Loose Ends, Part 5

« The Transformers: Regeneration One #85 »
"I threw a rock at him." "It was a big rock."
"Loose Ends" Part 5
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	November 7, 2012
Cover date	November 2012
Writer	Simon Furman
Penciler	Andrew Wildman
Inker	Stephen Baskerville
Colorist	John-Paul Bove
Letterer	Chris Mowry
Editor	John Barber
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

One stands... one falls!

Synopsis

In the realm of Zero Space, the nothingness at the end of all time... a crack appears in the fabric of the universe...

Optimus Prime leads his Autobots into Washington, D.C., there to confront Megatron in final conflict. Riddled with guilt over the fate of Earth, essentially a result of his own inaction, Prime manages to keep himself composed as he commands Megatron to let the captive Springer go... but when Megatron kills the Wreckers' leader with a single fusion cannon blast, all the fury Prime has suppressed comes spilling out. As Megatron's zombie Decepticons engage the other Autobots, the two ancient enemies meet in battle, with Megatron gleefully revealing that he has taken steps to ensure this will be their last confrontation: when their duel reaches its end, whatever the outcome, Auntie, the Ark's computer, is programmed to launch nuclear missiles all across the world, destroying winners, losers, and everyone else.

In the Yukon, the Wreckers and their human allies continue their press toward the Ark, battling their way through a phalanx of Guardian robots. Discovering that Circuit Smasher's powers are unable to damage the robots, and that they consequently do not register him as a threat, Roadbuster instructs the cybernetic superhuman to leave them behind and enter the Ark alone, gambling that the ship's systems will not react to him. Circuit Smasher is able to make it into Auntie's mainframe nest, but once there, the computer registers his presence and traps him in a cloud of nano-parasites that threaten to dissolve him within minutes.

Meanwhile, a new crisis grips the Autobots on Cybertron: Soundwave has penetrated the Hall of Silence, resting place of Thunderwing's remains. With a null field keeping the Autobots out of the facility, Grapple advocates destroying it entirely to prevent the reservoir of Matrix energy that still lingers within Thunderwing's body from falling into Decepticon hands, but acting commander Hot Rod can only wonder how Optimus Prime would handle the situation...

Back on Earth, while Prime and Megatron's battle continues to rage, the Scraplet-infected Kup drags himself toward Megatron's battle sled, following Starscream's instruction to kill the still-living head of Ratchet mounted on its prow. Doing so will kill Megatron through the psychic link he and Ratchet share; the very link that gave him the scientific knowledge to revive the dead Decepticons and take control of Auntie. First Aid attempts to tend to Kup, but the elderly 'bot instead demands the medic's gun and has him hold his arm steady so he can deliver the killshot. Simultaneously, Optimus Prime pins Megatron and prepares to crush his eternal foe with a huge chunk of rubble... but when Megatron laughs that doing so will make Prime as bad as he is, Optimus relents, and Megatron seizes the opening to stab the Autobot leader with a shard of debris. The tables turned, Megatron leans in for the kill, at which point Kup shoots Ratchet point-blank. Megatron screams in agony, and Prime plunges his fist into the Decepticon's chest, ripping out his spark and killing him once and for all. Their clash at an end, Auntie is seconds away from letting the missiles fly, but Circuit Smasher is able to attune his powers to her systems and shorts them all out, shutting down the Ark, and with it the missiles, the zombie Decepticons and the Guardians.

But elsewhere in the frozen wastes of the Yukon... a crack appears in the ice... and from the frozen depths, Galvatron emerges!

And across the universe, on Nebulos, Grimlock finds himself a prisoner of Scorponok. The Decepticon's head, long left behind on the planet after his merging with Lord Zarak, now sits atop a new, functional body and he offers Grimlock the same treatment, thereby restoring his lost powers of transformation, but in return Grimlock must stand at Scorponok's side as he begins a plan to rewrite Cybertronian evolution!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"But I can't help wondering...what Optimus Prime would do?"

—Hot Rod confirms that Prime is Jesus.

"I should have put you down centuries ago... like the rabid dog you are! This time we end it - once and for all."

—Optimus Prime faces Megatron in a climactic battle

"Blast it, First Aid - pass me your sidearm!"

—Kup runs out of patience with First Aid when time is of the essence.

"Scruples are for lesser beings."

—Megatron; ever the elitist.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• The four battlesuits are supposed to be distinguished by red (Gordon), blue (Paula), green (Nel) and brown (Rob) helmets, but when Daley and Mossof are called for, both suits visible have red helmets.
• On page 20, "permafrost" is misspelled "permaforst", this was corrected for the TPB.

Continuity notes

Less alive, more ferocious.

• Optimus Prime is seen to transform in this issue, confirming that whatever effect Nucleon had upon him when he was exposed to the substance through Hi-Q in the final issues of the original Marvel series, it did not make him an Action Master.
• Prowl and Tracks are also seen in vehicle mode so Nucleon seems to have affected them differently as well.
• Given that last issue featured only four humans in battlesuits, it follows that the "Mossof" and "Daley" called for in this issue are the surnames of Rob, Nel or Paula (but who they would be, we can't tell — see Errors). As with their first names, they are named after Furman's former colleagues on the US Marvel comic series, most likely Generation 2 colorist Sarra Mossoff and editor Don Daley.
• The choice of Kup to kill off Ratchet is surely no accident; he was strongly in favor of destroying the combined Megatron/Ratchet fusion back in "The Pri¢e of Life!"
• Galvatron emerges from the ice after being thrown into it by Fortress Maximus in "The Last Autobot?". In a nod to continuity, a section of Galvatron's chest is still crushed where Max gripped him before the final blow.

Furminated

• Springer is killed by a point-blank headshot from Megatron.
• Ratchet gets put out of his misery by Kup.
• Prime crushes Megatron's spark chamber.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Prime about to crush Megatron, by Andrew Wildman and Jason Cardy.
• Cover B: Prime carrying a dead Megatron by Guido Guidi.
• Cover RI: Ultra Magnus fights the zombie hordes, by Geoff Senior and Josh Burcham.

Advertisements

• The Transformers: Regeneration One #86
• Robots in Disguise #11
• More than Meets the Eye #11
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1
• Judge Dredd comic
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic
• Dorothy of Oz Prequel comic
• Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots comic (back cover)

External links

• Simon Furman's Script (W)rap