The Energon Pub

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Sat May 05, 2007 8:43 am

Faceful of Kitchen wrote:
jdwals wrote:One thing I noticed - when Hot Rod is being "beamed up", Koska or whatever his name is looks in remarkably good shape but then the next we see no Hot Rod and Koska is a puddle but we do have Nightbeat - could Nightbeat have been the one to squish Koska after brining him up from the surface?

i agree that it's a distinct possibility, especially since it really didn't look like anything hit him. but, if i may play devil's advocate for a moment, koska wasn't really human, so we can't be sure what would naturally happen to him upon death. it could be that the facsimiles are specifically designed to dissolve when they die, so as to prevent any examination of the body which could potentially uncover evidence of what they actually are.

But didn't Verity find a deactivated facsimile in the Decepticon command bunker in "Infiltration"? That facsimile obviously hadn't dissolved when it died. It is possible that Koska was just dissolved by the orbital jump, I suppose.

News Credits: 2 · by **Insurgent** » Sat May 05, 2007 3:43 pm

Was that not the skeletal remains of the General? I thought Ratchet said they keep the original (ie the human) in stasis so they can keep making duplicates of him. When they abandoned the base, life support shut down and the guy decomposed.

News Credits: 33 · by **Glyph** » Sun May 06, 2007 4:59 am

^ I also thought the corpse Verity found was an original rather than a facsimile, though I could be mistaken.

I'm itching to find out about Scorponok's plans, particularly the ranks of pseudo-Headmaster Sunstreaker clones. I'm guessing the exploration of the Headmaster concept is also why Hardhead was brought into the Earth storyline.

One other thing - obviously the 'entity' Prime encountered in limbo looks like Big Convoy, which confused the heck out of me... Until I remembered Universe Nemesis Prime, the black Big Convoy repaint. According to the Universe bio material, Nemesis Prime comes from an alternate universe conquered by Unicron, and carries the 'Dead Matrix', as inimical to Primus (and to life!) as the Creation Matrix is to Unicron. Coincidence, given the events of Spotlight: Nightbeat and the apparent focus of Spotlight: Galvatron?

Anybody else pick up on this and want to share thoughts? I wouldn't have expected Universe material to show up in the main G1 continuity, but Furman has pulled curveballs before.

News Credits: 1082 · by **Tigertrack** » Sun May 06, 2007 5:14 am

Glyph wrote:^ I also thought the corpse Verity found was an original rather than a facsimile, though I could be mistaken.

I'm itching to find out about Scorponok's plans, particularly the ranks of pseudo-Headmaster Sunstreaker clones. I'm guessing the exploration of the Headmaster concept is also why Hardhead was brought into the Earth storyline.

One other thing - obviously the 'entity' Prime encountered in limbo looks like Big Convoy, which confused the heck out of me... Until I remembered Universe Nemesis Prime, the black Big Convoy repaint. According to the Universe bio material, Nemesis Prime comes from an alternate universe conquered by Unicron, and carries the 'Dead Matrix', as inimical to Primus (and to life!) as the Creation Matrix is to Unicron. Coincidence, given the events of Spotlight: Nightbeat and the apparent focus of Spotlight: Galvatron?

Anybody else pick up on this and want to share thoughts? I wouldn't have expected Universe material to show up in the main G1 continuity, but Furman has pulled curveballs before.

Good theories. Since the material is HASBRO owned I suppose anything is possible (as we have seen with the movie).

I am not familiar with the focus of the Galvatron Spotlight.

by **jdwals** » Sun May 06, 2007 5:51 am

Yep - it's because of the Nightbeat spotlight I was thinking that he killed him. Also, Nightbeat looked kinda shifty in that panel!

I was a huge fan of the DW material but one of the big faults with it is I felt it set it's stall out too early in terms of what direction the story was taking. I think IDW and SF are taking great strides in avoiding doing that with the storyline they are putting together which is a good thing.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Sun May 06, 2007 6:27 am

On the facsimile / Koska front, it was an original Verity found in the command bunker. Issue 2 of "Escalation", page 9:

VERITY: Was...Was that what I saw in Nebraska? A facsimile?

Page 10:

IRONHIDE: More likely an original. Facsimiles are prone to misfunction and when they do, the Decepticons grow another from the same source.

So yes, it was an original. My mistake!

As for the Universe Nemesis Prime / Dead Matrix theory...well, it's certainly plausible, and would make sense. I think it's an accurate assessment, and it wouldn't be entirely surprising. Not too sure how I feel about it, though. I've never been a big fan of universe-hopping, dimension-jumping storylines. Having just read "Balancing Act" I am loathed to read another so soon, especially when the G1 universe already has a lot in it that can be used. However, Furman seems to have plotted this out very well thus far, and I trust his writing.

News Credits: 20 · by **Neko** » Sun May 06, 2007 8:02 am

Picked this up yesterday.

I think Nighbeat did something to the fascimile, but I don't think he stepped on 'im. Looks more like he blastes his with acid or something.

