Last Stand (Unicron)

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"It'll kill you." "Only if I die." "Yes... that's what killing you means."
"Last Stand"
First published	July 11, 2018 September 12, 2018 (second printing)
Cover date	Early July, 2018
Written by	John Barber
Art by	Alex Milne
Colors by	Sebastian Cheng
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David Mariotte
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

As the Transformers defend Caminus against Unicron, Optimus Prime ventures into the planet-eater.

Synopsis

From Cybertronian legend, it has come: Unicron, the opposite of Primus, banished in the primordial past by the Transformers' creator-god, but foretold to return, whereupon the The Arisen, last of the Thirteen Primes, would be there to destroy it. That time is now. Unicron has returned, and it has destroyed nine of Cybertron's thirteen colonies—LV-117, Prion, Gorlam Prime, Velocitron, Elonia, Eukaris, Arduria, Tsiehshi, and Devisiun—consuming the planets and adding their mass to its own body. Having been on the back foot and unable to stop Unicron thus far, this time, the Transformers are not caught by surprise; by tracking the movements of the Maximals—the army of beast Transformers who previously followed Shockwave, but who now, for reasons unknown, serve Unicron—they have been able to deduce Unicron's next target is the colony of Caminus, and rally to its defense in advance of the monster planet's arrival. With Rom the Space Knight at their side, the united forces of Cybertron strike back!

As battle erupts in the skies over Caminus, down on the planet's surface, Skyburst and Stormclash work feverishly to get the Space Bridge operational, in order to evacuate the populace to Cybertron. The Mistress of Flame calls for her people to have faith, but Pyra Magna is well past believing in higher powers and Primes.

In the midst of the space battle, Optimus Prime observes as the Maximals' ship, Nemesis, sets down on Unicron's surface. This moment has been prepared for; Bumblebee zooms into action, piloting his small, one-man ship on a collision course with Nemesis, then bailing out just before it strikes the giant eyeball-ship dead center. Arcee grabs 'Bee, and the pair join Prime in heading down, through the fresh hole that has just been punched in Nemesis, into the interior of Unicron.

Attempts to talk the Maximals down and convince them they are being led astray having failed, Soundwave now fights alongside Rom. Fearing that they will not make it out alive, Soundwave suggests the Space Knight return to Cybertron, that he may survive to aid his people; but Rom refuses to abandon his allies. Alas, the threat is too large to combat on every front; Rom can do nothing but watch as Dirge comes to the aid of Lightbright and Sparkstalker, only for a huge, clawed Maximal to slaughter him. Moments later, Unicron comes within range of Caminus and releases a beam of energy from its maw that begins the consumption of the planet. Skyburst and Stormclash successfully activate the Space Bridge and the evacuation begins, with Windblade coordinating from Cybertron and the Mistress continuing to assure everyone that their faith will see them through...

Within Unicron, Arcee tracks a path towards the evil planet's center. A piece of debris Prime recognizes from LV-117, first of the colonies consumed, tells the group they are close... and soon, they have arrived at the chaotic core of Unicron, a mad blend of every world it has eaten, rocks and trees, waterfalls, machines, cities, even bits of Titans, organic and technological, all somehow blended together, all still "alive" in some form, as part of Unicron. Amidst it all, the trio are shocked to find the ruined form of an Omega Sentinel, one of the ancient defenders of Cybertron, which seems to suggest that there is truth to the legends that claim Cybertron and Unicron have clashed before. Before they can investigate any further, the group is attacked by Unicron's "immune system"—hideous, twisted, composite creatures made up of all the things it has absorbed! Unable to match the monsters' might and ferocity, Prime is wounded, and Bumblebee contacts Soundwave to teleport them back to the Ark-Zero.

Concurrently, the Maximals succeed in breaking through the Transformers' resistance, and start flooding down to the surface of Caminus, perfectly happy to die with the planet if it means they can kill the Camiens before they can finish evacuating. Pyra Magna stands ready to bar the Maximals' way, poised to give up her life for her people, but the Mistress of Flame orders her to stand down, and takes up the task herself. As the Maximals descend, the Mistress incinerates one after another with beams of fire shot from her chest... but their numbers are too great, and soon, with a sad smile on her lips, the Mistress is overwhelmed. But her sacrifice is not in vain; all of the Camiens are successfully bridged to Cybertron, even as Unicron feasts on their world.

Back on Cybertron, Starscream, responding to a summons from the incarcerated Shockwave, has just blasted his way into his former comrade's jail cell and knocked out the guard, Beachcomber. The pair watch as the Camiens and the Cybertronian fleet start arriving, and Shockwave explains his reason for calling on Starscream. Unicron will be coming to Cybertron next, but through Shockwave's millennia-long machinations, Cybertron has been poisoned. Consuming it will kill Unicron, leaving the rest of the universe open to conquest by a new Decepticon empire Shockwave and Starscream can build together. But Starscream isn't interested in Shockwave's vision of the future; he has other plans...

