I expected... much worse.
Philosophical, essential to Optimus Prime's character arc.
I felt this issue gave meaning to the entire series.
Recommended.

 

Wow, that was *totally* not what I was expecting to read here! Might have to pick this one up! =)

 

Agreed with the first post. Last issue was too much of a diversion for my tastes, but this...

Really enjoyed this one.

EDIT: Some more things I noticed on the reread:

* Holy Hell this issue is gorgeous. Great, almost seamless work from Andrew and Sara, and Josh's coloring just ties them together all the more. It also manages to be a packed issue without ever coming across as too rushed or visually crowded, which is a huge problem I've had with most of Lost Light's second half.
* Saw the theory that Soundwave felt what happened to Laserbeak and Buzzsaw at the same time he learned about Mainframe, but understood the stakes on the ground and channeled his anguish to further the cause. Barring an authorial rebuttal, that's going to be my new head-canon-- I like the idea that whatever future awaits this universe might be built on that kind of realpolitik.
* That fantastic double-page spread called RID#1 to mind immediately on the first read, but after leafing through the trade, yep, I could pick out datapad guy and worm-bot from the original.
* I kinda hope this Dinobot/Trypticon dynamic pops up in other continuities. Easily the most interested and invested I've ever been in either party.
* Probably my favorite Jazz moments from all of IDW in this issue (apart from those 17-odd seconds I deluded myself into thinking "Burning Chrome" just might head somewhere interesting).
* I'm really hesitant to touch on current world politics in anything other than the broadest possible terms, but... was this kind of a breath of fresh air to anybody else right now? Regardless of what side of the aisle you're on (if any), I don't think we're getting enough affirmation that we're almost all in the same boat at the end of the day, and that we need to strike a balance between opposing viewpoints and the betterment of all, especially as there are things out there that are bigger and eminently scarier that whatever beef we've currently got with someone else.
* You can shoot Optimus into the past all you like, John, but you'd better not take my Arcee.

 

Yeah; this issue really summed up the series. It feels like we're clearing the bench for whatever the grand finale is in OP 25 - which I'm suspecting (and hoping) is instead a flashforward set long after the events of Unicron.

It feels to me like the natural coda to the book at this point, in fact the only coda, is "how is Optimus Prime remembered?" And I think the best coda would be, in my opinion, "not at all." Other heroes are memorialized and remembered, but not Optimus, last Prime of a line that deserved to end.

 

I was intrigued by this thread but in all honesty after reading it (the issue not the thread), I don't see it. 

 

Could someone please just beat up Slide?

 

Really liked Jazz's commentary that the Cybertronians are old, and too wrapped up in their own conflict to even see everyone else they're trampling on. Also liked Optimus' monologue at the end. Goes a long way to put everything into perspective.

 

Well, that was very talky.

Spoiler

so Prime is a despot and a terrible person because he saved a lot of people's lives? He is a leader that has to lead. He doesn't have the luxury of counting every individual life when makes a decision. So that makes him a despot?
Why did they ever want to write an Optimus Prime comic if they believed the best Autobot was a terrible person and a despot?
This was awful. THERE ARE REASONS WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID! So the general of an army made decisions and people died. I don't get how that makes him a despot. I dont' get why he needs to be concerned with Slide or Jazz or any of them when he is the one that has to deal with Unicron!
Also they go on and on about how he is inspiring... I think they need to look up that word, because it does not mean what they think it means. They have written Prime as a self doubting, self loathing manipulator without charm, without eloquence or even basic social skills. He is Starscream without without the charisma. NO ONE would follow that desperate fool.
The overarching theme of this comic is that Optimus is the villain, but a weak villain, and the universe is better off without him. Except that in the same comics the universe would be a smoldering heap of garbage if it were not for him and his actions. It doesn't matter that he saved earth like 5 times, or that he single handledly saved ALL the Autobots like 5 times, or that he single handledly saved cybertron like 5 times or that he personally defeated all the war criminal decepticons, or that he ended the war or that he was the symbol of hope for 4 million years or that countless humanoid planets were saved... nope. He is no better than Megatron because individuals chose to act and got themselves killed and that is his fault because... it is. We keep saying it.
I have been with this series from the beginning of 2005, and I will see it through but this is not Optimus Prime.

