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mtmte-50-cover

Variant cover for More Than Meets the Eye issue 50

We made it!  Issue 50!  Woooo!  It was a few weeks late, and this Collecticon was salivating so much he had to spoil the whole issue by reading descriptions of the leak, but seeing how the issue finally was drawn to completion was very gratifying. I’m in the camp of happy readers that can’t wait for the next issue. I wanted to take this time to write some thoughts on specific characters and make some predictions on where we are headed, so be sure to go away if you haven’t read up to this point!  Spoiler city!

 

 

Still here?  Great!

 

Team Rodimus – Marooned

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Not pictured: A ton of unlucky bots

It’s not entirely clear how this particular group of bots ended up on the Rod Pod together to investigate, or why the high command of the ship all left at once.Needless to say, they’ll never make that mistake again! I was also unaware that the Rodpod could fit so many bots inside. The list of characters left to fend for themselves on the Necrobot’s planet of operations. The doomed include:

  • Megatron
  • Rodimus
  • Ultra Magnus
  • Chromedome
  • Rewind
  • Rung
  • Skids
  • Cyclonus
  • Tailgate
  • Nautica
  • Velocity
  • Nightbeat
  • Brainstorm
  • Whirl
  • Swerve
  • Ten
  • Ravage

Team Getaway – Mutineers

mutineers-mtmte50

“I know it, I’m surrounded by assholes!”

In perhaps one of the most soul-crushing moments of the story thus far, we learn the hard way what sloppy management and not listening to your employees, err, crew-mates can result in. This eventual mutiny was a long-con that has been seeded since probably before Dark Cybertron occurred. There’s currently a ton of confusion and questions flying around from fans wondering how x or y member of the crew would’ve agreed to go along with this stunt, but I believe there’s no use in fighting over that.  We are only on issue 1 of at least a 6-part story.  There is plenty of room for a flashback of what actually occurred when Team Rodimus left the ship. Don’t give up on your favorite characters just yet! Identified mutineers include:

  • Getaway
  • Atomizer
  • Blaster
  • Mainframe
  • Jackpot
  • Crosscut
  • Grapple
  • Siren
  • Hoist
  • Bluestreak
  • Riptide

Team Decepticon – Executioners

djd-mtmte50

“Let’s get this party started!”

It’s all been leading to this: Tarn vs Autobot Megatron. The worst thing about it though, is Tarn rolling over 400 deep with some of Megatron’s most disgruntled subjects. It’s unclear currently how much cooperation the DJD and Getaway had up to this moment, but it certainly seems that the DJD are responsible for the death of Censere due to the gore. They’ve probably been laying in wait for this moment for some time. What’s also puzzling is why Tarn instantly fired upon Ravage, a devout Decepticon.  Guilty by association perhaps?  His actions against Ravage certainly do not bode well for the rest of Team Rodimus. The executioners include:

  • Tarn
  • Helex
  • Vos
  • Tesarus
  • Kaon
  • Nickle
  • Deathsaurus
  • Blue Bacchus
  • Leozack
  • Killbison
  • Guyhawk
  • Drillhorn
  • Many others

Team Scavenger – Worried

scavengers

A rag-tag group of baddies

If anyone other than Megatron has anything to fear from the DJD, it’s these schmucks. I was really hoping for them to somehow team up with Deathsaurus and crew and accidentally save the day, but it really doesn’t seem like that is going to happen. Too much has happened too quickly, but at least we know they seem to be aware of the current state of affairs. It will be interesting to see how everyone reacts to the broadcast revealed at the start of the story. The Scavengers include:

  • Misfire
  • Krok
  • Spinister
  • Crankcase
  • Grimlock
  • Fulcrum

Unaccounted-for Lost Light Crew – Potential Saviors?

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There’s almost too many to list here, so if you’re interested, you can check out the crew list here. I’ve listed a few notable characters currently on-board the Lost Light that were curiously not pictured in this comic. Getaway clearly states that everyone not in Rodimus’ current company were ‘in’ on the mutiny, but those are just words. Many fans are currently of the opinion that certain characters probably wouldn’t have participated willingly. Is it possible that as news of the mutiny spreads, there may be blowback from certain individuals? With characters like Mainframe, Blaster, and Hoist so prominently featured as mutineers, the truth is anyone’s guess. Potential heroes include:

  • Perceptor
  • Thunderclash
  • Huffer
  • Hound
  • Gears
  • Brawn
  • Highbrow
  • Xaaron
  • Sunder

Off-ship Autobots – Returners

luna

Hey you guiiiiz!

