Tear Jerker / The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

"That terrible moment when you must make sense of who you are and what you did."

Issue 3:

• Shock's mournful monologue to Ore's corpse was really touching, even if they were both just a bunch of throwaway guys. And then the Sparkeater kills him.
  Shock: As the saying goes, "You flare, you flicker, you fade." Yeah—and the world's a darker place without you, buddy.

Issue 6:

• Whirl reveals that he was once a happy and successful watchmaker before the corrupt Senate drove him out of business, replacing his hands with bladed clamps to ensure he'd never be able to do the job he loved ever again. Hardly condones his actions, really, but does go a long way to explaining them.
• Fort Max completely breaking down when Rewind shows him footage of his torture from Garrus-9.
  Rung: Close your eyes, Max. Don't look. It's alright. It's okay. We're done. No more for today.

Issue 7:

• In issue 7 it's lightly implied that Krok's squad is either dead or went on without him and he's just mentally blocked that out, assuming they're missing and constantly looking for them even though he'll never find them. That's pretty damn sad even for this series.
• A subtle one but when Chromedome meets with Brainstorm he comments that he's Brainstorm's Only Friend. And Brainstorm doesn't correct him...
• Red Alert saying goodbye to comatose Rung before his suicide attempt. The others make light of his paranoia, but it's not so funny when he's legitimately convinced not only that his superiors are going to kill him if he doesn't do himself in first, but that they orchestrated Rung's shooting because Red Alert told him about the voice. Made even worse later when it turns out that two of the three ship officers were in on the Overlord plot, so while they may not have had it out for Red Alert, his unwillingness to trust them isn't unfounded.

Issue 10:

• Whirl's appearance in the Shadowplay arc. He's locked up in Garrus-1, beaten by every prisoner and guard that can get near him, and when he tells Orion of the senate's assassination plot, he's completely straightforward and unemotive, a far cry from the Snark Knight Jerkass he is in the present. It gets even sadder; before Orion leaves, Whirl starts on a rant about wanting to see Orion crush the senate for him but trails off and quietly admits all he really wants is to have his hands back.

Issue 11:

• The Reveal that the Senator who befriended Orion Pax, defied his fellow corrupt senators, modified Orion to carry the Matrix, and ultimately surrendered himself to save Orion is Shockwave. Shockwave's current state is due to the Senate brainwashing and mutilating him. There's something inherently tragic and ironic about the fact that the two people who played the biggest role in making Orion into the heroic freedom-loving Optimus Prime, Megatron and Shockwave, became two of his worst foes.
• Rodimus takes it very hard when he learns that Red Alert actually committed suicide, or attempted to, rather than suffering an attempt on his life by Cyclonus. Rodimus has made some bad calls during his tenure as captain, but this scene hits home what a Father to His Men he's really trying to be, taking it hard that he didn't see how much strain Red was under, despite having taken the time to talk to him about how worried he and everyone else was about him. You know how hard he's taking it as a personal failure on his part when they agree to put Red into storage until such time as they actually are in a position to help him.
  Rodimus: See you later, Red. Promise.
  • Gets even Harsher in Hindsight: Rodimus was in on the whole Overlord thing. This is more his responsibility than we knew at the time, and his guilt isn't just because he's upset Red Alert didn't trust him, but because he knows he was right not to.
• Ratchet's intermission into the story. Chromedome snarks about it at first but shuts up when Ratchet reveals why he wants to cut in with his section about Pax, Roller and himself; it was the last time the three of them were together.
  • Made even more heartbreaking by Issue 36's implication that Roller goes on to become Tarn. But thankfully defused when it turns out he didn't.

Issue 12:

• Just about everything pertaining to Chromedome and Rewind in issue 12.
• Chromedome rushes in carrying little Rewind, which is bad enough, and then we see poor little Tailgate having to drag in the much bigger Cyclonus all alone and crying, and begging for help. It's probably because of adorable, cute little Tailgate that Cyclonus got treated at all.

Issue 13:

• Tailgate coming clean to Cyclonus in issue 13 about lying about his entire backstory as a bomb disposal expert, a member of the Primal Vanguard, and crewmember on the Ark-1 because he's so frustrated that even after he went missing on the Mitteous Plateau-he was actually headed to the Ark to finish rinsing out its cooling chutes because he's a waste disposal 'bot-for six million years and no one ever noticed or cared, that he created this backstory so that someone might actually care about him. However, it turns into a heartwarming moment soon after.
• There's another one for Swerve at the end of issue 13 as well. Since the start of the series, Swerve has mentioned on several occasions that he's best friends with Blurr and that the two of them planned to open a bar together after the war (which they've both managed to do independently, with Blurr reopening Maccadam's on Cybertron, and Swerve's bar on the Lost Light). Issue 13 is Swerve sending a message to Blurr over his personal hailing frequency about the events on Hedonia, only for after nine hours of recording, Blaster tells him the transmission isn't going through. It's not going through because Swerve ISN'T friends with Blurr, and that they only actually met once, millions of years ago before the war at an autograph signing, and Swerve coming across as an obsessed Stalker with a Crush actually freaked Blurr out more than anything, causing him to give Swerve a fake hailing frequency (which Blaster even notes is too short to be real) when Swerve tells him they should open a bar together and begs him for Blurr's phone number and since then Swerve has clung to the belief that he and Blurr are best friends, when Blurr doesn't even seem to remember him at all. The last shot of Swerve standing alone quietly protesting that it is the right frequency is a pretty heartbreaking look at what's really going on behind that visor of his.

Issue 15:

• Pipes' death, especially after his little chat with Blaster, where he mentions that despite everything, he's ok and having a good time. Even the TFWiki can't bring themselves to make a joke in the caption.
• Once again, Chromedome and Rewind. Rewind realizing what Chromedome has done and not being sure he can ever forgive his Conjunx Endura. Rewind sacrificing himself so that Overlord can be jettisoned from the ship. Chromedome turning the Lost Light's cannons on the jettisoned cargo bay to save Rewind from Overlord. It's heart-rending.
  • Their final "goodbye" before the cell jettisoned, if you can call it that, was almost too much to bear. They can't hear each other through the glass, so we get shots from each of their perspectives as the countdown drones on in the background. There's this one panel of Rewind looking through the porthole, Chromedome's look of utter despair is reflected onto it, as Rewind says a goodbye Chromedome can't even hear.
  Rewind: I'm sorry, Domey. I'm sorry things didn't work out.
  • When one remembers the gag about Chromedome not being able to make a dismissive "pfft" because of his lack of lips or even a mouth, this moment gets worse. If only even one of them had a mouth, one of them would've gotten the other's goodbye by reading their lips.

