I crashed pretty hard toward the end of MTMTE as well, and found the early LL issues to be the nadir of the whole series - up until the Mutineers arc, when it found its feet. I'll admit I probably adjusted my expectations downward in order to get to a point where I was really enjoying the series again, but I also think that prior to that I had let myself get overly tuned in to the things I found disappointing. On top of that, let's face it - it's much easier to write a compelling beginning than a successful middle and end. Plenty of longform episodic stories have ended up foundering in some way. I followed Fables right up until the last two books, and by that point it had been getting steadily worse for about 15 volumes, to the point where I will likely never read, let alone buy, the final parts, despite collecting enough trade paperbacks to fill a whole shelf. Lost Light could have followed suit; instead, it's pulled up in a very heartening, enjoyable way. So I guess what I'm saying is I've found it useful to adjust my perspective away from fetishising (perhaps an overly strong word) the first season of MTMTE and move to accepting the saga as a whole, and Roberts as a flawed but fascinating writer. I doubt we'll ever get a story like this again - the mix of influences and ideas is completely unique - and at the end of the day, I think that's more valuable than reliably watertight storytelling.
FYI, there were *massive* spoilers just posted into the comics forum that effectively spoil the next *three issues* of Lost Light, the conclusion of Unicron and Optimus Prime, and in fact included posted a couple of images from all of the comics in question. (Also - do not click that link unless you are also wanting to read the spoilers for Optimus and Unicorn as well). If you want to be spoiled for LL, open the tag below. I saved the images in question when they were posted so I know they're legit. Don't ask me to explain any more than what was posted though, because I don't know and am just going off of what was posted + the images. Warning: huge spoilers, and I kind of regret reading them now. Spoiler "Primus must burn...so we can return" - someone with a black speech bubble (appears to be Epistemus) kills Froid, Sunder, and one of the FU people. Lost Light 23: Origin of Primus/Rung and the Guiding Hand. Adaptus and Solomus kill each other. Epistemus kills Froid. Nickle kills Epistemus. Lost Light 24: Rung creates 12 Matrices. 12 Lost Lighters agree to sacrifice themselves to save the universe. Rung dies. Megatron dies. Functionist Primus dies but is not destroyed. It is New Cybertron. Lost Light 25 A wedding and a funeral. Megatron gets his wish from MTMTE 29. New Cybertron starts a new life for Lost Lighters and Functionist citizens. Rung opens the bar again. Happy ending. The Lost Light travels into the sunset. Epilogue. Adaptus is Skids. It never ends. Also, I don't think this is a spoiler, but the revised TF comic line in Jan 2019 according to this is a) an Aligned comic tying in with the toyline b) a Cyberverse comic A bit underwhelming for me personally. I can see why most of the creative teams currently involved with the TFs aren't coming back.
Well, if it’s true the endgame got leaked (and the leaked has been persistent enough to continue leaking in other places even after the original thread got deleted) I’m off TFW. It’s just too dangerous and somebody will accidentally spoil something out if carelessness. Thanks for the ride and I’ll see you after the conclusion!
To be fair even in the "reveal" as Rung explained to Megatron there wasn't any time for any edit if there was any hope warn him and the others of Froid & Sundar through the recorded conversation Rung had made. While it -could- be taken as someone else "unmasking" Rung...Rung was the one who did so himself for the sake of his shipmates. As far as the impact of Rung informing his patients of his license being revoked all those years ago and he had been running an illegitimate practice ever since, strictly speaking of course, and how -they- responded to the news that wasn't really explored (given what occurred within the following arc.) Either way whether it was arrogance which drove him to overlook the original ruling against his practice, or his stepping down from it centuries later, or not shouldn't factor in should it? He did what he did. He kept the ruling a secret until he couldn't, for the same reason he stepped down...for the sake of others. And sometimes for himself. Did he do things in the right or correct way? Or for the right reasons or motives? I don't think so either. But then who prefers characters in a story who are perfect?
Hmm. Apparently going back "old school"...meaning cartoon and comic spin-offs just to support the toyline. Liked it better With MtMtE/LL where the characters and the story came first. Otherwise we really would have had a Rung (Transformer/Action Figure) by now. Come to thing of it...due to his design would have made nice for a pen. Some crossover geek may have even had Rung transform into Dr. Who's screwdriver for all we know...
Supposedly it was confirmed that these spoilers were inaccurate and all the images used were just taken from the issues releasing tomorrow, not any of the future issues.
So having read LL 23, I can confirm that a) at least according to LL, the images are all taken from the issue released tomorrow b) those spoilers for 24+25 might be a big stretch. That being said, I've seen spoilers that looked too bizarre to be legitimate before, so we'll see what happens when issue 24 comes out. I certainly hope it's better than what was postulated!
