The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War

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"Are you telling me that you played the prat version of Rodimus, for four years?!"
"The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	April 18, 2018 (digital, limited print) April 25, 2018 (widespread print)
Cover date	April 2018
Written by	James Roberts
Art by	Jack Lawrence
Colors by	Joana Lafuente
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David Mariotte
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

Rodimus assembles a defense team to plead their case before the Guiding Hand, as our heroes get closer to unraveling the mystery of the Afterspark.

Synopsis

As Swerve and Ratchet gape, Ultra Magnus examines the scorched spot on the ground where Rodimus stood a moment before. He is distracted from his work, however, by the sudden appearance of his deceased brother, Dominus Ambus. Dominus apologizes to Magnus for all the secrets he has kept from him, and tells him that he is proud of the 'bot his brother has become. Magnus is overcome with joy, and the giant Matrix in the sky shines its light down upon him as he begins to ascend...

Not far away, Brainstorm's Early Early Warning System leads himself, Nautica, Drift, and Nightbeat to a temple, where they catch Anode and Lug in the act of stealing the building's "soft ununtrium" spire. Unconvinced that they are all dead, and deciding that even if they are, all that it means is that there are no more consequences for their actions, the two treasure hunters brush off Nautica's scolding and head off to see what they can pillage from the floating Matrix. The rest of the team return their attention to the temple, but before they can enter, Nightbeat catches sight of a trail of photonic crystals on the ground, and decides to follow it instead. A second later, Drift also leaves the group... when a bolt of holy lightning teleports him away!

Drift reappears at Rodimus's side, followed a moment later by Ratchet and Magnus, snatched away just before the latter's ascension could occur. Rodimus has assembled the team to serve as counsel while he petitions the Guiding Hand to allow them all to return to the world of the living. Even when confronted by the towering forms of the five gods, Ratchet doesn't believe they are real, and demands to know who they really are. By way of an answer, Adaptus calls upon Drift to recite the story of the "God War:" the conflict that erupted when Mortilus, god of death, turned on the other members of his pantheon, and, using Luna 1 as a staging base, began killing Cybertronians in their millions in order to bring death to the whole world. The war led to the destruction of the Guiding Hand's physical forms, but they lived on as ideas, and seeing the death that had been caused, pooled their power to create the Afterspark, a world to which Transformers would go upon their deaths, where they could live forever. Ultra Magnus is struck by the Guiding Hand's willingness to give Mortilus a second chance, reminded of Megatron, but Rodimus makes sure Magnus's attention is focused on the matter at hand: ascertaining if the Guiding Hand have the power to resurrect them. Rodimus is undissuaded by the gods' warning that resurrection will mean they can never return to the Afterspark, so they ask him a simple question: why does he want to go back? After a few false starts, Rodimus manages to cut to the heart of the matter: he wants himself, and his crew, back on the Lost Light because that's where they've always been happiest. But, as the gods point out, they can be happier than they have ever been here in the Afterspark. With that, Rodimus's petition is denied, and the four Autobots disappear in a flash.

Elsewhere, Cyclonus and Tailgate trek across the Afterspark, sharing the stories of their deaths, as Tailgate reveals the truth about why he pushed Cyclonus away back on Necroworld. The pair vow never to be apart again.

Rodimus, Magnus, Drift, and Ratchet rematerialize on the opposite side of the temple Brainstorm and Nautica are investigating. Magnus is immediately accepting of their failure and speeds off to reunite with Dominus, but of course, Ratchet remains unconvinced by anything he has seen. Looking up at the temple, he sees the words "We Are All Trapped Light" written over an archway; the phrase is familiar to him, but somehow, neither Rodimus nor Drift can even see the words. The phenomenon continues as they explore inside; Ratchet can see a huge "W0" written on a pair of double doors that neither of his companions can. Ratchet pushes the doors open, revealing a haunting sight: a dozen aliens, each from a different species, all lying unconscious on slabs and hooked up to a cylindrical vat full of crackling green "trapped light." The hospital-like atmosphere clues our heroes in to the fact that "W0" stands for "Ward Zero"... but before they can figure anything else out, all the "patients" begin chanting a familiar mantra: "Prepare, Confront, Repel"... and suddenly the shadows around the three all fill with glowing red optics!

Nightbeat follows the trail of crystals back to the Matrix, where most of the other remaining members of the party are still hanging out, though not the one 'bot Nightbeat wants to see: Rung. When Whirl asks why he's looking for him, Nightbeat explains what he has deduced: Rung had previously concluded that his purpose was to make photonic crystals, but he did not need to transform to do so, meaning that the mystery of his alternate mode remains unsolved. Unsolved, that is, until now—Nightbeat has cracked it! Unfortunately, the detective is so elated at having solved one of the "Big Three" mysteries to which he has dedicated his life that, before he can say another word, he ascends on the spot, his spark departing his body and flying off to the Matrix above!

