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"An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that Alpha Trion's birth certificate is a fraud."
"White Light"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published August 31,2016
Cover date August 2016
Written by John Barber
Art by Livio Ramondelli
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

Sentinel Prime's objective on Earth is revealed when he targets Garrison Blackrock and uncovers his true power.

Contents

Synopsis

Beneath theIndian Ocean,theAutobotsandDecepticonscomplete mop-up operations following their battle withGalvatron's forces, rounding up the deceased despot's remaining followers.Blitzwingtries making a run for it, but is quickly taken down by a stun blast from the impatientKup,who gruffly ignoresSky-Byte's calls for use of a gentler hand.Jetfireradios the newly establishedAutobot CityinMonument Valleywith an update, and is surprised whenAlpha Trionanswers the comm. Trion mentions a "problem" before being abruptly cut off...

At Autobot City, Alpha Trion is confronted by a tiny robot who introduces himself as "Infinitus." Trion does not recognize the little 'bot at first, but as Infinitus mocks him and proselytizes his intentions to purify the corrupted, modern Cybertron, the old sage soon realizes that his surprise visitor isSentinel Prime,albeit in an unfamiliar form. Deploying blades from his forearms, Sentinel pounces on Trion, whose scream is heard byOptimus PrimeandSoundwavenearby. The pair cannot come to Trion's aid, however, as they are already mobilizing to investigateanotherscream—one emitted byAilerondown by thespacebridge.Arriving on the scene, they are shocked to witness Sentinel Prime's headless body battlingD.0.C.,Buster,andBob.While Prime checks on the wounded Aileron,Arceearrives to join the fight; she pounces on Sentinel's body, whereupon it transforms to aircraft mode and blasts its way inside Autobot City, carrying Arcee along with it. Soundwave and Prime give chase, leaving Aileron and the animals in D.0.C.'s care, but just before they head inside the city, they spot Alpha Trion's spacecraft mode streaking off through the sky, with Infinitus in the cockpit.

En route to the Indian Ocean site,Spike Witwickycomplains over his comm toMarissa Fairebornabout being pulled out of Monument Valley. Faireborn curtly explains that it was not her call: it was the decision of thenew,presidentially-appointed head of theEarth Defense Command,GeneralJoe Colton.While Colton chews Witwicky out,Skywarp,concerned over his own fate, inquires about Colton's history; Marissa explains he was the former head of the now-defunct special mission force,G.I. Joe,and that she suspects he is inwayover his head.

On the road out ofWashington,a military convoy is takingGarrison Blackrock—watched by two of Colton's former G.I. Joe troops,RoadblockandScarlett—to an undisclosed location. When the truck containing Blackrock suddenly collides with something, Roadblock and Scarlett lock and load and step out to investigate, but are not prepared for what they find: Alpha Trion's decapitated head, lying in the middle of the road. Trion's body also soon makes its presence known, now controlled by Sentinel, who has converted to his own head mode and attached himself to it. Sentinel wades through the Joes' harmless weaponsfire and snatches up Blackrock, telling him that he has need of his skills...

Back in the depths of Autobot City, Optimus and Soundwave locate Arcee, still locked in battle with Sentinel's body, in a chamber containing an unprecedentedly massive amount ofOre-13crystals. The pair join the fight, at which point Sentinel himself returns, still attached to Trion's body, with Trion's head and Blackrock in his hands. Blackrock is thoroughly exasperated and confused by the whole affair, but soon finds enlightenment forcibly bestowed upon him when Sentinel "initiates" him. Metal tears through clothing and pseudo-flesh as Blackrock reflexively transforms back into his true robot form:Sovereign,aTitan Masterlike Sentinel. Using his innate awareness of the workings ofTitans,likethe onewho makes up Autobot City, Blackrock/Sovereign opens a new spacebridge right there in the bowels of the city. Arcee is blinded by the light of the bridge, but as it fades, she finds she has been left alone in the chamber. Perturbed by her uncertainty over whether Optimus went willingly through the bridge with Sentinel or if he was captured, Arcee has no other choice but to contactProwl,who tells her he is already confident he knows where Sentinel is headed...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others

Quotes

"Y'spendsix million yearson battlefields, plus anotherfourteen billionwatchin' the Dead Universe getborn'n'die,y'find yalostthe patience ofyouth."

