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Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely

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Who knew babysitting was so dangerous?
"Remain in Light 4 of 5:
Arm the Lonely"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published August 28, 2013
Cover date August 2013
Story by James Roberts
Pencils by Alex Milne
Inks by Brian Shearer
with Alex Milne
Colors by Josh Burcham
with John-Paul Bove
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor John Barber
Editorial assistant Kevin Smead
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2013)

Skids's secret is revealed as Tyrest's plan enters its endgame.

Contents

Synopsis

Chaos and confusion reign on multiple fronts all across Luna 1, as Minimus Ambus lies dead, Rodimus and company meet Getaway, Ratchet struggles to save Ambulon, and Cyclonus, Whirl and the Circle of Light clash with the Legislator army. An impressed Dai Atlas congratulates Cyclonus on his ability to power a Great Sword with his spark, an indicator of the strength of his faith, and leaves Whirl incredulous with his belief that Whirl and Cyclonus are friends.

ArmTheLonely-Chromedome.jpg

In the prison cell, Getaway tries to remind Skids of who he is with a friendly punch, an old act of intimacy between the two, but with no success. He relates Tyrest's plan to Rodimus, explaining that the Chief Justice's portal—pieced together from the inner workings of the dead Titans—supposedly leads to Cyberutopia, and Rodimus resolves that they will all go through it together after they stop Tyrest. Swerve points out that they will need to escape before they can do that, prompting Chromedome to wonder where Ambus has gone. A confused Getaway tells them that Ambus was responsible for luring them to Luna 1, and that he wants them to be there.

In Tyrest's control room, as Pharma salivates over the universal killswitch, Tyrest reminds him that he was only saved from Messatine to be one of the switch's test subjects. Pharma proved that forged Transformers were immune to the switch, so Tyrest abducted the Circle of Light to be his next guinea pigs, successfully killing the constructed cold Circle members with it. Tyrest is alerted to the Circle's escape by Star Saber and approves Saber's request to intervene. Star Saber teleports into the midst of the battle and is soon confronted by Dai Atlas, furious over his betrayal: Saber is revealed to have been a former Circle of Light member who deactivated Crystal City's defenses when the Legislators attacked. With the final insult that his faith is real and that Dai Atlas's was only an affectation, Star Saber plunges his fist into Dai Atlas's chest and crushes his spark.

Back in the cell, Swerve calls upon Getaway to finally fill Skids in on his missing memories. Getaway explains that they were both members of Autobot Special Operations, a covert organization headed by Prowl, and had been tasked with tracking down the obviously unstable Tyrest with the intent of using a New Institute "nudge gun" to implant a foreign thought in Tyrest's brain, convincing him to retire. Unfortunately, the gun's "thought bullet" failed to work on Tyrest's damaged brain module, and their actions only convinced him of the rightness of his crusade. Both deemed guilty of thought warfare, Getaway was captured by the Legislators, but Skids was able to escape, leaping aboard a shuttle made of Legislators, trapping them in that form with some mode locks. Per his orders, Skids activated a homing device that would lead him to his nearest handlers (the Duobots), and used the nudge gun's second charge to wipe his own mind of any incriminating knowledge of his covert actions (including knowledge of the gun itself). Skids wonders how he is able to retain memories of Getaway now, and Chromedome theorizes that the trace memory he detected months before is acting as a foundation for new memories. Tailgate, meanwhile, is more interested in Getaway's expertise as an escapologist; although he has been unable to escape up until now, the assorted bits and pieces the other Autobots have brought with them give Getaway all he needs. The clasps of Brainstorm's briefcase and Chromedome's finger-needles are combined to create spring-loaded syringes that topple their Legislator guard from afar, while Rung's energon sticks are used to short out their cell bars, setting them free.

(thumbnail)
In fairness, playing Jenga does this to me too.