Issue 16

• Issue 16 continues the numerous Tearjerkers with Chromedome and Rewind. Chromedome basically is emotionally shattered by Rewind's death and barely shows any reactions at his funeral. We than get the incredibly disturbing reveal that Chromedome has had other Conjux Endura before Rewind who he's outlived and that every time that one dies, Chromedome basically erases his memory of them to keep the pain away. Not only that, but we also learned that Chromedome has no innermost energon. Not because he was born dry (as he had said himself), but because he had made so many deathbed offerings that he had literally none to give. Brainstorm, in previous conversations, keeps trying to get him to stop erasing the memories of his previous Conjux Enduras but isn't successful until he shows Chromedome Rewind's last movie.
• Rewind's last message to Chromedome
  Rewind:Your attention for a moment. This is Rewind, showing you edited footage from my database. I've probably got 0.8 seconds before game over, so hear me out. I've always been terrified that you'd die before I did, because you and me apart strikes me as intensely wrong. So promise me something. Be brave. And be strong. And keep going without me. And another thing: no more injecting. It will kill you. And remember: you deserve to be happy. The New Institute was the old you. You're a better person now—stubborn and frustrating, but wonderful. And to think, I will never see you again. One more thing—one last thing—because I don't say it enough: I love you.
  • At the same time as this Drift is exiled from the ship by Rodimus for his actions and has to leave all of his friends because of his actions. The other crew members are so shocked and angry that one of them even throws debris at Drift as he leaves. Ratchet is the only one who bothers to help Drift up after he's knocked down.
  • Drift has been a fairly unpopular character among the fandom and some the creators of the franchise from the beginning. Basically, he's been viewed as a nothing more than a stereotypical badass, fan-created Japanese samurai stereotyped character. It's sad that the only time Drift has ever elicited sympathy from anyone was when he took the fall for others, and that the last time we see him, he's still hated by just about everybody. Really brings his hard luck story full circle.

Issue 17:

• In issue 17, while preparing the team to take down to Luna-1's surface Rodimus confides to Ratchet that he knows Bumblebee and the other Autobots who stayed behind on Cybertron thought his quest was foolish, that Rodimus and his crew were just running away, and that the whole thing is some sort of joke to them.
  Rodimus: But Rewind's not laughing. Hyperion's not laughing. Nor Animus. Nor Shock. People have died, Ratchet. People have died.
• Ratchet breaks the news to Tailgate that he's suffering from cybercrosis and is going to die within the three next days.
  • Cyclonus' initial reaction seems to be disregard about Tailgate dying when he leaves their hab suite. Once outside, when he looks into a reflective surface, he raises his fist as if to smash it with a snarl. He stops. He just stops, with a broken and sad expression - as if thinking 'What's even the point?'. Instead, he drags his claws over his face, mutilating it.

Issue 19:

• The confrontation between Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus and Chief Justice Tyrest. Tyrest accuses Magnus of becoming a laughingstock due to his By-the-Book Cop tendencies and is thus no longer worthy of carrying the title of Ultra Magnus, Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord. Magnus/Ambus panics and begs Tyrest not to strip him of his title because being Ultra Magnus is his life, just before Tyrest presses a button on his staff, and the Ultra Magnus Powered Armor falls from Ambus' body. The last shot is of Ambus kneeling dejectedly on the ground, surrounded by the remains of his armor, holding the helmet in his hands. And then he gets thrown in prison to boot!
  • And then to top it off, Tyrest kicks Magnus while he's down saying that he's failed as an Enforcer, claims that Magnus is suffering a nervous breakdown, and shows off how he's being replaced with Star Saber. What a Jerkass.

Issue 20:

• Star Saber murdering Dai Atlas. Made even sadder by his final spiteful comments to Atlas.
  Primus hates you.
• Soundwave's pleading when the killswitch starts to affect Ravage.
  Somebody help him!
• The effects of the killswitch in general, which you would expect from an event that has seemingly random Cybertronians suddenly dropping with smoke coming out of their eyes and mouths. Soundwave panicking over Ravage, Starscream gasping Megatron's name, Red Alert quietly dying while in storage, Tarn's concern over Kaon, Fulcrum and Misfire wondering why there's no ship to pick them up, because their teammates are all effected, former friends Prowl and Chromedome dying together on opposite sides of the galaxy, completely unaware. And that's just the people we see.
• There's also First Aid lashing out at Ratchet, because Ratchet won't let him help try to fix Ambulon, which First Aid thinks is because of the bet he made with Pharma and his own inflated sense of pride, how he thinks Ratchet believes no one will ever be as good as him, which is why he's still Chief Medical Officer. And then it turns out the reason Ratchet won't let First Aid help is because Ambulon was dead before Pharma had even finished sawing him in half, and he's actually been rewiring Ambulon's corpse to turn it into a blaster (which is a whole new level of messed up right there) so they can escape. And even after all that, Ratchet still admits that First Aid had a point, and that if they survive, he'll step down and let First Aid take his place.

Issue 21:

• Tyrest tries to use Tailgate as a Human Shield to dissuade the away team from shooting him... at which Tailgate yells at Rodimus to shoot through him to take out Tyrest since he's dying already. Rodimus is understandably hesitant to say the least.
  "I've only got a day and a half left! Now SHOOT HIM!
• Tailgate's near-death.
  • It's even sadder when you consider that per the writer, Tailgate almost died for real.
• The end of the story arc ends up being rather bittersweet. Ambulon, Deftwing, and Dai Atlas are all dead and Tyrest and Star Saber escape. First Aid killed Pharma but he seems to be consumed with guilt over it and Rodimus had to sacrifice the Matrix map in order to stop the Killswitch, meaning the crew has no leads on finding the Knights of Cybertron after everything they went through. And perhaps saddest of all, the hot spot the crew discovered won't reignite, meaning thousands of Cybertronians will never be born. Considering that by Prowl's calculations in the previous ongoing, Transformers are an increasingly endangered species that is edging closer and closer towards extinction, that's quite a blow.