Disembarking the Ark-Zero, the wounded Optimus regretfully tells Windblade that he found no answers within Unicron. Prime solemnly states that Cybertron and the orbiting Titan colony of Carcer are now all that stand between Unicron and Earth... but Bumblebee, counting on fingers, realizes that only accounts for twelve colonies. Before the mystery of the unknown thirteenth colony can be discussed, Starscream's voice cuts in. Wearing his Decepticon insignia again for the first time in years, and waving a huge 'Con flag, Starscream addresses the Camiens, welcoming them all to Cybertron and declaring that he is here to save Cybertron and all their lives. Suffice to say, Optimus Prime is not happy...!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in visions.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Our true selves are forged in the pressure of action... 'heroes' are just the ones who get noticed."

—Optimus Prime

"Stop whining. Nobody's sick of you being back—yet."

—Arcee rescues Bumblebee

"Sparkstalker—who was that?"
"His name was Dirge. Once, we were Decepticons... but he died a Cybertronian."

—Lightbright and Sparkstalker eulogize Dirge

"Arcee... there's no one I'd rather follow into a malevolent planet bent on universal destruction."
"You really know how to flatter a 'bot."

—Optimus Prime and Arcee

"I'll hold them off, Aileron. Tell Optimus... tell him this is all his fault.."

—Oh, Pyra Magna...

"Things will get better, my children... but first, I fear... first things will become much worse."

—The Mistress of Flame's final words

"In the eyes of all but the most deluded Cybertronians, the gods are dead. The Matrix of Leadership is gone; the Primes revealed to be false idols. Faith itself is a fiction I invented."

—Shockwave

"I, Starscream the First, the Chosen One... have returned to light your darkest hour. The Autobots may have failed you... but I know exactly how to save Cybertron."
"Over my dead body."

—Starscream and Optimus Prime

Notes

Continuity notes

• Transformers: Unicron spins directly out of the events of "The Falling," the seven-part story told in Optimus Prime #15-21, with the gap between that story and this issue being bridged by Optimus Prime #22 (which itself occurs concurrently with the prologue issue, Unicron #0). Though Optimus Prime #22 was always intended to be released and read after Unicron #1 had already come out, some particularly bad delays in June and July led to Optimus Prime #21 also being held back until a week after Unicron #1 was out. The story manages to not spoil much of Optimus Prime #21, save for the fact that Shockwave was defeated and captured, that the Matrix "is gone," and that his Maximals have joined with Unicron.
• For the last seven years, IDW stories have made occasional reference to "Primus's opposite," an oblique way of referring to Unicron without ever saying his name. As this issue begins, Optimus Prime is now directly correlating this "opposite" with Unicron; it is not clear if Unicron has always been known by name in Cybertronian legend, or if Prime is doing this purely based on Windblade's conclusion in Optimus Prime #22 that the name "Unicron" (which she had not heard before, and was provided to her by the Talisman) refers to the "uncreator" of legend.
• The panel of Velocitron's destruction shows their capital city Delta flung about.
• At least two Darksyde-model ships appear among the Maximal forces, following on from one being used by Maximals at Regalis V in Optimus Prime #14.
• During his opening narration, Optimus Prime mentions Cybertron's core being "corrupted by malignant energies," referring to the poisoning of the planet's energon by the Talisman in First Strike. Shockwave gloats later in this issue that this is all by his design, to make Cybertron a "poisoned chalice" for Unicron; indeed, the Talisman was revealed to be an instrument of Onyx Prime's in Revolutionaries #4, and Onyx Prime was revealed to be Shockwave in Optimus Prime #17.
• Javelin—a member of the Vis Vitalis' crew—makes her first appearance since More than Meets the Eye #42, with the ship itself visible in the double-page spread of the battle above Caminus.
• Soundwave's impassioned speech to the attacking Maximals, where he attempts to convince them to change sides, is reminiscent of his (successful) attempt to persuade the Sharkticons to do the same, back in Optimus Prime #5.
• Dirge is once more in his design from Rom vs. Transformers. Alex Milne later clarified that he thought for the scenario at hand Dirge would change back to an old wartime chassis intended for intense space combat.^[1] By extension, Acid Storm is also featured in this design.
• The piece of LV-117 rubble that Prime's team discovers within Unicron is the mysterious Quintesson mural originally seen when the planet was first introduced way, way back in Spotlight: Wheelie. It's still never been expounded on...
• Bumblebee notes he's only ever met one Omega Sentinel, referring to Omega Supreme. Omega is noted to be "accounted for" on Cybertron, reminding us that he's still alive, despite having been offline for years after injuries sustained in Robots in Disguise #11.
• The final page of Starscream arriving with a Decepticon flag isn't a direct mirror of the final page of The Transformers vol. 2 #49, when Optimus Prime arrived on Earth with an Autobot flag, but it feels like it's evoking it either way.
• Starscream is once again wearing his Decepticon insignias, which he removed all the way back in Robots in Disguise #16. The story of how he rejoined his once and former faction is told in Optimus Prime #21.