Meanwhile, Ratchet continues to toil over Ambulon's bisected form, refusing help from First Aid. The frustrated junior medic allows some long-standing resentment to boil over, accusing Ratchet of refusing to believe that anyone will ever be as good as him. Ratchet insists that First Aid cannot save Ambulon any more than he can... because he is already dead. Ratchet has, in fact, converted his remains into a giant cannon that he uses to destroy the Legislator guarding them. First Aid tries to apologize, but Ratchet agrees with his accusations and promises to make him Chief Medical Officer if they survive their ordeal, though he insists they will do so without killing Pharma. Moving out, the pair are met by Rodimus's team; Tailgate tells Ratchet about Tyrest's miracle medibay and the potential it holds to cure his cybercrosis, but Ratchet fears that only Pharma will be able to use the facility's equipment to accomplish the feat. The group proceed to storm Tyrest's control room, where they discover Ambus's body; when Rodimus rushes Tyrest, Pharma opens fire, a stray blast severing the handcuffs that hold Brainstorm's briefcase to his wrist. Tyrest order him to cease fire, and reveals another secret weapon: a "weapon of mass suggestion" based on the thought bullet, a suggestion beamed directly into the Autobots' minds that makes their bodies think they cannot move. With his foes rendered paralytic, Tyrest throws the killswitch...

All across the universe, constructed cold Transformers feel the painful effects of the switch, from the Lost Light to the Peaceful Tyranny, from Gorlam Prime all the way to Cybertron itself, Autobot or Decepticon, in Iacon or out in the wilderness. On the planet Constancy, Fulcrum has just sprung Misfire from death row, only for them to be made late for their extraction by Misfire's need for a detour to grab some energon. When their fellow Scavengers fail to appear with their ship, Fulcrum tries radioing them, but there is no response, as they all too have fallen victim to the killswitch's effects.

As a forged Transformer, Rodimus is unaffected by the switch and vows vengeance on Tyrest, even if he has to tear Cyberutopia apart to get it. No sooner have those words passed his lips than Tyrest's portal opens, and the Chief Justice, imagining he can hear the Knights of Cybertron and the Guiding Hand singing to him of his victory from the other side, walks through...

Featured characters

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

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"Let me help...!"
"You can't."
"Dammit, Ratchet, you think it's cheating? You think you lose the game if someone else has a go?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"This is all your fault. You and your stupid hands and your—obsession with carrying on. "Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer In Perpetuity." Because no one will ever be as good as you, will they? Certainly not me."
"Oh, we're having that conversation now, are we?"
"I'm just saying I can help you fix Ambulon!"
"And I'm saying you can't!"
"WHY CAN'T I?"
"Because he died half an hour ago."

—First Aid and Ratchet


"First we find Pharma and put a bullet in his spark, right?"
"No. If we kill him, we're no better than him. If we kill him, he wins."
"Yeah, except—we are better than him and he doesn't win. He doesn't anything. He's dead. That's the point."

—First Aid and Ratchet


"Your life is in the palm of my hand, Dai Atlas. Before I squeeze, I offer up one last shining truth: Primus hates you."

—Star Saber


"Oh Rodimus. Do you know what I did to the last person who threatened me?"
(gestures to Ambus's dead body)
"I turned him into a tripping hazard."

—Tyrest


"The portal opens and the Primal Pantheon beckons. Primus! The Guiding Hand! The Knights of Cybertron! Can you hear them singing? 'Tyrest, come closer, come closer, come closer/Tyrest, come closer, come closer... you've won.'"

—Tyrest

Notes

Continuity notes

  • The mechanics of Great Swords were covered in the Drift mini-series.
  • We get confirmation that, following Drift's forced amputation of hands back in issue #5, Pharma opted to allow himself to hit the ground, rather than transform and activate the virus within him.
  • When comparing Special Ops to the Wreckers, Getaway notes that "not every problem can be solved with brain bullets and bravado", alluding to Ironfist's Cerebro-sensitive bullets from Last Stand of the Wreckers.
  • When talking about associates of Tyrest, Captain K'gard of the Galactic Council from the 2012 annual (or another of his species wearing the same silly hat) is shown in flashback.
  • All the wacky stuff Skids turned up with when he made his debut in issue #2 is explained at last, from the mode locks holding his Legislator-shuttle together, to the warp portal he emerged through and why it wasn't just coincidence he appeared near the Lost Light, to his mysterious gun, now named a "nudge gun". Brainstorm dubbed it a "binary gun" and identified it as Institute tech back in issue #7.
    • Also, this explains why Skids could not remember who Prowl was back in issue #9, or what Titans were in Annual 2012.
  • As the effects of the killswitch spread across the galaxy, outside of cameos by regular More than Meets the Eye cast members, we see Hardhead and Orion Pax, in the vicinity of Gorlam Prime shortly before Robots in Disguise #19, Prowl, Soundwave, Ravage and Blitzwing, out in the wilderness on Cybertron after Robots in Disguise #18, and Starscream and Rattrap, together after their alliance in Robots in Disguise #20. We also check in with the Decepticon Justice Division and the Scavengers, last seen in issue #8.
  • The Scavengers are visiting Galactic Council outpost 113, another of James Roberts's references to the number.
  • A quick checklist, based on the visible effects of the killswitch:
    • Rodimus, Skids, Fortress Maximus, Orion Pax, Soundwave, Blitzwing, Rattrap, Tarn, Fulcrum, Misfire and Grimlock were forged.
    • Getaway, Chromedome, Blaster, Mainframe, Red Alert, Hardhead, Prowl, Ravage, Starscream, Kaon, Krok, Spinister and Crankcase were constructed cold.
  • Getaway's methods of escaping from prison (Brainstorm's briefcase, Chromedome's needles) are very similar to Tailgate's escape suggestions two issues earlier. (Of course coming from him, they were ignored!)
  • Tailgate's suggestion that Brainstorm make all the naughty people in the universe disappear two issues earlier is pretty much Tyrest's plan executed this issue.