Issue 22:

• When Rewind asks some of the crew if they're happy with their lives:
  • Rung admits that no one has ever asked him how he felt before — and Rung is one of the oldest living Cybertronians we know about.
  • The seemingly chipper and upbeat Drift doesn't say anything; he just remorsefully puts his face in his hand.
  • Swerve says:
  "Everyone assumes that if you make jokes, you're happy. Why? Why is that?"

Issue 27:

• Blurr doesn't remember Swerve at all, and in fact finds him annoying.

Issue 28:

• In the six months since Dark Cybertron, Chromedome has fallen apart, and now spends all day in his quarters, listening to Rewind's last message, over and over.

Issue 29:

• When Trailcutter goes into medibay, it's shown that Ambulon's stuff is still in there; apparently neither Ratchet nor First Aid had the heart to get rid of it.
• The final flashback to Megatron's trial has Rodimus sitting dejectedly in the dark because he caved and took Atomizer's list of the 89 people who voted against him staying as captain and is seemingly crushed by the names on the list.

Issue 30:

• At the end of the trial, as part of the deal with Optimus to join the Lost Light, Megatron has to publicly denounce the Decepticon cause, declaring it a failed ideal and ordering any who still wore the badge to stand down. After he is done, he silently buries his face in his hands.
  • Earlier in the trial, a group of Decepticons make a desperate attempt to rescue Megatron. Seawing gets to Megatron's side, and attempts to teleport him out-only for Megatron to make it clear he doesn't intend on leaving, rendering the whole thing pointless.
  Megatron: I'm sorry Seawing. It was a nice gesture.
• Ratchet points out to Rodimus that the voting records are fake because his name is not on the list. Rodimus' expression says it all.
• In the end the Lost Light basically disintegrates, forcing the crew to abandon it. Given how they had largely come to view it as their home, that's a pretty big blow.

Issue 31:

• In the flashback, Pipes being as excited and optimistic as can be for the trip.
• Riptide's anxiety whilst remembering the eight-step program is instantly relatable for any academic strugglers.
• Tailgate admitting that he's scared out of his mind to Cyclonus.
• The whole concept of the MTOs, and their gradual degeneration into mass produced cannon fodder, is plenty messed up and sad. Skids in particular is angered with the process.
• As more and more crewmembers disappear, Nautica breaks down and starts freaking out about how she may never see her friends from Caminus again.

Issue 32

• Megatron and Ravage's heart-to-heart talk, when Megatron admits he sees himself as a monster. And the panel where Ravage has the most heartbroken look imaginable during all this.
  • During this conversation Megatron finally admits that he is old. And that his best days are long behind him, even without the Power Limiter fuel the Autobots are keeping him on. He finally admits to being what he really is: a tired old man full of regrets.
  Megatron: Look at me Ravage. I'm old. Old and weak. Their poison makes me brittle, but even at full strength I'm long past my prime. My spark flickers when once it flared, and this body...oh, this nonsense body. It doesn't graft to the spark like the others. There's no purchase. No bite.
  • As toxic and awful as it might've been, Ravage points out that the reason that the Decepticon movement got as far it did was that people loved Megatron, he was their hero.

Issue 33

• What Rewind had to endure at the hands of the DJD. They have him film the massacre of the rest of the crew to ensure Chromedome's survival, but once this is finished, they move the goalposts and insist that Chromedome has to erase his own memories of Rewind as well. When he refuses despite Rewind's pleas, Vos kills him right in front of his Conjunx Endura.
• Nautica finding Brainstorm's corpse buried in the wreckage of his lab is pretty hard to read, especially considering just how close they had gotten over the past few months. Gets infinitely worse when he's revealed as the Decepticons' mole, and she is in desperate denial.
• This, when Rewind believes that he's going to have to die to bring the other Lost Light back.
  Rewind: On your Lost Light, me and Domey... are we still strong?
  Megatron: ...You're inseparable.
• Chromedome and Rewind's silent reunion. Just as Skids said, no words - no questions. No words are needed.

Issue 34

• Everything concerning Megatron and Terminus.
• Trailcutter reminds us that, occasional drunken hijinks aside, he's a good guy who would risk his own life to save someone Bluestreak, Mainframe, and First Aid have already given up on. The someone in question turns out to be a DJD member, and poor Trailcutter ends up eviscerated for his trouble — just when things were finally looking up for him.
• What nearly happened to Megatron; he almost had his personality altered, which would have included dulling his intelligence, so that he wouldn't write against the senate or Functionists anymore. He actually starts crying (Energon) at one point.

Issue 35

• The fate of Alternate!Timeline Dominus Ambus. The Functionist Council try to silence him by performing a new form of Empurata on him and replacing his head with a TV screen forcing him to only be able to communicate with on screen text. And then when the Council finds out that he hasn't given up, they remotely hack his mind and delete most of his personal vocabulary. This means that not only is he reduced to only responding in the most basic of words (Yes, No, Up, Down, Go, Stop etc.) but he is incapable of understanding anything but those words.
  Rewind: ...and the words he's lost—when you speak to him, the words he's lost—he doesn't know what they mean anymore! And there are certain words, Minimus—tiny words—important words—there are certain words you can't afford to lose.
  • Look at what Dominus is doing in that second-to-last panel. He doesn't know the words anymore, but he's still cradling Rewind as he dies.