But someone brought up a very interesting point: Fascimiles may dissolve when their life functions cease. It would makes sense in that the whole point of the excursion was to retrieve the fascimile's genetic code and when it disolves there is not genetic code to retrieve.

Poor Ironhide. I really hope he isn't dead. I like IDW's Ironhide. And I can't wait for when the bots get back from Brasnya(sp?) and find out what Ratchet, Ironhide, and the humans have been up to. Ironhide disobeyed a direct order from Prime by going with Ratchet. I can only guess with anxiety as to how this all will play out.

IDW's Transformers is by far the best version I've read. Kicks DW ass in every department IMHO. Sure the bots were cool in DW but there were annoying inconsistancies between the TF and humans that kinda killed the experience. Consistancy is good!

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Sun May 06, 2007 8:28 am

I've got two questions:

1) In Washington, why didn't Laserbeak and Ravage use their weapons to break free?

2) Where's Bumblebee and what's he doing?

News Credits: 1 · by **Magnus** » Sun May 06, 2007 8:42 am

I liked #6 and was very pleased with Escalation as a whole. Looking forward to Devastation.

It never occurred to me until reading this thread that Nightbeat actually killed the facsimile. (I'm so innocent

)

Good question about Bumblebee. I hope there's a good reason we haven't seen him.

I don't particularly care to see the reapers come to earth, but oh well.

What do you think about the juxtiposition of the characters from the different seasons? Like the top of page 14, where it's Jazz, Prowl, Wheeljack, and...Hardhead?? I kind of like it.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Sun May 06, 2007 10:04 am

I don't really want to see the Reapers on Earth, either. I hope they stay away from that idea and just bring down Sixshot.

I like seeing a mix of characters from different years. Wheeljack and Hardhead side by side is nice, especially since in the G1 cartoon one was dead before the other even appeared. It keeps it fresh, and makes the universe seem more fluid and interelated (obviously, the Eighties fiction was constrained by the nature of toy waves).

News Credits: 3 · by **Stormwolf** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:58 am

Leonardo wrote:I've got two questions:

1) In Washington, why didn't Laserbeak and Ravage use their weapons to break free?

2) Where's Bumblebee and what's he doing?

1) Their weapons could have been depowered/sabotaged. On the other hand, they could be waiting and biding their time for the best moment to break out (they don't know about the other TF's nearby). I think that both Ravage and Laserbeak know that they can't get offworld, so why bother?

2) Good question, I think that he's either infiltrating the Con base or stayed behind to guard Ark-19.

News Credits: 3 · by **MYoung23** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:58 am

I agree that it is plausible that Nightbeat squished the Koska fascimile but I cant find a reason why.

We know that the Galvatron faction implanted something in Nightbeat's head. We also know that Galvatrom will be a separate entity altogether from Megatron and seemingly a faction unto himself.

What would be his motivation to stop the Autobot from getting the genetic info to root out the Decepticon fascimiles?

News Credits: 1082 · by **Tigertrack** » Sun May 06, 2007 12:02 pm

Leonardo wrote:I've got two questions:

1) In Washington, why didn't Laserbeak and Ravage use their weapons to break free?

2) Where's Bumblebee and what's he doing?

#1--I'm guessing, while obviously physically restrained, I think that the weaponry was inhibited although that was not obvious other than the fact that they were still bound.

#2--Bumblebee's busy being mute, and in the movie stuff...no time for him. Or more logically, maybe they thought with the movie stuff, people might go into Bumblebee overload and hate the character.

EDIT #1a: I am not thinking that perhaps they could break themselves out, but they are biding their time, gathering data, perhaps...?

News Credits: 20 · by **Neko** » Sun May 06, 2007 12:45 pm

Well, Bumblebee is a scout so he probably out...scouting something.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Sun May 06, 2007 1:13 pm

Yes, Ravage and Laserbeak could be biding their time. Unless there's something that's restraining them or something has neutered their weapons, I don't see why they would bother waiting, as they could easily escape and disguise themselves. Unless they are gathering information, like you say, on Skywatch.

I really want Bumblebee to be out scouting and encountering Spike Witwicky. I hope it isn't just a case of, "You can stay and guard the base", unless they need someone in comms with Cybertron.

MYoung23 wrote:What would be his motivation to stop the Autobot from getting the genetic info to root out the Decepticon fascimiles?

Good question. I'm not certain Galvatron would even know about the genetic info or the facsimiles, unless he'd learnt everything through Nightbeat's eyes.

News Credits: 20 · by **Neko** » Sun May 06, 2007 2:04 pm

Leonardo wrote:I really want Bumblebee to be out scouting and encountering Spike Witwicky.

I never got the impression they would bring Spike in. Besides, isn't this supposed to be an entire new universe?

News Credits: 3 · by **MYoung23** » Sun May 06, 2007 3:22 pm

Leonardo wrote:I've got two questions:

1) In Washington, why didn't Laserbeak and Ravage use their weapons to break free?

2) Where's Bumblebee and what's he doing?