Back in the temple, Nautica and Brainstorm are exploring their side of the building when they stumble upon Quark, Brainstorm's long-unrequited crush. Oh so conveniently, Quark confesses that he has always loved Brainstorm too, and Brainstorm immediately forgets his and Nautica's mission and leaves with Quark to walk back to the Matrix, discarding his red-hot Early Early Warning Device as he goes. Left alone, Nautica discovers a door marked "Danger: Do Not Enter", but before she can turn the handle, Skids appears and invites her to walk to the Matrix with him. However, due to the loss of her emotional attachment to Skids on Troja Major, Nautica is not particularly moved by the appearance of the 'bot who was once her best friend, and when she doesn't respond to his advances, Skids flickers, distorts, and disappears. Realizing that these "dead friends" are actually distractions sent by someone or something to prevent the crew from learning the truth of their situation, Nautica returns her attention to the door, opening it and stepping through... into Grimlock's cell on Garrus-9, where she runs smack into the baffled Scavengers!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"That wasn't normal lightning—that was God's judgement."
"You're half right. 'Normal' lightning wouldn't have made Rodimus disappear—in fact, he'd probably have acted as a conductor."
"A lightning rod...! (Why am I like this?)"

—Swerve and Ratchet

"One. I'm not convinced we're dead. Two. If we are, I'm not convinced this is the Afterspark. Three. If it is, I'm not convinced that I've broken the rules. And four, if I have, what does that matter? We're dead."
"I'm sorry, I can't watch logic being abused this way."

—Anode and Nightbeat

"I'd like an explanation so I can reject it."

—Ratchet

Drift: "Why did you allow Mortilus to re-join you when it was his betrayal that tore you apart?"
Solomus: "No one deserves to be cast out forever. When confronted by someone who staggers under the weight of their mistakes—someone who burns for forgiveness—the correct response is to give them a second chance. Even if, deep down, you know they might squander it. Perhaps that sounds perverse."
Ultra Magnus: "No. No, it does not."

Adaptus: "Why do you want to leave?"
Rodimus: "One word, three syllables. If you're who you say you are—if you know everything there is to know—you'll understand why I can't let Getaway win."
Adaptus: "You're not being honest. You think you are, but you're not."
Ratchet: "No, it's Getaway."
Ultra Magnus: "It's definitely Getaway."
Drift: "Like, a hundred percent."

"I died before the accident. I died before you did."
"Before I did?"
"I died on Necroworld—when you told me to go without you."

—Cyclonus and Tailgate

"First Nightbeat, then Drift... it's as if someone wants us to turn back."
"Do you want to turn back? Have you had enough?"
"Er, you're talking to someone who built four thousand and nine non-functional time machines. I don't give up easily."

—Brainstorm and Nautica

"Where's Rung?"
"With Chromedome and Rewind, I think. Why?"
"I need to tell him he's wrong."
"Ooh—I'll help."