Issue 36

• The conversation between Past!Orion Pax and Future!Megatron.
• Rodimus tries to give Trailbreaker information that will prevent his later death, only for Trailbreaker to grab Chromedome's hand and accidentally wipe his own memory, thus negating the info. Not only that, but it's implied that this may have partially caused Trailbreaker's alcoholism. Even worse is Rodimus leaping forward with a "TRAILBREAKER!" as even Cyclonus looks affected.
  • Also note that it's suggested Rodimus would've failed to save him regardless. Issue 35 shows that the DJD blew up the shuttle Trailcutter, First Aid, Bluestreak, and Mainframe used before they got off Ofsted XVII. So even if Trailbreaker had been able to follow Rodimus' advice he would've been blown to bits anyways.
• The crew also indirectly causes Orion and the Outliers to lose their memories of Roller disappearing, thus dooming him to whatever happened. Even worse, there's an increasingly strong implication that Roller is in fact the younger version of Tarn and him being accidentally left for dead is his Start of Darkness. Issue 55 reveals that Tarn is in fact Glitch.

Issue 37

• The flashback of Whirl's tools and shop being destroyed, including his shocked (pre-empurata) face. He also finds out it was the corrupt Functionists controlling the Senate who had him undergo Empurata, that for years he was working for the people responsible for everything he'd lost, and he'd been angry at the wrong people. You can't quite blame him for feeling as homicidal as he does and murdering a Transformer accompanying the Heavies.

Issue 38

• The scene in the 'Con Facility opens up with Brainstorm monologuing as he levels a gun at the newborn Megatron. Only later do we find out that Brainstorm has never killed; he'd been standing there for 10 minutes trying to work up the nerve.
• Brainstorm's ultimate motivations. Before the war he fell in love with a fellow scientist named Quark, only to for Quark not to reciprocate to the same level (if he even realized how Brainstorm felt). During the war, Quark was arrested and died in a Hellhole Prison. Brainstorm, driven near mad with grief, decided to use quantum engines to create the time machine briefcase and go back in time to prevent Quark's death. After Chromedome lost Rewind, he decided to spare "everyone" from the war by changing Megatron's life experiences and, when that failed, killing him. The worst part? Had he succeeded, Quark would have become a top scientific officer in the Functionist regime. Judging by how Brainstorm stops Rewind from looking him up in his database, he's at least partially aware of where Quark might have ended up.
• The look on Brainstorm's face as he watches Quark from afar. The mouthplate obscures his rueful happiness not at all.
• Rewind begins shaking and losing his composure after murdering "Megatron," and remarks to Chromedome that he should be appalled at him. Chromedome refuses, leading to a heartwarming moment.
• At the issue's end, everyone is celebrating in Swerve's bar and enjoying themselves... except Megatron, who is sitting glumly in his room, reevaluating his life while Ravage tries to comfort him, and Brainstorm himself, locked in the brig with a look of despair on his face.

Issue 39

• As it turns out Tarn is actually disturbed by the violence the DJD commits and wears his mask to hide the fact that he closes his eyes out of disgust whenever they indulge in torture. His narration also has him constantly berating and criticizing himself, suggesting that he's filled with self-loathing. It's almost sad enough to you briefly forget he's a murderer.

Issue 40:

• The reveal that Ten is sentient, not just a mindless drone, is a punch to the heart considering the way he's treated by Swerve and others.
• The revelation that by killing Megatron in the past, Brainstorm fully intended to negate his own existence; he was a Made to Order soldier, created during the war. No war, and he would never be born. He wasn't trying to save Quark in the hope that they would wind up together somehow, he fully knew that it was impossible, and was instead trading his life for Quark's.

Issue 42

• At the party at the end of the issue, Cyclonus is sitting glumly at the sidelines like usual, but than "Power of Love" comes on over the radio and he decides to go ahead and dance with Tailgate... and then walks over to find that Getaway got there first.

Issue 43

• The reveal that Swerve has been holed up in his hab suite since the start of the season 2 comics and that the Swerve we've been seeing is just a holomatter avatar he's been projecting while he slowly dies from an old war wound with nobody else the wiser.
• Megatron looks into a mirror at his Holomatter avatar, clearly thinking about how he looks so old and still pretty evil. It's a bit sad since he mentions how he's feeling his age to Ravage in the next issue.

Issue 44

• Nightbeat's breakdown over the Necrobot's true nature.
  Nightbeat: I was shot in the head. Point blank range. The moment I was hit, I realized. Even before I got sucked into the Dead Universe, I realized there was nothing out there: no Afterspark, no higher plane, nothing to ascend to. Afterwards—after I survived—and we can argue about definitions later—I thought I could live with that knowledge. That certainty. I can't. I honestly can't handle it. I wanted you to prove me wrong. I wanted you to tell me that after the spark dies, it lives. I wanted hope.
• The last page. The Lost Light crew have found the planet of the Necrobot, an ancient Transformer who travels the galaxy cataloging the deaths of every Cybertronian in existence. Each one has a holographic statue in their image, that gets taken down when they die. At the feet of the statues are beautiful blue flowers; each flower contains the residual spark energy of every Transformer they have killed, directly or indirectly, and it takes at least a dozen deaths to light each one. Since the Cybertronian race is dwindling, the Necrobot has concluded that there is not a single statue left without at least one flower. Every character in the franchise is a killer at this point. In the final page, Megatron (who only agreed to come to this world to forestall his judgement a little longer) finds his own statue. The flowers stretch into the horizon, with no end in sight.
  • Also some Brilliance - the gravestones on the special cover have some resemblance to the hundreds of un-named WW2 gravestones in war cemeteries in Europe, and the endless blue flowers echo the poppy fields of Flanders. The comic was published in September in the USA but came out in October in the UK. October and November are the months where Remembrance Day is held very prominently in people's minds in Europe...

Issue 45

• The Scavengers have not been handling Megatron's side-change and Starscream's election well. They've abandoned their plans to go home out of despair and distrust and have basically just been bumming around the outer rim since. Krok is doing the worst; his anxiety is getting worse and he's becoming increasingly temperamental, snapping at the rest of the group for not doing anything with their lives.
• We see more of Grimlock's deficient mental state. He's become so disabled that sometimes he just wets himself and he can't even read or write. Misfire is trying to help but is having his nerves visibly frayed.
  Who did this to you, buddy? Who hurt you?

Issue 46

• As it was hinted at all the way back in issue #7, Krok's squad is dead. The thing he's been carrying around that he clicks when he's anxious? It's the finger of his friend Radar, as well as a communicator; it can detect spark signatures bearing a Decepticon marker...and every time Krok turns it on, he never finds anybody nearby.