1) You'd think the goverment would try and remove the missles and laser blasters from the alien robots and that they would have enough strength to break some heavy iron chains. There has to be more there than just a throwaway panel.

2) After scouting the Decepticons in Infiltration I dont know what Bumblebee could be doing right that would be poignant to the story. The heavy hitters have hit Earth now and more are coming. If Spike is to be part of this continuity then I expect to see Bumblebee.

I dont think we will be seeing Bumblebee leading any missions with his own team like he did in Dreamwave.

by **Uncrazzimatic** » Sun May 06, 2007 3:48 pm

Magnus wrote:I don't particularly care to see the reapers come to earth, but oh well.

I'd rather the reapers not exist at all. It seems silly to me that after deciding to not use Unicron they then went ahead and created a group that serves more or less the same plot device. (super powered beings that wipe out worlds)

News Credits: 33 · by **Glyph** » Sun May 06, 2007 7:09 pm

Well, it seems pretty clear that the Reapers are going to be a big part of the story, come what may. They would appear to be the climax that the current series is building to - hopefully there'll be somewhere meaningful for it to go after the events of Devastation. I personally think there are plenty of existing things that could be explored without building up another end-of-the-world crisis to resolve, but I'm not writing it and I am enjoying it so hey-ho.

It also hadn't occurred to me that Nightbeat might have aced Koska until I saw the Net theories, but after a more careful re-reading of the end of #6 there are some very definite pointers... In addition to the obvious point that no panel showed Koska getting hit by anything in Brasnya, two things in particular stand out to me.

Firstly, and most tellingly, Nightbeat had just commented that it would be very unlike Hot Rod to leave a hot combat zone, and yet HR apparently decided to spend some CR time rather than return to Brasnya as he'd explicitly told Nightbeat he would. Sure, HR got a little fried by Skywarp and Thundercracker, but going by his Spotlight I'm not convinced that would stop him going back. Also note that we only have Nightbeat's report to Prowl to go on - we're not shown that Hot Rod is actually in CR.

Secondly, in Nightbeat's final panel, there are a couple of bits of art detail that look suspiciously like blaster impact points - check the far left of the panel in particular. I can't think of a good reason for those to be there unless weapons had been discharged in the room - which suggests to me that the 'flak' Koska caught came from Nightbeat, and Hot Rod's alleged CR time is due to the same source.

We know from Spotlight: Nightbeat that Nightbeat was given implanted instructions and that his cranial implant was activated by a carrier wave when he received his summons from Prime. Which begs the questions: what exactly were the implanted instructions and what does Galvatron (as we presume) have to gain by sabotaging the Autobots' efforts on Earth?

by **tequila stu** » Sun May 06, 2007 7:38 pm

you know, at this point, i wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Scorpinok was working /in league with the machination. Also if it is Scorpinok, then no doubt Magnus will be showing up soon.

Also with sixshot on the way, i wonder who will show up in devastation to help the autobots, as he seems to be more powerful than megatron in this.

I also think it's safe to assume that shockwave will be un-earthed in devastation along with the dynobots, and i wonder when soundwave will decide to show himself.

Considering the amount of groups with their own agenda's, i think Devastation will be a bloody good read.

(what i wrote on another site)

News Credits: 2 · by **Insurgent** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:51 am

What if Galvatron wanted the Autobts/Decepticon conflict on Earth to continue and escalate, so Megs would call in Sixshot, knowing the Reapers would follow, so Galvatron could harness their power and become powerful enough to wipe out the warring factions and take control of the entire Transformer race? Thus creating an empire that spans the cosmos?

Surely by destroying the facimile, Nightbeat has ensured the conflict will continue here. And your right about Hot Rod and the CR chamber. He would have gone back down if he could.

News Credits: 4 · by **Milanion** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:00 am

I like this storyline, as it feels a much deeper and more thought out than usual. Bringing elmenents in from the Spotlights, etc., also creates a much bigger universe, so to speak.

I hope we avoid universal entanglements though, and just keep this a "TF on Earth" war.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:42 am

Neko wrote:
Leonardo wrote:I really want Bumblebee to be out scouting and encountering Spike Witwicky.

I never got the impression they would bring Spike in. Besides, isn't this supposed to be an entire new universe?

It is a new universe. I don't think he is actually going to find Spike as there hasn't been any word on Spike from IDW, as far as I'm aware. Although now I think about it, there doesn't seem to be much point in ignoring Spike but then writing in Jimmy Pink, a mechanic, and a Hunter O'Nion, who may very well become a HM partner (both things that Spike was).

by **Lemonymous** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:22 pm

I just want to say that IMHO, I think this is the best all-around G1 comic ever done. I think the thing I like most of all is that the Transformers universe is big from the get-go, and there's more going on than meets the eye. It's not really a linear story.

Anyone else feel as I do that this is the Transformers equivalent to Marvel's Ultimate line? I consider this Ultimate G1 Transformers.

Ender

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:33 pm

I agree with you. For me, this is the best rendering of the G1 universe and, on a less objective note, it is (so far, provided they don't mess it up with multiverse interlacing) my personal G1 canon.

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