Ultra Magnus giving Prowl the Data Slug and telling him not to destroy it. Magnus's face is obscured by shadows when he says he trusts him. Did he trust Prowl to do the right thing? Did he give it to Prowl to absolve himself of the moral dilemma of the drive, having prior knowledge of its lurid contents? Or did he give it to Prowl knowing full well that the secrets of the Autobots would be better left undiscovered, and Prowl was the best man for the job?
For that matter, Prowl. Well-Intentioned Extremist, Knight Templar, Anti-Villain? Prowl's actions on Pova also render some scrutiny. He tells Impactor that he wouldn't send a transport to arrest the captured Squadron X because the planet is neutral and they have no power there. Was Prowl really being an Obstructive Bureaucrat and willing to let the killers go for the sake of the law? Or, being the Magnificent Bastard he is, was refusing to take the cons in just him subtly goading Impactor on to execute them as doing so would remove one of the Autobot's greatest threats, and any legal problems would just be chocked up to a rogue agent that they could just lock away. Both actions are in character, Prowl is a control freak who would let the cons go for the sake of the rules, but he's also willing to bend said rules and push mavericks like Impactor into doing his dirty work. The revelation in Sins of the Wreckers that Prowl had long been using Impactor for deniable black-ops work makes the latter interpretation seem to be the more likely one.
The purpose of the Wrecker's declassified series both in and out of universe. To the Autobots it's a glorious tale of heroism all dedicated to the best of the best in their ongoing dangerous quest in the war against the Decepticons. To the Wreckers themselves it's glamorized stories, embezzling details, and making things seem more dynamic than they are, but at the same time it's endearing and does serve to chronicle their many adventures. The least charitable implication is that it's all just propaganda meant to boost morale and glorify a highly defective, hyper violent, cracked team of killers that the Autobots just need to point at their enemies to make their problems go away.
Complete Monster: Overlord is without a doubt one of the vilest Decepticons to ever grace the organization's ranks. An easily bored sadist with a love for bloodshed and fighting known for tearing through battlefields with glee, Overlord developed a pathological fear of defeat and hatred of Megatron when the latter defeated him in combat, and dedicates his life to destroying Megatron for the insult. Taking over Garrus-9 and turning it into a hellish concentration camp after killing several of his own allies, Overlord tortures and butchers hundreds of Autobots in various creative ways, hoping to lure Megatron out with his sheer depravity only to order the 50 surviving Autobot prisoners executed when his plans for Megatron are foiled. Overlord later horribly dismembers and kills the Autobot Rewind, mocking his spouse with Rewind's final moments of agony, and endorses a war campaign that leads to widespread slaughter before ditching his allies. In his final appearance, Overlord teams up with Tarantulas, disguises himself as a human, and spreads warmongering ideology against his own species—trying to torture the human girl Verity to death during this venture as payback for thwarting him on Garrus-9—while planning to travel to countless alternate timelines and kill Megatron over and over before murdering Tarantulas when he tries to explain that Overlord's plans will shatter the timestream and lead to countless deaths.
Designated Villain: It's revealed through the comic and various side-materials that, Squadron X was this in-universe. They weren't engaged in any sort of violence at the time the Wreckers battled them on Pova (they were just performing some refueling and munitions transportation), the Wreckers started the fights and rivalry with them, and most of the team were noble demonsnote Ferak was planning to retire, Earthquake was going to be either kicked out or executed due to suspicions that he was about to pull a Heel–Face Turn, poor Fang was only a jerk because Impactor maimed his voicebox and left him unable to speak, Triton was forced to join against his will, and Crosscut was only considered a threat because people kept mistaking him for someone else who actually was evil. . In fact, if the backstory provided in "Zero Point" is anything to go by, the Wreckers are bigger monsters than Squadron X ever was.
Fan Nickname: "Wrookies", for the newbie Wreckers.
Fashion-Victim Villain: Subverted, characters up to and including the infamous Skyquake have sane colors. That said, the Predators are still a little garish - Snare's bio notes that this is for camouflage on the strange worlds they've been stationed on in the past.
Fridge Horror: As pointed out by James Roberts, in the epilogue, Prowl never bothers asking about the fates of the Autobot prisoners who were the alleged reason the Wreckers were sent to G9 in the first place. In other words, either he didn't care or he was hoping the prisoners would be dead.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Rotorstorm's "Wreckers, combine!" joke is a lot funnier given that an actual Wreckers combiner team (being redecos of the Fall of Cybertron Combaticons) was released in 2013... though it sadly doesn't include Rotorstorm.
Ho Yay: In "Bullets," it's fairly easy to read First Aid's encounter with Springer as this.
Like You Would Really Do It: The series was using secondary characters to create a sense of Anyone Can Die, but few fans believed the big names: Springer, Kup, or Perceptor would bite it (not helped by the final few issue solicitations featuring or mentioning them). While Roche and Roberts did intend to kill off at least one, they were ultimately unable to do so playing this trope straight.
Verity Carlo, often considered the most annoying human from Furman's IDW Transformers comics, is actually a pretty likable and funny character. The fact that she ultimately stops Overlord with her Break Them by Talking speech certainly helps as well.
To many fans, Perceptor. All Hail Megatron changed him from a nifty scientist to a Cold Sniper. LSOTW consolidates this by bringing back his intellect, and keeping the badass, resulting in a true Badass Bookworm.
Adaptation Displacement: Much like previous Big Bad Overlord, Tarantulas' characterization in this series is wildly popular. Note that it's not so far removed from his original, gleefully amoral Mad Scientist personality, but the addition of his relationship with his "son" Ostaros is widely seen to be one of the comic's strongest points.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Hubcap's speech to Prowl at the end. Was he really appealing to Prowl's logic as Prowl himself states, or was he simply appealing to Prowl's guilt which manifested itself over the course of the story?
Awesome Art: The art is widely agreed to be one of the few elements that unambiguously beats out its (already very artistically strong) predecessor, with more stylized and complex character designs, and settings and colors that look like something out of a very violent and nihilistic Calvin and Hobbes strip.
Contested Sequel: While widely agreed to be fairly strong, opinions of it in relation to its predecessor are all over the place.
I Knew It!: Several fans called Hubcap being a spy because not only was he a new character, but his quirky personality and tics made it seem too obvious that the narrative was trying to divert suspicion from him.
Tough Act to Follow: Even Nick Roche has acknowledged that Sins has an uphill battle to fight, being the sequel to one of the most acclaimed miniseries in the IDW run. Part of the reason is the climate around the comics; Last Stand came out during what many argue was the Audience-Alienating Era of IDW, and it made LSOTW look all the better, whilst Sins is coming out amongst much more popular books and has to compete with the sharp upturn in quality.
Alternative Title(s):The Transformers Sins Of The Wreckers
have sane colors. That said, the Predators are still a little garish - Snare's bio notes that this is for camouflage on the strange worlds they've been stationed on in the past.