Issue 47

• We see the inside of Whirl's quarters. They're actually pretty Spartan, except for all those clocks he keeps building. And when asked about them, Whirl can only say "I keep making mistakes".
• When Whirl asks Cyclonus why he came to him of all people, Cyclonus replies that "You're not afraid of me, and you certainly don't consider me a friend." That seems to be what gives Whirl his attack of conscience. And then two guys he thought he could trust turn on him and mock him as he goes down.
  Getaway: Not even the mighty Nutjob can outrun a thought bullet. That's what Tailgate calls you, by the way. We laugh about it.
• The details behind Getaway and Tailgate's relationship are heartbreaking. Getaway doesn't care for him at all. He's simply emotionally manipulating Tailgate into attacking Megatron - or more accurately, being attacked by Megatron, so that Megatron will be prosecuted for his murder.
• The conclusion of the issue. Cyclonus, having attacked Megatron to save Tailgate from his misdirected rage, is attacked by the ship's security forces and gunned down right in front of Tailgate. And this is just after both of them figured out Cyclonus really did love Tailgate.
  Goodbye, little one.

Issue 49

• The final panel is pure Nightmare Fuel, but also horrifically tragic. Skids thought he was fixing Grindcore's teleporter, in return for Tarn freeing fifty prisoners. He knew Tarn probably wouldn't live up to his end of the bargain but reasoned that the worst-case scenario was still an improvement, as the prisoners would be transported off-world and used as slave labor; dozens of them were dying a week from the sadistic "mouth flowers" installed in them, and at least slaves need to be kept alive. Tarn actually seems to keep his word at first too, putting fifty prisoners in the "teleporter" and sending them away. And he has an apparent Pet the Dog moment when he offers Skids a place on the next shipment out, then allows him AND Quark to go. The truth is that the teleporter is an incinerator; Tarn is melting down Autobots for raw materials. He teleports Skids out just as he realizes this, so he can make him watch as his fellow prisoners are gruesomely killed◊. Skid's faith in Primus dies along with them.
  • And if you look closely, two Autobots are holding each other as they die◊.

Issue 50

• Where do we begin?
  • Just the title; "The Dying of the Light"
  • The intro. All of the main cast delivering their last will and testament over video, each of them beaten and battered, with Whirl declaring he doesn't want a funeral, and Windblade being forced to watch Velocity say that, even after everything, she wouldn't have changed her mind for anything.
  • All of the messages are tragic, in their own way. Nautica, suffering from severe facial wounds, laments that she can't think of an appropriate literary quotation (probably because of said wounds), asks to be buried on Caminus, and when she's about to say what she wants as her epitaph, she tiredly says "You know what? Who cares." Chromedome and Rewind want to have a dual funeral so they can both enter the Afterspark together, with Rewind having an additional message for Dominus Ambus, if he's still out there; Rewind never stopped looking, and he wonders if it's wrong that he's envious that at least Dominus (if he ever sees the message) will know what happened to Rewind. Nightbeat says that at least having a little over six hours until he dies gives him time to prepare, which he didn't have last time. He asks for his head to be preserved (if it can be), and for his body to be burned. He's tapping his forehead (where Hardhead shot him, resulting in his first death) as he says this. Minimus Ambus laments that he let his guard down, had too much "ff-ff-fun", and should have seen this coming. Regardless, he asks to be buried on the rediscovered Luna-1, next to the deactivated hot spot, and to be buried in the Magnus Armor. Rung simply asks that if he dies in his altmode, to be completely dissassembled. Whirl replied simply, 'No funeral', as if he doesn't want to be remembered. And Velocity asks that her epitaph simply read "No Regrets".
    • And then Optimus Prime plans to go after them, and is told the message was sent weeks ago.
  • Megatron and the main cast are stranded on the Necrobot's planet, surrounded by Decepticons and try to call home for help. Who answers? GETAWAY. And it turns out he didn't escape; he was freed by the rest of the crew who are mutinying against Rodimus and Megatron, fully aware that the DJD are on the planet with them.
  • Nightbeat discovering the dead Necrobot
  • Megatron hearing how none of the Lost Light crew (aside from Team Rodimus) will ever forgive him for starting the Decepticon movement.
  • The final page. Megatron knows the DJD have come for him, and they've been left stranded from their home. All he can say is
  Megatron: I think...this is it. This is how it ends.
• The secondary story, "No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases". It's a series of flashback scenes set in Swerve's bar, all having to do with characters who have died throughout the series. Both the readers and the characters (observing the past through a window in time) get to say one last goodbye to the Duobots, Pipes, Rewind 1, Trailcutter, and Ambulon.
  • Pipes' story is particularly sad, as not only was he something of a Chew Toy, but he was unlucky in love as well, and hoping to find someone. Drift suggests introducing him to Tailgate, and Tailgate himself gets to sadly watch the flashback.
  • The last scene is both sad and chilling, in its way. Sometime between Brainstorm's time-jumping and the finale, Perceptor brings a large group of crewmembers back from viewing a previous event, and notes that the time windows Brainstorm's briefcase caused are shrinking and will soon become unusuable. The group then ruminates on what anyone would do with the ability to time travel invisibly into the past, to which Megatron somberly states you'd pay silent tribute to fallen friends. Perceptor does note that even though the windows are shrinking now, they could concievably grow later on in the future, but Rodimus decides he'd rather not know when exactly, leading the crew in a toast to being surprised. All the while, this scene is being viewed from further in the future by Getaway, who appears to be paying his own silent tribute.

Issue 52:

• Nickel's reaction to Kaon's death at the hands of Tarn. The scene is small, but the betrayal in the poor Minicon's voice is palpable.
  Nickel: What have you done...?
• Kaon also went to Tarn willingly, implying that they've comforted each other like that before. Tarn really only kills Kaon to prove a point to Overlord.
• Overlord's face in the next panel doesn't help either. He looks at Tarn with pity, like he knows that Tarn's finally lost it.
• Overlord being alive is a sad shocker. The bots that died trying to take him down on the Lost Light and during Sins of the Wreckers basically did all of that for nothing. The Galactic Council fixing him just shows that no Cybertroninan in their right mind would try to bring him back.

