jhiaxus was merely following the genetic imperative Primus placed in all his children to thwart chaos with order. And this is but the latest experience by Rodimus that suggests Primus's "grand plan" is not all that it appears...
...as back on Cybertron, the corrupted fragment of the Creation Matrix bursts from a lake of energon!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others | |||
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Quotes
"Know what you call thirty enemy combatants on the wrong side of an atmos-field?"
KABOOM!
"A good start."
- —With a dry cool wit like that, Roadbuster could be an action hero
"The... logical course of action would be to depart forthwith. But I feel strangely compelled... to remove Starscream from harm's way. Interrogative: Is this... emotion?"
- —Shockwave
Notes
Continuity notes
- Buster died during Megatron's conquest of Earth, as shown in issue #0.
- Grimlock refers to his encounter with the corrupted Creation Matrix on VsQs (here spelled with a hyphen), from issue #65 of the original Marvel run.
- To nobody's surprise, the force possessing Starscream turns out to the portion of the Underbase made up of the minds of Jhiaxus's four old cohorts seen in issue #0, Boltax, Decanus, and, getting named for the first time, Tallus and Rokan.
Transformers references
- Topspin invites the other Wreckers to "hold onto [their] beryllium baloney."
Errors
- As he is freed from his cell, Hardhead is missing his shoulder cannon. It might have been removed by Jhiaxus's men before they locked him up, of course, but then, Ultra Magnus still has his shoulder launchers.
- Jhiaxus states that he will be eliminating those Autobots with "external species innovations." One of the two recognizable victims he kills, Crosshairs, has an organic component (his Targetmaster partner Pinpointer) that isn't a part of his body, making it unclear which innovation Jhiaxus objects to. (Pinpointer isn't shown on panel, nor was he ever shown in human form again after his initial appearances in the Marvel run.) The other victim, Brainstorm, had a new body built for him by Nebulans.
Covers (3)
- Cover A: The Underbase-possessed Starscream confronts Jhiaxus, by Andrew Wildman and Jason Cardy
- Cover B: Galvatron infused with dark Matrix energy, by Guido Guidi
- Cover RI: Shockwave lays the smack down, by Geoff Senior and Josh Burcham
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