—Kup


"Igenuinelythought beingheld prisonerin an alien space ship 26,000 feet underwater and finding out I'm notactually humanwas going to be theworst partof my month. "

—Blackrocklaments his situation


"Usually fights geteasierafter the guy loses hishead... "

—Arcee


"Optimus... hekilledGalvatron. "
"In the heat of battle?"
"No."
"I see. I'm not surprised."
"Is it whatyouwould have done? "
"Depends on thecircumstances.I mean, I'dratherhave somebody else—somebody likeOptimus—do it. So I guess it worked out like I wanted... which is myspecialty."

—ArceeandProwl

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Kup refers to his time in theDead Universe,into which he was sent duringInfestationevent,and from which he was not recovered until theDark Cybertroncrossover.He reveals here that he spentfourteen billion yearstrapped there. Yow.
  • G.I. Joe is there! As part of the set up for next month'sRevolutionevent,G.I. Joecharacters Joe Colton, Roadblock, and Scarlett make full and proper named appearances. The stitching-together of the IDW "Hasbro Universe"has been largely established via theRevolution Preludestory published in various places over the previous month (including as a back-up strip in this issue). As the only other property with a pre-existing series, the Joes' adventures as depicted in their various IDW titles between 2008 and 2015 have—with a bit of hand-waving—been identified as all taking place after the events ofAll Hail Megatronand before the Transformers' return to Earth circaissue #28;Marissa refers to the group's defunding following the "Cobradebacle ", which took place in the time gap between the end ofthe most recentJoeseriesand now. The timeline included inRevolutionaries#1would date Cobra's defeat and G.I. Joe's disbandment to 2014; logically, this would have occurred just before the return of Optimus's forces to Earth inRobots in Disguise#28.
  • Colton, Roadblock, and Scarlett have all also appeared in the first two issues of IDW'sROMseries, called in to investigate the alien Space Knight's activities on Earth in an operation that presumably portends Colton's appointment as head of the EDC. In particular,ROM#2,published earlier in the same month as this issue, features the Joes being diverted from this mission to deal with the "situation [...] in Utah" (i.e. Monument Valley), leading into their appearance in this story.
  • Blackrock believes that the Joes are taking him toGovernor's Island,which was the location of their headquarters in the IDW continuity during the series'thirdandfourthvolumes.
  • Blackrock refers to the time the EDC held Alpha Trion prisoner, up until the Autobots sprung him inissue #32.
  • As revealed inMore than Meets the Eye#56(see "Other trivia", below), Prowl knows that Sentinel will be headed forLuna 1in order to avail himself of its Titan graveyard, as he recalls an old wartime scheme of Sentinel's to use the giants for his own ends.

Transformers references

  • Sentinel Prime reveals that his true name is "Infinitus".In theTitans Returntoyline, Infinitus is Sentinel Prime's Titan Master partner, a separate entity to Sentinel, in-keeping with the traditional depiction of -Master partners in Western media. This issue confirms that in the IDW continuity, the Titan Master process is more akin to the Japanese depiction ofHeadmastertechnology, with the small Titan Master robot being the solitary, core intelligence, who connects to and controls a larger body.
  • No coincidence that Alpha Trion should lose his head at the same time as Blackrock's true identity is revealed; Alpha Trionis part oftheTitans Returntoyline (sporting the aircraft mode he is seen using in this issue), and "Sovereign" is his Titan Master partner.

Real-life references

Errors

  • Colton refers to his "Action Team", rather than hisAdventure Team.This was corrected for the trade.

Other trivia

  • This issue was intended for release prior toMore than Meets the Eye#56,the events of which take place after both this issueandnext month's #57. However, delays resulted inMore than Meets the Eyebeing released first, and as such, Blackrock's true identity was spoiled in the "story so far recap" that began the issue.
  • As noted above, this issue also contains the second part of theRevolution Preludeback-up strip, which appears in several of IDW's August titles.

Covers (3)

  • (thumbnail)

    I'm baaaaack!

  • (thumbnail)

    Wrong comic, Red!

  • (thumbnail)

    The 2 toys you always wanted as a kid.

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