Transformers references

• Alex Milne's rendition of Primus on page 1 is largely based on his standard IDW appearance, as designed by Guido Guidi for the 2012 More than Meets the Eye annual, but rather than the glowing yellow he has been depicted in up to now, he is coloured in the reds and blues of the Primus design created in the early 2000s by Don Figueroa, seen in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. Milne has also added a glowing circle to his chest, a mark of the Figueroa design also reflected in the character's Transformers: Cybertron incarnation.
• On the same page, Unicron is drawn based on his classic Generation 1 character model, as seen in The Transformers: The Movie, with bit of the ol' Milne zazzing-up.
• Optimus Prime has outfitted himself with twin-barreled shoulder cannons reminiscent of those from his Generation 1 Powermaster body.
• The skies are alive with Maximals! Though many appear to be generic, numerous recognizable characters from Beast Wars and its Japanese sequels appear among Unicron's hordes, some who are taking their first bow in IDW's pages, and others who have appeared in preceding issues of Optimus Prime, like Optimus Primal and Megatron. Stressing that these really are just crowdfiller goons, two Megatrons actually appear simultaneously—one in his original Tyrannosaurus body, and the other in his Transmetal 2 dragon form.

Errors

• Confirming an implied error from issue #0, Gorlam Prime is seen being eaten by Unicron, when there was no planet left to eat, due to it collapsing into a portal to the Dead Universe in Robots in Disguise #19.
• On page 2, panel 9, Devisiun is misspelled "Divisiun". This is corrected in the trade paperback collection. However, Tsiehshi misspelled as "Tsehshi" in panel 8 went unaltered.
• Bumblebee's observation that one of the thirteen colony worlds is "missing" explicitly counts Carcer as one of the known twelve colonies, despite the fact that it's not a planet, and as such, cannot be the site of one of the Regenesis ores, which were established in the last issue to have grown on the same worlds as the colonies. While the logical assumption is that there's some Regenesis world out there with a connection to Liege Maximo, no such planet (which Unicron would most definitely have already tried to consume, if it existed) has been identified, and it certainly seems like we're meant to take Bee's list of the colonies/ore worlds as accurate.

Deathlist

• Dirge; bisected by Rampage
• Mistress of Flame; overwhelmed by Maximals then consumed by Unicron along with Caminus
• Countless souls from LV-117, Prion, Gorlam Prime, Velocitron, Elonia, Eukaris, Arduria, Tsiehshi, and Devisiun; consumed by Unicron
• Scads of Maximals; killed by Cybertron's forces

Other trivia

• In the upper right corner of page 4, dinosaur Megatron is fighting a generic pink Camien, who utilizes a design Alex Milne originally conceived for but did not use in More than Meets the Eye.^[2]
• This issue also includes a four-page ROM back-up strip, "Ad Infinitum", by that book's creative team. Bumblebee appears, but mostly stands silently behind the Space Knight as he convinces his fellow Knights to remain in the fight against Unicron.
• Other backmatter includes the first installment in a series of interviews with creators from IDW's past. This issue, it's Simon Furman and E. J. Su, the creative team who launched the IDW universe back in 2005 with The Transformers: Infiltration.

Covers (9)

• Cover A: Our heroes, by Alex Milne and Sebastian Cheng
• Cover B: The ladies of the Hasbro Universe—Windblade, Arcee, Pyra Magna, Aileron, Livia, and Phenolo-Phi—by James Raiz and David García Cruz; connects to Raiz's other covers for the series to form a larger image
• Retailer incentive Cover A: Optimus Prime carries the weight of Unicron on his shoulders, by Andrew Griffith and Thomas Deer
• Retailer incentive Cover B: Optimus Prime by Francesco Francavilla; connects to Francavilla's other covers for the series to form a larger image
• Retailer incentive Cover C: Homage to Bill Sienkiewicz's cover to Marvel's The Transformers #1, by Sara Pitre-Durocher

• Stadium Comics exclusive cover: Our heroes in a recreation of the poster for The Transformers: The Movie, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez; available only from Ontario retailer Stadium Comics
• San Diego Comic Con exclusive cover: Unicron, by Alex Milne and Sebastian Cheng; available only from IDW Publishing at San Diego Comic Con 2018
• Diamond retailer exclusive cover: black and white lineart version of Milne's SDCC cover
• Second printing: Cover A art with only the foreground characters colored.

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• Transformers: Unicron #2
• Transformers: Unicron
• Optimus Prime #21
• Lost Light #21
• Unicron checklist (amended from issue #0)

Reprints

Other than reprints of the full series

• N/A

References

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