This isn’t the Starscream you knew…
In just 8 issues, Skybound's Energon Universe has made the Decepticons perhaps one of, if not the, most malevolent and brutal incarnations of that faction in the franchise's history.- The Decepticons are known for their evil and cruel nature in other continuities but had some few scruples. Here? They are absolute savages! They have killed a major part of the Autobot cast of characters and the Autobots we see? They are the remaining ones, the rest have been brutally murdered by the Decepticons. When they wake up back on Earth, they fight against the Autobots who are retreating due to being outnumbered. When they realize that they are low on energon, they go to a electric plant where they start to harvest electricity but not before killing everyone in the facility, quickly establishing as one of the most evil versions of the Decepticons.
- Starscream very quickly establishes himself as an absolute psychopath. As soon as he wakes back up, he shoots Bumblebee in the head, and later crushes Carly's father to death with one hand and does it again to an ejected fighter pilot with a two-handed clap. And just to make matters worse, the latter two are reduced to a bloody paste once Starscream's done with them. And he does it all with a gleeful smile.
- An injured Starscream and Soundwave tear apart Skywarp for spare parts, and while they're robots, it's done in uncomfortably
graphic detail. The fact that Skywarp is still alive and doesn't even get to finish begging for his life when the two start dismembering him makes the already brutal scene even grislier. - While he absolutely deserved it, the death of Starscream is nothing short of terrifying. The rest of the Decepticons all agreed to replace Starscream with Soundwave and forces the Seeker into a fight where Soundwave brutalizes him, first blowing off his wings so he can’t escape, then he starts to punch him in the face and then invokes Laserbeak to rip out his left eye. Soundwave corners Starscream in the crater of the volcano they were hiding and rips out a component form him and throws the former Decepticon leader into the lava. No one mourns his death given his cowardice and stupidity, but it is definitely one of the cruelest ones we see in the comic.
- What does Elita-1 see after breaking into the Decepticon POW camp? Ultra Magnus. But mutilated, practically skinned to the bones... and still alive. What makes this even worse is that Ultra Magnus has been tortured so badly that he is now a Death Seeker; Elita can’t help but cry to the state of her dear friend, promising that if both are captured she will kill both him and herself to spare themselves the torture Ultra Magnus went through.
- The Decepticons attack a US aircraft carrier for tech and supplies. While Thundercracker points out the crew are no threat and allows them to evacuate, Soundwave then destroys the lifeboats, claiming the need for secrecy.
- Issue 8 has the Autobots revive Jetfire... and it's hellish. With part of his spark lost, he's trapped in vehicle mode and blind, among other possible injuries. He angrily rants against his fate, and all Optimus can do is say they had no choice, then sit with him, keeping him company in the dark.
- Skywarp, after being wired into Teletran, is still aware, but may have only part of his mind active. Even as he tries to resist the Autobots, he keeps reliving the memory of what Starscream and Soundwave did to him.
- When the Decepticons reach to the Nemesis, they encounter with Astrotrain who is absolutely livid and threatens to kill Thundrcracker if they don’t tell them where is Megatron. Soundwave promises that when they encounter him, he will let Astrotrain do whatever he wants to do with the former Decepticon leader.
- When they start to make the Nemesis their new base after losing the Ark, Soundwave decides to call for reinforcement and who does he call for? Shockwave who is still on Cybertron. The Autobots will need more than just their weapons if they want to survive to the upcoming menace of the cruel Mad Scientist that is Shockwave.