Transformers references

  • Getaway flippantly numbers one of Tyrest's many rants as 332, a nod to the total number of issues of the Marvel UK Generation 1 comic.
  • The issue makes it seem like the identity of the head of Autobot Special Ops is going to go unsaid, until Rodimus flatly makes it clear he's figured out it's Prowl. The issue gives plenty of hints prior to that, though, noting a need for precision, guile and subtlety, and the fact that the Duobots also work for him. In a particularly wicked crack, Getaway notes that Tyrest's questionable actions have made his boss "prickly", a reference to... a-heh, well, have a look at his TFWiki articles and you'll get it.
  • Knocked to the ground by Starscream's flailings are a model of his original F-15 alternate mode and his crown from The Transformers: The Movie, previously seen in his quarters in Robots in Disguise #11.

Real-life references

  • This issue's sub-title comes from the song of the same name by Savoy Grand.
  • Alex Milne's cover for the issue is an homage to the poster for the action film Hard Boiled.

Errors

  • Dai Atlas speaks of Cyclonus on page 2 as if he doesn't know him. They've met before.
  • On page 4, "smidgen" is misspelled "smidgem", this was corrected in the TPB.
  • On page 2, part of Whirl's arm is miscolored the same gold color as the Legislator body obscuring it.
  • On page 6, Tyrest tells Pharma, "Your survival proved that us purebreeds would be spared the cull," instead of the grammatically correct "we purebreeds." Curiously, a similar error was corrected in the TPB for the previous issue, but not for this one.

Crew manifest

  • Ambulon dies of his injuries.
  • Minimus Ambus really really seems to be dead, but we're still not quite buying it.
  • Many, many crewmembers start to experience the effects of the killswitch.
  • 13 deaths, one apparently dead, one in terminal condition, 5 new arrivals (plus 20 or so Faders), one boxed, and one banishment since the launch.

Soundtrack

For all of "Remain in Light":

For this issue in particular:

Foreign localization

Japanese

  • Title: "Hikari no Naka ni Tamarite 4: Kodokunaru Mono no Ken" (光の中に溜まりて4 孤独なる者の剣, "Gather in Light 4: Sword of the Lonely")

Swedish

  • Title: "Stanna i ljuset 4 av 5: Beväpna de ensamma" ("Stay in the Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely)

Covers (3)

  • (thumbnail)

    Rodimus loves him some Tailgate.

  • (thumbnail)

    Need any more proof that Tyrest is bat-shit insane?

  • (thumbnail)

    I want you... to buy this issue!

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Reprints

  • (thumbnail)

    More Than Meets the Eye Volume 5 – cover art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez

  • (thumbnail)

    More Than Meets the Eye Box Set – cover art by Marcelo Matere

  • (thumbnail)

    The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 5 – cover art by Marcelo Matere and Tom B. Long

  • (thumbnail)

    The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 57: Remain in Light – cover art by Don Figueroa (Skids) and Alex Milne (Overlord)

  • (thumbnail)

    Krig och hågkomst – cover art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez.

External links

Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Remain_in_Light_4_of_5:_Arm_the_Lonely&oldid=1787507"
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