History TearJerker / TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye

* [[spoiler: 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.]]

* [[spoiler: 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 StartOfDarkness.]]

* The confrontation between [[spoiler: Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus and Chief Justice Tyrest. Tyrest accuses Magnus of becoming a laughingstock due to his ByTheBookCop SuperOCD 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 PoweredArmor 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!]]

* 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 insure 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.

--> Megatron: "I think...this is it. This is how it ends."

--> Nickel: "What have you done...?"

* 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.

* The death of [[spoiler:Skids, who has his traumatic memories of Grindcore restored, so that the resulting breakdown will temporarily give Outlier abilities to his crewmates. Despite this HeroicSacrifice, 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 CallBack 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."]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Terminus''']]: ''What happened?''
-->[[spoiler:'''Megatron''']]: ''Nothing. Everything. I lost my way.''

* Rodimus and Megatron's vicious argument over [[spoiler: 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 [[spoiler: 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 their at each other's throats worse than ever.

** 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 [[spoiler: 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.

* TheReveal about Anode and Lug. [[spoiler: 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.

* ''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 Tailgate and him 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.

* 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 [[spoiler: Tailgate apparently [[KilledOffScreen died in his underground capsule]] due to spontaneous spark combustion]], and has to break that news to [[spoiler: 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 BashBrothers.]]

* No tricks, no illusions, no falsehoods [[spoiler: 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.]]

* 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. [[spoiler: 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 pierce 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.]]

* It's [[TheReveal revealed]] that Cyberutopia [[spoiler: is actually a mass euthanasia clinic that the dying Knights of Cybertron [[LetThemDieHappy believed]] was a paradise and made a map to it, this means all the suffering and lost of life the crew of the Lost Light went through was AllForNothing]].

** Ultra Magnus finally “dies” for real; Minimus Ambus decides the identity has had it’s 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.

** 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.

** 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.

** 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.

** 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.

* 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 gets agitated? It's the finger of his friend Radar, as well as a communicator; when he clicks it, he sends out a signal to any nearby Decepticons.

* 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 SnarkKnight {{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.

* Rodimus takes it very hard when he learns that Red Alert actually committed suicide, or attempted to, 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 FatherToHisMen 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.

* 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 [[TrueCompanions Pax, Roller and himself]]; it was the last time the three of them were together.

* [[spoiler: Pipes]]' death, specially after his little chat with Blaster, where he mentions that despite [[ButtMonkey everything]], he's ok and having a good time. Even [[EveryoneHasStandards the TFWiki can't bring themselves to make a joke in the caption]].

* [[spoiler: 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, 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.]]
* [[spoiler: Also, Rewind's last message to Chromedome]]

** And than to top it off, [[spoiler: 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}}.

* The end of the story arc ends up being rather bittersweet. [[spoiler: 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.]]

* The final flashback to Megatron's trial has Rodimus sitting dejectedly in the dark because [[spoiler: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.]]

* Riptide's anxiety whilst remembering the eight step program is instantly relatable for any academic strugglers.

** [[spoiler: Look at what Dominus is doing in that second-to-last panel. He doesn't know the words any more, but he's still cradling Rewind as he dies.]]

* The scene in the 'Con Facility opens up with Brainstorm monologuing as he levels a gun at [[spoiler:the newborn Megatron.]] Only later do we find out that [[spoiler:Brainstorm has never killed, he'd been standing there for 10 minutes trying to work up the nerve.]]
* Brainstorm's ultimate motivations. [[spoiler:Before the war he fell in love with a fellow scientist named Quark, only to for Quark not to reciprocate to the same level ([[UnrequitedLove if he even realized how Brainstorm felt]]). During the war, Quark was arrested and died in a HellholePrison. 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? [[spoiler: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.]]

* As it turns out [[spoiler: 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.]]

* 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.

* 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 than walks over to find that [[ToxicFriendInfluence Getaway]] got there first.

** 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...

* 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.

* The details behind Getaway and Tailgate's relationship is heartbreaking. [[spoiler: 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 final panel is pure NightmareFuel, 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 PetTheDog 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 [[http://36.media.tumblr.com/fce4974fda54e2d95068ed8c03516611/tumblr_o2glozYNU51trm5gzo1_1280.jpg as his fellow prisoners are gruesomely killed]]. Skid's faith in Primus dies along with them.

* [[spoiler: Pipes]]' death, specially after his little chat with Blaster, where he mentions that despite [[ButtMonkey everything]], he's ok and having a good time.

** Megatron finally has his trial since the Knights of Cybertron no longer exist. He’s found guilty and sentenced to death despite everything he’s done to redeem himself, against the objections of the crew. In their final conversation before he’s sentenced and executed, Megatron gives Rodimus his Rodimus Star and tries to reassure Rodimus that this is all okay.

* It's [[TheReveal revealed]] that Cyberutopia [[spoiler: is actually a mass euthanasia clinic that the dying Knights of Cybertron [[LetThemDieHappy belived]] was a paradise and made a map to it, this means all the suffering and lost of life the crew of the Lost Light went through was AllForNothing]].

* Rung's reaction to [[Spoiler: Skid's death]]

** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler:Megatron finally has his trial since the Knights of Cybertron no longer exist. He’s found guilty and sentenced to death despite everything he’s done to redeem himself, against the objections of the crew. In their final conversation before he’s sentenced and executed, Megatron gives Rodimus his Rodimus Star and tries to reassure Rodimus that this is all okay.]]
** [[spoiler:Ultra Magnus finally “dies” for real; Minimus Ambus decides the identity has had it’s run and destroys the Magnus Armor, loving 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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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, they’re love stronger than ever.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: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.]]

** And then Tailgate [[spoiler:''is still around'' after everyone else vanishes, turning this into a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming]].

** As if that wasn’t heart wrenching enough, at the end of the issue it turns out [[spoiler:Rung]] left a message: [[spoiler: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, [[HeartwarmingMoments they never will]].]]