—Nightbeat and Whirl

Notes

Continuity notes

• Though the events of the story make it evident that it's not really him, Dominus Ambus makes his first appearance in his true, "irreducible" turbofox form's robot mode as a walking, talking entity, having only appeared like this before in a file photo seen in More than Meets the Eye #53.
• The spire Anode and Lug steal is made of "soft ununtrium", a less-indestructible version of the mighty metal used in the creation of Phase Sixers, as introduced in More than Meets the Eye #14. Ununtrium's incredible value was previously noted in Lost Light #12 by the Scavengers—the last known supply of it was used up on Overlord, as seen in More than Meets the Eye #14.
• Rodimus observes that by employing Drift, Ratchet, and Magnus as his counsel, he is covering every base: "faith, science, and law", respectively. This hearkens back to the villainous trinity from More than Meets the Eye season 1, Star Saber, Pharma, and Tyrest, who represented each of those three pillars corrupted.
• At Adaptus's instruction, Drift recounts a slightly different take on the story of the Guiding Hand's war against Mortilus than the one originally heard in the 2012 More than Meets the Eye annual. There had always been a slight disconnect between that story and the reality of the comic, in that the myth claimed Luna 1 was destroyed, but it turned up intact in More than Meets the Eye #17 and has appeared in several subsequent stories. The story Drift tells (explicitly noted to be one of multiple stories that exist) realigns things, noting that the moon was merely knocked out of orbit and "sent careening through space" by the final blast Primus unleashed to kill Mortilus. Though obviously the events of this issue make it seem like this whole scenario is a fake-a-roo, Mortilus's continued appearance among the hand is not anomalous in and of itself, as it is justified by the myth, which notes that he was able to live again, since the idea of death still existed, thereby ensuring his rebirth.
• Drift's description of "a bolt of divine light [leaping] from Cybertron to Luna 1" is at least partially corroborated by Robots in Disguise #3, in which Cybertron—reset to its primordial state—attempted to transmit energy to an absent Luna 1, with explosive results.
• Solomus's imprisonment in the crystal that would become the Matrix of Leadership is described as him being reduced to a single thought, "half impulse, half reaction," hearkening back to the Matrix splitting in half at the end of "Chaos" and its subsequent gifting to Rodimus and Bumblebee - who respectively embody those characteristics.
• The phrase "trapped light" was first heard all the way back in The Death of Optimus Prime, when Rewind offered it as a potential translation for Old Cybertronian text found within the Matrix. In issue #2, Drift included it among the list of phrases he saw in the vision he experienced in issue #1.
• The use of the term "ward" is carefully chosen here; that's the word that was used to refer to the Grand Architect's facilities in issue #9. That the aliens all begin chanting "Prepare, confront, repel"—a phrase that has been associated with the Architect since its introduction in More than Meets the Eye #46, and another of those seen by Drift in his vision—only confirms his involvement.
• Speaking of those aliens, the different races Rodimus identifies are all ones from past issues: a Frayan (from issue #11; but see "Errors"), a Macerator (from More than Meets the Eye #13), a Temptorian (from More than Meets the Eye #12), a Miliarian (from More than Meets the Eye #50) and a personality tick (from More than Meets the Eye #41-42).
• Rung discovered that he was capable of making photonic crystals back in issue #5, which at the time seemed to settle the mystery of what his purpose was. However, as many readers observed at the time, this was never the mystery of Rung as it was originally presented to us back in More than Meets the Eye #22: the question was always "what does Rung turn into?" That question, it turns out, has not been forgotten...
• "Skids" refers to the time he and Nautica danced together, in More than Meets the Eye #42.
• Nautica had her emotional connection to Skids removed in issue #9.
• We rejoin the Scavengers exactly where we left them at the end of issue #15.

Transformers references

• It might just be coincidence, but given that the Grand Architect previously cribbed dialogue from Unicron in issue #15, and his fingerprints are all over this issue, the "Guiding Hand's" warning feels like another example of this. Should Team Rodimus be resurrected then die again, the gods warn, they will "proceed directly to oblivion"—riffing on Unicron's exchange with Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie, in which the monster planet tells the Decepticon leader to "proceed on [his] way to oblivion."

Real-life references

• The title of this multi-part story is taken from the W. B. Yeats poem, "The Everlasting Voices".

Errors

• The eyes on page 12 don't seem to have been colored in all the way, making Ratchet, Rodimus, and Drift look like their optics have gone dark. This was corrected in the trade paperback.
• The natives of Frayus are referred to as "Frayan" by Rodimus in this issue, but the term used in issue #11 was "Fraynian". This was corrected in the trade paperback.

Other trivia

• This issue was intended for release on April 25, 2018, but a scheduling error caused it to be bumped up a week. The issue was released digitally on April 18, and copies were sent to some stores.

Soundtrack

For this part alone:

• "I'm Ready to Move On/Wild Heart Reprise" by Bleachers^[1]
• "All Your Secrets" by Yo La Tengo^[2]
• "Your Belgian Things" by The Mountain Goats^[3]
• "Waitin' For a Superman" by The Flaming Lips^[4]

For this part, and all of "The Everlasting Voices":

• "Twilight" by Electric Light Orchestra^[5]

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Rodimus defiantly stands before the Guiding Hand, by Jack Lawrence and Joana Lafuente
• Cover B: Ultra Magnus ascends, by Jack Lawrence
• Retailer incentive cover: Black and white lineart version of Cover A

• 

  "I have nothing BUT contempt for this pantheon!"

• 

  Preliminary cover art, Terms of Peace

• 

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• IDW Star Trek: Discovery comic
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Reprints

• Transformers: Lost Light Volume 3 (August 15, 2018) ISBN 1684053315 / ISBN 978-1684053315
  • Collects Lost Light issues #13–18.
  • Bonus material includes a cover gallery.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 86: The Everlasting Voices (July 1, 2020)
  • Collects Lost Light issues #13–18.
  • Bonus material includes the first half of Transformers: Historia (up to Last Stand of the Wreckers), including the Windblade profile, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• 

  Lost Light Volume 3 – cover art by Jack Lawrence and Joana Lafuente

• 

  The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 86: The Everlasting Voices – cover art by Dreamwave and Jack Lawrence

References

External links

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