Issue 53:

• We finally learn the fate of Agent 113. After being discovered by the DJD, he was subjected to the same "domestication" process Demus put his Roboids through and was turned into "the Pet". Oh, and he's also Dominus Ambus, who's disappearance was actually him going undercover to infiltrate the DJD, and who's true beast form was hidden from even Rewind because he's a Loadbearer like his brother Minimus and hid it under a suit of outer armor. Chromedome and Rewind learn this at the exact same time-Chromedome from injecting the Pet to try and get the location of the DJD's ship and Rewind from examining the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy after learning the truth from Minimus-and Chromedome resolves to restore Dominus' mind so he and Rewind can be together, even though the strain will kill him. But if the procedure isn't completed, Dominus will die instead due to his mind collapsing. Rewind begs him not to, but Chromedome is resolute, and so Rewind grabs one of Drift's shortswords and severs Chromedome's arms, saving him, but killing Dominus, telling Chromedome it wasn't his choice to make. The feels ensue.
• Megatron is repaired, but refuses the offer of a new fusion cannon and states he will not head out with the rest of the team to fight the DJD and their allies, instead staying behind to coordinate their attacks and guard the organics. He specifically says he's doing this because he's too scared and weak to go out and fight, not just because of his newly embraced pacifism. Rodimus does not take this well, considering Megatron is an incredibly powerful warrior, and even Ravage tells Megatron he's disappointed in him.
• Cyclonus tells Whirl that Tailgate will survive the attack. Whirl states Cyclonus and Tailgate are together, but Cyclonus feels he isn't worthy of Tailgate... but he is going to die giving Tailgate his chance to escape.

Issue 54:

• The death of Skids, who has his traumatic memories of Grindcore restored, so that the resulting breakdown will temporarily give Outlier abilities to his crewmates. Despite this Heroic Sacrifice, he dies hating himself for what he did (even though he was tricked into it by Tarn) and trying to crawl to Brainstorm so he can apologize for Quark's death. And, in a tragic Call-Back to his first appearance, in which he thought his name was "Scum" for a couple seconds, his last words are: "I'm scum, Ratchet! Scum."
  • Even worse, when the others return from the battle, the very first thing Nautica does is cling to his lifeless body and cry.
• Overlord mocking Chromedome about Rewind saying he killed him before Chromedome fired at the shuttle. He may have been baiting Chromedome, but it was a pretty grotesque way to do it.

Issue 55:

• Deathsaurus collapsing to his knees after being hit with Swerve and Rewind's induced "attack of conscience" as he laments the men he lost. To see someone as big and intimidating as Deathsaurus looking so lost and afraid is heartbreaking, especially considering how much nicer he is than most other Decepticon leaders.
  Deathsaurus: All my fault... It's All My Fault... How many of my own have I killed today? How many?
• Ravage dies from the wounds he sustained in the previous issue. The last thing he sees is Megatron wearing a Decepticon "badge" (actually Tarn's mask), and he begs Megatron not to change back as his final words. Said badge ends up crushed underfoot as Megatron goes to embrace Terminus.
  • Halfway across the universe, Soundwave senses Ravage's death, and collapses in sorrow.
• Megatron has a total Freak Out after Ravage's death and it's not hard to see why. Getaway and most of the crew betrayed him, he had to kill the bots who once followed and looked up to him, pretty much everyone except Optimus and Team Rodimus think he should be dead, and in the end - despite all his power - he couldn't even save Skids and Ravage. He refuses to let Ratchet remove his new Fusion Cannon and turns it on the Lost Light's crew with every intent to leave. Thank Primus that Terminus chose that moment to enter the scene.
• Speaking of: Megatron and Terminus' reunion.
  Terminus: What happened?
  Megatron: Nothing. Everything. I lost my way.

Lost Light Issue 1

• Rung's reaction to Skid's death

Lost Light Issue 2

• Swerve tells Nautica once he's done checking to make sure all the other pods have opened and there still aren't Cybertronians in stasis, he'll need her to do something because he's starting to feel it again (and he points to his neck as he says it). Given Swerve's remarkably chipper mood last issue (which Anode commented on), the implication seems to be that Swerve is having Nautica somehow repress his grief over Skids' death instead of trying to process it.
  • Issue three reveal that most of those on necroworld are using a "mood suppressant" with some of the bots are using to block out their grief over Skids's death. With Nautica being the only one worried about these things.

Lost Light Issue 4

• Tailgate has seizures and Cyclonus has been getting injured as he tries to stop him. Whirl finds about this and goes to Tailgate...

Whirl: I want to tell you a story.

Tailgate: A story?

Whirl: A love story.

Tailgate: Oh, does it have a happy ending?

Whirl: They never do.

• Rodimus and Megatron's vicious argument over whether they should stay and help the Functionist Universe or focus on tracking down the Lost Light. Rodimus accuses Megatron of trying to selfishly put off his punishment, using their current situation as an excuse. Megatron accuses Rodimus of being obsessed with getting the revenge on Getaway to the point of letting innocent people suffer. After the events of the season 2 finale, it seemed like the two were finally coming to an understanding, but then this comes along and they're at each other's throats worse than ever.
• Anode reveals why she left Caminus and quit being a blacksmith: she accidentally killed a protoform she was trying to save because she got cocky and fumbled the procedure. She was so overwhelmed with guilt she wanted to quit, but she couldn't work up the nerve to say so to her friends and colleagues, so she stole from the Lighthouse and ran to give herself an excuse to leave.
  • Worse, it turns out that Lug thought Anode quit to be with her. Instead, she's basically told that the person she loved only left with her because she caused a child's death. And it's made clear that Lug doesn't forgive Anode, even after the latter pours her heart on about the situation.

Lost Light issue 5

• The Reveal about Anode and Lug. Lug is dead. She never made it off Luna 2 and Anode has been hallucinating conversations with her due to timesickness. The reason Lug disappeared last issue wasn't because she didn't forgive Anode, it's because the timesickness wore off. When Anode realizes this, she's left utterly broken.