There’s actually quite a few members of the Lost Light crew that were notably absent during the mutiny and their location and response to the broadcast could have interesting consequences for the mutineers, and even Team Rodimus. The most notable, to me, is that Drift and Ratchet are due to return anytime now after their run-in with Gigatron and Hellbat. What about the Camiens that everyone ran into earlier this season? Mirage and the newly combinable Protectobots are currently enroute to the ship as well… Returners include:

  • Ratchet
  • Drift
  • Fortress Maximus
  • Red Alert
  • Mirage
  • First Aid
  • Hot Spot
  • Blades
  • Groove
  • Streetwise
  • Firestar
  • Proxima
  • Roadmaster

Complete wild-cards – Unknown

wildcards

Forgetting about guys like him is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing right now

And then there’s the wild-cards. These are characters that are most notable because we’ve been meant to forget about them but they’re ‘out there’ for sure. The biggest twists of fate that could affect the current story would come from one of these dodgy and mysterious characters that we haven’t seen for quite a while. Most of them are rogue Decepticons but there are some notable exceptions, like Pharma and Star Saber. Some of these characters are presumed dead, but by now you should really know better. Wild-cards include:

  • Lockdown
  • Venom
  • Chop Shop
  • Ransack
  • Barrage
  • Pharma
  • Star Saber
  • Gigatron
  • Sixshot
  • Overlord

Predictions

So after figuring out where all the chess pieces are, at least to the best of my knowledge as of issue 1, I’ve begun to formulate my predictions. These are all just fun guesses or things I’d like to see happen. The likelihood of being correct?  Maybe 5%.

  • Perceptor, Riptide, and Thunderclash will conspire against Getaway’s mutiny and regain control of the ship. In the final panel of the follow-up comic, we see the whole of team Rodimus making a toast in Swerve’s bar. Getaway is then shown ‘paying his respects to the dead’ via the time window. The only bots in this vision that are not marooned with Rodimus are Riptide and Perceptor. This seems like a poignant detail and clue to readers of their real loyalties, even though Riptide was prominently featured in the mutineer panel. Perceptor just seems like the kind of bot that wouldn’t put up with any sort of silly mutiny mumbo jumbo, and he’s as loyal an Autobot as they come. These same personality aspects would align with him rejecting Megatron as any sort of authority figure, so it really could go either way.  Thunderclash also has been shown to be such a noble Autobot that you’d guess his morals wouldn’t jive with the idea of mutiny. There is no direct indication that the entire crew is 100% with Getaway other than his one-sided statements.
  • Ratchet and Drift will return to the Lost Light, post mutiny. These two main-cast characters were taken from the story for a specific reason, and probably to highlight their return to the ship. My guess is they will un-assumingly dock with the Lost Light, only to be arrested and held until their loyalties can be determined. Their arrival may be just the distraction needed for the crew members above to put in motion their plan to retake the ship, by force if necessary.
  • Sunder will be instrumental in regaining control of the ship. If I had an ultra-powerful psychopath at my disposal to help spread chaos across the ship, I’d sure use it in order to regain control of the bridge. Sunder’s arrival on the ship seemed like such a one-and-done story line that it has to be more than meets the….
  • Members of Team Rodimus will die. I think this is a no-brainer.  But who is expendable? Many of the characters in this group have experienced ‘got-cha deaths’ in one way or another already, but this time it’ll be for real. My guesses for heads on the chopping block include: Whirl, Minimus Ambus, Skids, Tailgate, Chromedome & Rewind, and finally Velocity.
  • Tarn’s identity will be revealed when he comes face to face with Skids. Skids’ sordid past has been a major plot-point teased at various points in this comic. We’ve learned that he met Tarn, or The Commandant, at Grindcore early on in the war. But was that their only interaction? Was it their first meeting even? The identity of Tarn has long-since been a sticking point with me, and got me interested in the story to begin with. All signs point to Roller, but a more interesting option is out there… Dominus Ambus.  But Tarn is not the only potential host for Rewind’s lost love and Minimus’ brother.
  • Ten’s pre-legislator identity will be revealed before his imminent cannon-fodder death. It’s been stated that Tyrest used the bodies of the Circle of Light as the basis for his Legislator army. The only real name that was in the Circle of Light was Dai Atlas, but there were many other bots. Amidst the Circle could’ve been the lost Dominus Ambus, and he could’ve been unlucky enough to join their ranks as Tyrest captured them. Could it be that Swerve got the one in a million legislator that had originally been a character integral to the story?  Sure. He does of course have a latent affinity to Ultra Magnus, the alternate identity of Minimus Ambus, brother of Dominus. If only Ten could speak!!!!
  • Organics will be involved in the final battle. I do believe that we’ve been building up to the next story arc, which will either be survivors from Rodimus’ team chasing the Lost Light or more likely, in my opinion, a galaxy-wide skirmish with the organics involved in the Galactic Alliance. These organics are getting a bit fed-up witht he antics of our favorite mechanical beings. There were techno-organic experiments found on the Decepticon Worldsweeper by the Scavengers and The DJD has already had a difficult run-in with the Black Block Consortia. They were able to give this powerful team a beating. What’s to stop them from coming to finish the job?
  • The Fate of Megatron. This could go any which way, but I really hope he survives, and he stays an Autobot. His survival will be directly tied to whether he is able to keep his pacifist promise or break that vow. I definitely don’t see him being able to change the minds of any of his former warriors, but he will probably try. Things are definitely NOT looking good for this guy. I almost feel bad, but he’s put millions into this same predicament, so it’s his just desserts. All I can say is that I cannot wait for the next issue!