My guess is that Optimus Prime figures into the MTMTE finale. Oh, and Ratchet and Drift will be back too.
Why? Because Roberts can't tease Tarn's identity forever and a season finale would be the ideal place to reveal it. In Shadowplay and Elegant Chaos, a big deal was made about Prime, Ratchet and Roller being such good friends. If Tarn is revealed as Roller, the characters who that would impact most would be Prime and Ratchet. Some of the Lost Light crew met Roller in EC, but most of the crew probably have never even heard of him. The big reveal would have zero emotional impact. But if Ratchet or Prime spot a defining characteristic in Tarn and knock his mask off...it could be the moment of the season. And with Megatron there...awkward...but even more emotionally impactful.
How? How will Prime get to the Lost Light? Well we know he's going to be moping about Cybertron over the next story arc, "finding his place" in religion or something. What if he decides to quit again (this has happened twice already), or maybe through Starscream's manipulation he is forced out. Maybe he has to retreat into Metroplex and through a newly opened Titan gate that leads...directly into Cyberutopia, which was just about to be discovered by Rodimus and crew. How great would it be to have Rodimus find Cyberutopia using his stolen map, step out onto the surface...and see Prime standing there saying "'Sup". Then cue the DJD, the big Tarn reveal, etc.
These are just my thoughts. Anyone else have any guesses?

 

I wouldn't object to seeing more flashbacks of pre-war Orion but I really hope Prime doesn't quit again. He's led the Autobots for millions of years and he needs to be seen as leadership material. He has some making up to do before that happens.

 

Probably not.

Also, I hope not.

Prime is a boring character. Keep him in formerly-RiD and let MtMtE un-weighed down.

 

There are no boring characters, only stories poorly told and writers unable to utilize their potential effectively. *insert majestic head nod here*

 

Prime is wasted potential, then.

 

I have always believed that Roberts writes him very well.

 

Ugh, no thank you. Roberts would either make him whiny to keep him consistent with all the other writers or make him completely bland.

Edit: By "him" I mean Optimus. I'm all for Ratchet and Drift returning.

 

Well we already know that Ratchet is coming back to the Lost Light with Drift, and if I remember correctly so are the Protectobots. In that case I suppose it is possible for Prime to join them, but I can't really see any reason for him to go to the Lost Light. Hence I kind of think it would result in a really contrived sort of pathos rather than a natural extension of the events in MTMTE's narrative. With that in mind, I'm pretty sure it will be Ratchet who does the heavy lifting when/if Tarn is revealed to be Roller.

 

Let me expand on this just a bit:

I personally feel that Optimus is a rather very bland character because that is what the Brand dictates. Hes been wrestling with the whole notion of leadership since the costa runs.

If i were to sum up his personality, i could say that hes a great general but a terrible Politician. However as it is with every general, they wrestle with the demons and the choices that they make. Something i feel that is certainly lacking in the present time IDW. We know he always chooses to do the "right" thing but what about the consequences of such actions?

Shadowplay and Orion Pax were amazing and if Tarn turns out to be Roller, Orion Pax's characterization is what should come in to place since Roller disappeared before Optimus came into existence and this is why JRO would be a great, if not the best choice to write him.

 

I'm going to have disagree pretty strongly there. He's certainly been portrayed as struggling with his decisions and far from perfect lately.

And I really don't think Optimus is suddenly going to drop in on MTMTE for a plot he hasn't even been involved in. He's got stuff going on elsewhere, and Roberts has said in the past that he doesn't really want Optimus onboard the Lost Light.

 

Except, if the speculated backstory for Tarn is correct, none of this will be his fault. It's yet another screw up by Rodimus and Co. If Optimus starts blaming himself, it'll just be more unnecessary whining on his part. Also, Shadowplay is what I was primarily thinking of for Roberts writing Optimus as bland.

Edit: Also, what Sockie said.

 

Right up until we got that glimpse under Tarn's mask, I was wondering if Tarn could in fact be the missing Dominus Ambus, since Elegant Chaos showed us how in the alternate timeline he eventually got hit with something on a level with what was done to Shockwave or Whirl. Plus, that would have more emotional punch.

Of course, since we saw enough to see he didn't sport a mustache, it's unlikely to be Ambus. Which puts Roller in the frame.

 

Season 2 is all about Megatron lets assume mystery guest is some one important to his past. We still don't what happened to his mentor the one he wrote for. Terminus.

 

I'd say that he's moving away from the 'great general, terrible politician' thing. He fled politics before, but he's using them now, with the council (which, I'll note, was largely *his* idea- making it a race to get allies rather than letting Starscream dictate things at the start).

And as for consequences... well, he's joined Windblade on the 'work with Starscream,' train, trying to fend him off with politics while keeping Cybertron unified and democratic. That's got consequences.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there's an additional swerve with Tarn's identity, after all didn't Rewind lose the trace of Ambus at a Bodygloving clinic?
I know Tarn mirrors Roller's addiction but I can't help thinking how many times I've seen it reported that some transplant patients to develop habits or behaviours that sometimes were an aspect of their donor's...

 

Therein lies the problem. Prime has had over 4 million years to iron out his position as a leader, be it in wartime or not. I don't buy into any plotline anymore with him having issues trying to cope as a leader. He certainly was political and aspiring enough to help act as a catalyst to ousting the corrupted council on Cybertron, even if he didn't want to be the one shouldering everything after they got the boot.

He can't very well be Prowl.

 

What else is new?  

I could see Optimus popping up in MTMTE....Roberts would write him so much better.

 

A lot of this assumes that Tarn's identity is even a secret. Sure, we as an audience don't know it, but like Senator Shockwave before him, its wholly possible that the other Transformers might be fully aware of who Tarn is under his mask. Assume that, and the need for Prime to be around for a "shock unmasking" is largely negated.

 

I think that a few bots might know [ie Prowl, probably] but the general public doesn't.

Blip wanted to unmask Tarn, and Tarn mentions he is not the first to try and do so. Could go either way I guess, but why would you want to unmask him if you know who he is?

 

I'm pretty sure the ID of all the DJD members is secret. Hardly need for the mask and the codenames otherwise.