Lost Light issue 6

• The circumstances of how Megatron is tricked into staying behind in the Functionist Universe. Regardless of whether or not it was Roller or Terminus who engineered it, Megatron ends up being left behind, despite sincerely wanting to return to his own reality and face justice for his crimes, and worst of all, Rodimus, who had been developing into Vitriolic Best Buds with him, ends up believing that Megatron tricked him into letting him stay to avoid punishment. This is perfectly summed up when Terminus tries to console Megatron after they see Luna-2 vanish.
  Megatron: They've gone. They left without me.
  Terminus: They've given you a second chance.
  Megatron: They'd already done that.

Lost Light issue 7

• Everything involving Tailgate and Cyclonus. Tailgate tells Cyclonus to leave Necroworld and him behind but doesn't reveal that Whirl told him about his night fits, and how he unknowingly injured Cyclonus during one of them, meaning that Cyclonus genuinely believes that he and Tailgate have grown apart. Tailgate even tries to return the innermost Energon Cyclonus left him when he was ill. Cyclonus leaves, gouging his face to look like tears.
  • If that wasn't bad enough, Tailgate is actually so desperate to be with Cyclonus again that he lets Kaput try an extremely dangerous method of depowering him, one which would kill any lesser bot (and may very well kill him). He must spend six months buried in a chamber flooded with radiation, but readily accepts the risk for a chance to be with Cyclonus. But as soon as he's down there, Fangry takes his revenge for the beatdown Tailgate gave him, killing Kaput and resetting the timer so Tailgate will be down there for six million years. The issue ends with Tailgate in the same place we met him way back in MTMTE #1: buried alive.
  • Cyclonus is alone, gouging his face again, but before he can go any further, he's stopped by Whirl, who simply tells him, "Don't." He then just sits there to keep him company and to make sure he won't continue, knowing all too well the pains of self-harm and self-loathing, clearly unable to do anything else for Cyclonus other than just keep him company.
• Ultra Magnus ends up completely turning on Megatron for his perceived betrayal of "tricking" them into letting him stay in the Functionist Universe (which isn't what happened at all). Despite the fact that Megatron and Magnus had had a very professional, respectful relationship, even something resembling a friendship, Magnus completely renounces any faith or trust he had in Megatron, ending with a spiteful "I hope he burns".

Lost Light issue 11

• Learning the truth about what's been going on while the main characters are on Necroworld is rather heartbreaking. Turns out most of the crew weren't nearly as complicit in the mutiny as it seemed; they knew they were getting rid of Megatron, sure, but had no idea that their crewmates' survival wasn't guaranteed, no idea about the involvement of the DJD, and no idea about just how far Getaway would go to cover his ass. Now most of them have been brainwashed by Sunder to believe an alternate history of what happened, the security team has been made to round up their fellow crew under the delusion that they are Decepticon plants, Thunderclash and the Protectobots are in artificially induced comas reliving their memories, and 25 Autobots have been devoured by scraplets to reduce them to just brains in order to pay Sunder. And their friends don't even remember them.

Lost Light issue 13

• How everything goes wrong at the very end as all the mounting tension and boredom onboard the tiny ship the cast is traveling on breaks, starting with when Rodimus gets a call from Fort Max on Necroworld and is told that Tailgate apparently died in his underground capsule due to spontaneous spark combustion, and has to break that news to Cyclonus. Rodimus does his best, showing genuine empathy for Cyclonus (his own sorrow is palpable), saying that Tailgate would have died instantly and felt no pain as it happened, but Cyclonus...well, he reacts about as well as you might expect someone as emotionally stunted as him to. He doubles over and screams in agony before stalking out of the meeting with Rodimus...just in time to have Anode ripped off of Ultra Magnus (due to her escalating prank war with Swerve) and hitting Cyclonus square in the back, which causes him to snap, unsheathe his Great Sword, and attempt to bring it down on Anode...who is warned just in time by Swerve, and rolls out of the way...but this means the sword slashes Rewind instead, across the chest, severing his primary fuel lines. As Velocity attends to Rewind's wound, Chromedome angrily rebuffs Cyclonus when he tries to apologize. Velocity then reports that Rewind will live, which causes Cyclonus to snidely remark that "he always does", which serves to only further enrage Chromedome, accusing Cyclonus of being jealous of his relationship with Rewind, because it's something he's never had, which causes Cyclonus to respond that what Chromedome thinks he and Rewind have is only an illusion, because it turns out Cyclonus does have some messed up ideas about love, saying it's only real when it hurts. Chromedome then takes a swing at him through an intangible, possibly dead Ratchet (long story) when he tries to intervene, only for Whirl to interpose himself between the two, tell Chromedome to back off because this isn't about him, and then just asks Cyclonus if it's about Tailgate. Cyclonus collapses sobbing into Whirl's arms. Looks like they're finally more than just Bash Brothers.

Lost Light issue 14

• Nickel’s sorrow over what happened to the DJD...
  Misfire: What’ll you do wth the money? Buy yourself a phone that isn’t a billion years old?
  Nickel: It was present from someone I admired. He’s dead now. They’re all dead now...

Lost Light Issue 16

• No tricks, no illusions, no falsehoods- The crew of the Lost Light are all dead. Sure, they're all together in the Afterspark, as confirmed by the presence of Trailcutter and Pipes, but they're all dead. Until the next Issue which reveals the falsehood.

Lost Light Issue 17

• Back in issue 9, Nautica had all the feelings she felt towards Skids removed in an attempt to have him resurrected. This fact was revealed at the end of said issue and quickly brushed aside, but we see the full extent in issue 17. Mederi has been conjuring illusions of lost loved ones of Rodimus' crew to comfort them in order for the crew to find enough peace and happiness necessary for them to ascend (get killed). When Nautica encounters an illusion of Skids, it has no effect on her. Granted, it's because Nautica had her feelings towards Skids drained that she was able to piece together what was really happening, it's pretty devastating to see that Skids means nothing to Nautica now, even though she used to consider him a best-friend-for-life/amica en/dura.
  Skids: We were amica endura...
  Nautica: We were, you're right, but—No offense—I can't for the life of me explain why.

