I had to take out the garbage mid-observation.  

Thing I like about Milne, is his generics don't look like generics. They look like they could be references, but they aren't, so even next to wholesale cameos on the last page, the "fakes" don't stick out.

 

I see Rewind is very creative with nicknames.

 

OOH! MTMTE Preview. Cool this flashback actually has characters that interest me, unlike Shadowplay. I'm trying to remember if I liked Chaos Theory or not.

I did notice how many Data Slug Bots there were. I just assumed it was because of how common they were. But then they brought it up and explained, it was exactly what I assumed. 

What cameos? *goes back and checks* Page 1: Nothing. Page 2: Nothing. Page 3: HOLY CRAP!

Energon Ironhide, Energon Wingsaber, Cybertron Jetfire, Armada Demolisher, Energon Bulkhead, Energon Snowcat, Energon Prowl, Energon Powerlinx Cliffjumper, Armada Sparkplug, Aramda Cyclonus, Cybertron Crumplezone, Energon Ultra Magnus, Armada Hoist, Energon Hotshot and somehow Armada Starscream. And probably more I can't recognize.

Also, I think Pharma and Ratchet are talking at the top of the staircase.

 

Is this the past? Or an alternate present?

Because AFAIK Cybertron never deported its knock-offs (to where is the scary question) and Luna 2 is still around and sovereign Cybertronian soil.

 

....good catch. And a downright SCARY one at that that dovetails into one of my speculations.

Alternatively Luna-2 could have been given up by the Consortia (or they were kicked out) once the war broke out, assuming it doesn't actually leave orbit but is instead more a case of mineral rights being granted.

 

Yeah, that doesn't add up. Also, I don't think the whole "functionist-enforced segregation" ever actually happened in the past. Yeah there was prejudice, but outright forcing only those of similar class to mingle?

Oh fuck, Brainstorm went back in time last issue. What has that little fucker done now?

 

He fixed things, clearly. In a way from which he benefits.

Throwing out there that this is a House of M-like thing where the only ones who remember what happened are the ones who were near Brainstorm's alt-universe briefcase, or something like that. (It makes sense you'd include some sort of paradox protection into a time travel device if you're planning to use it for more than passive observation, after all.)

 

If this is an alternate present, that would explain why there's an Armada Starscream walking around.

Edit: Considering Megatron's characters changes, my bets are on this is what happened if Megatron was killed before he could rise to power. Also, this fits with the theme of edits that someone speculated this season was having.

 

Surely that's not even remotely surprising. Rewind's relationship with Dominus was pretty clearly verbotten, the beasts were shoved to the side etc. I think the idea of physical social segregation plays straight into the Functionist manifesto. If you mix with your betters you'll get ideas above your station. And as Megatron highlighted, individuals opinions frightinged the Functionists. As for Luna 2, presumably we've only seen a fraction of Cybertronian history. They must have gotten it back at some point.

Considering we were told we're getting another Shadowplay-styler, and all the mentions of the Primal Guard etc etc, I think this is just Cybertron as it was when Megatron was deported.

 

Loved everything about this. Need more!

 

I think the alternate timestream theory is totally legit. IIRC, every time we get a MTMTE flashback, the little yellow text at the top left corner kindly informs us of when and where the scene takes place... and here the text is mysteriously absent. Subtle hint, perhaps, that we are now seeing a universe where Brainstorm went back in time and assassinated Megatron (or something)?

Also, stuff like "It's like that time [the Council]... unseated the Senate, or – or deported the knock-offs." Neither of these events for sure happened, because apparently in this universe there is no Senate and all the constructed-cold 'bots are gone, but the Functionists are still in charge. Also looks like a fair number of empurata victims hanging around.

Also, my wild speculation has set in that Dreddbot is either Helex or Tesarus, either pre-DJD if this is the past, or if it's alternate present, if there never was a DJD to join.

 

Kinda hard to tell if it's an alternate future or just the past.

then again with Brainstorm messing with stuff, who knows. I thought this was our annual "past story," which is where Roberts gets to play with Prime.

 

I'm in love with the alternate future theory.

Whichever one of you glorious bastards pitched that (too lazy to look) deserves a banana sticker.

 

With all these Unicron Trilogy cameos, I'm half expecting alternate future Megatron to show up in his upcoming Leader Armada body.

 

Yeah; I'm honestly not sure who came up with it. I had the thought myself after reading MTMTE 34, given we knew the next issues were flashbacks, but I imagine I wasn't the only one.

 

First I saw of it was Tekno on Twitter. But it follows naturally from modern-day Brainstorm fucking with the past.

 

Yup, I had the same thoughts as well. Also notice the fact that they sold the moon... That kind of stood out to me as a- um - major event. I can only recall there being two moons, and the first of which had just 'disappeared' iirc. Never sold. Indeed the whole thing smells fishy... I'm definitely thinking Brainstorm has changed history in this case.

I also found this one theory that's kind of convoluted, but isn't far from unbelievable. It basically theorizes that Brainstorm is trying to create a paradox by using past Megatron (escalation - AHM Megatron) to shoot and kill miner Megatron and effectively cause a narrative retcon, instead of creating a branching off into an alternate set of outcomes.

This is more or less based off of the cover featuring Brainstorm holding gun Megatron standing above what could be considered Megatron's corpse, as well as the description of "three killers". All three of them being Megatron would be pretty wild.

 

Very awesome!

Love all the little cameos.

 

Roberts debunked the Megatron Gun thing. It's just a gun.

 

Where can a person see this cover with Brainstorm on it?