« The Transformers: Primacy #3 »
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	October 22, 2014
Cover date	October 2014
Story by	Chris Metzen & Flint Dille
Art by	Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Chris Mowry
Editor	John Barber
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Early in the war

A titanic battle between Metroplex and Trypticon gives way to a fierce clash between the Autobots and Megatron's rejuvenated forces.

Synopsis

As Metroplex and Trypticon engage in a brawl that shakes the city around them, the Autobots can do nothing but watch, waiting for Megatron and the Decepticons, lurking in a junk-ship in low orbit, to make their move. Metroplex is toppled, but strikes back by grabbing a building and lashing out at Trypticon with it. The reptilian giant falls, but tries to swipe Metroplex with his tail; Metroplex blasts his tail off, but this leaves him momentarily open to a kick to the knee, which sends him falling over onto Trypticon. The two giants grapple hand-to-hand, and though Trypticon's claws are sharper, Metroplex's greater dexterity allows him to seize his foe's head, jamming his fanged mouth over a building. Metroplex then curb-stomps Trypticon, his jaws shattering with a fiery explosion. Trypticon weakly congratulates Metroplex on his victory, but reveals that he was merely a distraction... at which point, the Decepticons' ship plunges out of orbit, spearing Metroplex through the chest, and taking him offline.

With the two titans down, the Autobots roll out, massing in front of the Decepticon ship in preparation for an attack. The Junkions are the first wave to spill out of the ship, and quickly swarm the outnumbered Autobots. The bad news continues to pour in in the form of a report from Jetfire and Perceptor, who inform Optimus Prime that the junk-ship has pierced not only Metroplex's hide, but also the layers of Iacon itself, rupturing the city's primary coolant plants. Even as the scientists speak their warning, the coolant comes flooding into the city centre, creating not only a small ocean around the Autobots, but even acid rain, as its vapors interact with the ion-charged atmosphere. Megatron and his forces watch as Sharkticons brought from Junkion are set loose into the coolant-waters, the Decepticon leader content to watch Prime's forces be whittled down before he and his elite enter the fray. Hot Rod fears they will be overwhelmed, and Grimlock mocks him, but Prime silences them both, swearing that they will triumph because, unlike the Decepticons, they fight for each other.

Eventually, the Autobots wear the Sharkticons down, but then the Decepticons themselves begin moving in for an attack, with ex-gladiator Blackwall seeking out his fellow former pit-fighter Grimlock in pursuit of a rematch. Caught up in this battle, Grimlock and his Dynobots are separated from the other Autobots as Decepticon squad close in around them, but Optimus cannot split his forces to help them without allowing the Decepticons to overrun their strongpoint. Instead, he calls Omega Supreme into action, but the giant falters, wracked with guilt. He admits that he lied to Optimus: when the Autobot leader found him, he was not waiting for Nova Prime's return out of loyalty... he was waiting to destroy him, considering him a disgrace to the Primes whose name he took. But in Optimus Prime, Omega sees greatness, and although the notion of making war on fellow Cybertronians galls him, Omega finds that the Decepticons remind him of Nova, and agrees to join the fight. Alas, this decision comes to late, as Megatron has prepared for the ancient sentinel, and orders multiple squards of strategically positioned Decepticons to open fire on him. Assailed by an insurmountable amount of firepower, Omega falls... but this triumph is met with a strange laughter that only Megatron can hear. Echoing within his own mind is the voice of Pentius, the Quintesson whose spark Megatron used to power Trypticon, but whose consciousness still lurks in the dark reaches of Megatron's own thoughts. An image of the Quintesson's face appears in the flames that rage around Trypticon's fallen form, and Pentius declares that through Megatron, he will devour Cybertron itself!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Blackwall's past as a gladiator was established in Robots in Disguise #22.
• Megatron encountered the Sharkticons on Junkion back in Monstrosity #4.

Errors

• When Optimus describes what motivates Megatron's followers, the caption reading "...fear..." appears above Shockwave's head. IDW continuity has been pretty clear that Shockwave does not fear Megatron, and has his own complex motives for working with the Decepticons.
• Omega admits Nova Prime's dark past to Optimus, but Optimus isn't supposed to have found out about Nova's true nature until the present day, in Spotlight: Optimus Prime, when, er... Omega told him.

Covers (3)

• Regular cover: Trypticon and Shockwave, by Livio Ramondelli. Part of an interlocking image with the regular covers of the other three issues.
• Subscription cover: Metroplex vs. Trypticon, by Saren Stone.
• 30th Anniversary cover: The first in October's series of three 30th Anniversary covers by Ken Christiansen, which combines with the covers to Robots in Disguise #34 and More than Meets the Eye #34 to form an image depicting the major eras of the original The Transformers cartoon. This cover encapsulates the pre-movie era.

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• Primacy #4
• Robots in Disguise #34
• More than Meets the Eye #34
• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #4
• Autocracy and Monstrosity
• IDW Transformers graphic novel library
• IDW Micro Comic Fun Packs
• IDW Angry Birds hardcover (back cover)

Reprints

Other than collections of the full series.

• N/A

External links

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