Lost Light Issue 18

• It's revealed that Cyberutopia is actually a mass euthanasia clinic that the dying Knights of Cybertron believed was a paradise and made a map to it, this means all the suffering and loss of life the crew of the Lost Light went through was All for Nothing.
  • Just as bad, it means Ten and Nightbeat didn't "ascend", they were euthanized by Mederi. And because of the more pressing issues at the time, none of the team are given the time to actually mourn their loss.
• The look on Cyclonus' face when he realizes that Tailgate is going to disappear because he's part of the same illusion. As Tailgate sadly reflects on how he and Cyclonus were probably never meant to be, the latter finally lets out an Anguished Declaration of Love and embraces Tailgate, knowing that he's going to disappear any second.
  • And then Tailgate is still around after everyone else vanishes, turning this into a Heartwarming Moment.
• The fate that has befallen the mutineers. In the last panel, we see Hoist, Perceptor, Hound, and Mainframe all transformed into vicious Sparkeaters. And they were relatively blameless, having been lied to and brainwashed into believing Getaway's version of events, that their friends left them behind of their own free will.

Lost Light Issue 20

• Despite all he's done - all the dogs he's kicked, all the lines that he's crossed, and the distinct Lack of Empathy he's had for anyone besides himself, Getaway's line as he prepares to blow up the Lost Light is delivered with an expression that suggests he finally gets how far he's fallen, but far too late to do anything about it.
  Getaway: (to Rodimus) I used to think I was special! But I'm not, am I? I'm not anything. I'm just...I'm just an M.T.O. with ideas above his station. Cyberutopia's a lie, I'll never get to be a Prime, and I've made an enemy of just about everyone I've ever met. Your death is literally all I've got to look forward to.

Lost Light Issue 24

• Rung’s Heroic Sacrifice. Knowing that the exertion producing the Matrix copies the Lost Lighters need will kill him, he simply says goodbye to Chromedome and Rewind (telling them to forgive themselves), deletes all his patient files (to preserve that patient-doctor confidentiality he always took so seriously), and reminisces one last time about his first meeting with Skids. Smiling gently, he transforms and uses all of his strength to produce enough Matrices to defeat the fake Primus, then turns to dust just like his fellow Guiding Hand members.
  • As if that wasn’t heart wrenching enough, at the end of the issue it turns out Rung left a message: When the Matrices destroy the Functionist Council and reboot Vector Sigma, a pulsewave is sent to Luna-1, reactivating the hot spot there. The sparks form into a single sentence: “don’t forget me”. Judging by the reactions of the crew, they never will.
• Even after everything he’s done to redeem himself and Rodimus’s beautiful Rousing Speech that gives everyone else the ability to do so, Megatron is incapable of opening his Matrix, forcing Rodimus to do it.

Lost Light Issue 25

• It’s the final issue, so of course it’s sad as hell.
• While most of the crew gets happy endings, others are more bittersweet:
  • Rodimus never adjusts to a life without war or adventure and becomes a disheveled alcoholic who joins Thunderclash’s newest crew to try and recapture the magic of the Lost Light. He shows up to Ratchet’s funeral drunk and only gets there right when the ceremony’s ending.
  • Megatron finally has his trial since the Knights of Cybertron no longer exist. He’s found guilty and sentenced to either death or permanent imprisonment, despite everything he’s done to redeem himself, against the objections of the crew. In their final conversation before he’s to meet his sentence, Megatron gives Rodimus his Rodimus Star and tries to reassure Rodimus that this is all okay and that no matter what happens, no matter what the sentence is, he deserves far, far worse.
  • Ultra Magnus finally “dies” for real; Minimus Ambus decides the identity has had its run and destroys the Magnus Armor, living the rest of his life as himself. He never finishes that rule book he seemed so eager to write, instead settling for a quiet life helping in resettlement efforts on New Cybertron.
  • Ratchet and Drift finally admit their feelings for each other and, with Rodimus’s blessing, become Conjunx Endura... until Ratchet dies of old age. All of the surviving crew attends his funeral, including the mutineers.
  • Rung/Primus’s death and the residual effects of Adaptus’s Information Creep weapon cause the whole crew to lose their memories of him, despite his efforts to prevent that. Nobody will ever remember the real Primus. But they will remember the new Transformers born on Luna-1, all of whom sport some very familiar eyebrows and glasses. Primus’s last gift.
  • Swerve opens up a new bar on New Cybertron and attempts to turn it into a franchise so that everybody can enjoy “Swerve’s”, but it falls through and he’s reduced back to one location.
  • Rewind tries to learn all he can about the history of the Functionist Universe to complete his archives but ends up overloading himself and contracting a neuro-degenerative disease that leaves him permanently trapped in his alt mode. He continues to live with Chromedome, their love stronger than ever.
  • Brainstorm’s reckless experiments finally catch up to him when he gets crippled in a lab accident. He reworks his infamous briefcase into a mobile life support system, which he must carry for the rest of his life.
  • Tailgate and Cyclonus settle down together and live a peaceful life but end up falling out of touch with the rest of the crew, only learning what happened to them all when attend Ratchet’s funeral.
  • Whirl returns to a life of crime without the quest to occupy him and spends much of his time in-and-out of prison. He attends Ratchet’s funeral on work release and spends the entire ceremony in handcuffs, surrounded by guards and kept away from the rest of the crew. Cyclonus and Tailgate offer him a place to live when he gets released and he accepts.
  • First Aid continues being a doctor and saving people but is hit especially hard by Ratchet’s death. He spends part of the funeral apologizing to Drift for not being able to save Ratchet.
  • Nautica and Velocity retire to Earth. Nautica becomes a celebrated writer and pens a memoir of the crew’s adventures to try and ensure they’re never forgotten. Velocity and Swerve never act on the feelings that appeared to have been budding between them.
  • The Lost Light itself is decommissioned and ripped apart by High Command to use its quantum engines for Energon production. The crew mourn it’s destruction but accept that this way it will be remembered forever not only as their vessel, but also as a bringer of life. And thanks to a recreation of the accident that sent the crew on their quest to begin with, another quantum duplicate of the ship and crew is created and shunted off into unknown space. That crew figure they have nothing better to do than continue questing... and they’re just fine with that, because they’ll be together, like a family should.

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