I want 25 to be set 100 years in the future, and I want a shining statue of Optimus on new cybertron and Pyra and Slide giving a speech about what an honor it was to know him and fight with him, and that he truly was the best Cybertronian. and I want them to mean it.
The comic can be two pages long. I want it to be that.
There.

 

Thought this would be totally missable, ending up liking it, puts Optimus in an interesting place for U6/OP25. Jazz was consistently great throughout too.

Spoiler

Headcanon that Soundwave's "broadcast" was triggered on top of him just sensing Laserbeak and Buzzsaw die too. Also, anyone know who the bug guy was with the datapad in between Windblade and Optimus, on the double page spread?

 

He is a NAIL from RID #1.

NAIL - Transformers Wiki

 

Oh, re: Prime - there definitely ARE reasons he did what he did.

A lot of the stuff he's done since the end of the war though has come across as tone-deaf. It's important to note as well that what one person sees as the right thing to do is interpreted very differently by those without the same context, and then seen differently further once hindsight is applied.

Like, to use Babylon 5 as an example, there's a part in "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" where a lot of Sheridan's decisions are reframed/reinterpreted by future historians in a far less noble light. These people lack the intimate context us viewers have, and as such with the information they have available it is very much an interpretation that one could arrive at.

 

So..I am guessing Prime gets eaten and Unicron leaves? Because I think that's what they are going for. I mean, I dont want Optimus to die in the last issue but..I cant help to think that he will.

 

At any given point if Unicron decides to eat Slide I will be entirely ok with it.

 

Thanks!

 

If Optimus is not even memorialized in the end, in my opinion, that's even worse than the Costa Ending.

 

For those that dislike Slide:

I'm not a fan of Slide either. However, it's easy to dislike them in a vacuum. If someone made a decision or series of decisions, or even condoned actions that lead to the death of someone extremely close to you: a parent, a spouse, a sibling, how forgiving would you be? Would it be any comfort to have them tell you that it was an accident? For the greater good? Would any excuse be enough, even if they died for a reason, not even speaking of if they died for no discernible reason?

Then magnify that by a hundred, or a thousand, or even a million years of someone you've known and literally been connected to from birth that suddenly got snuffed out.

No, I don't think Slide is well written. There's a myriad ways that it could have been handled. However, the rage is understandable. Consider that Optimus has been always unsure of what he's been doing since the first issue and there may be an answer:

Pyra Magna and Slide and all his critics continue to wander in and out, berating Prime, hating him possibly because Prime hates himself and feels massive guilt for the things he's done. He really hasn't done anything Megatron probably wouldn't have done or tried - just couched it differently, in softer more diplomatic tones. Ultimately, however, his annexation of Earth and effectively importing anything he pleases, whenever he pleases, likely weighs heavy on him and all of his critics just give voice to those insecurities and he likely allows them to do so in order to keep himself in check - so he can continue to hear the voices of those he's wronged as opposed to silencing them. Whether hearing and proceeding regardless makes him any better or worse than any other despot is a discussion for some other time, but that appears to be Slide's purpose to me - to make him "not Megatron".

 

Just out of pure curiosity and because Slug is babbling about children.
Until when is a Transformer a child / teenager? First century? First millennium or more?
Is only interesting to know.  

 

I don't have a problem with Slide, I have a problem with how much time and consideration Optimus puts into listening to her while she berates him...*especially* in this issue, with Unicron right at their doorstep. Contrast that with Unicron #5 where Optimus cut off a scientific explanation of how Unicron is blinking out the stars - something that could turn out to be potentially important for understanding and/or defeating him - to speed Jetfire along to the point of how to kill Unicron. Optimus doesn't have time to listen to that, but has time to listen to some random colonist go through her "you suck" routine *again*? I think it would have been more realistic to have Optimus point up at Unicron, tell Slide "seriously, now's not the time" and walk away; she could have still shouted her main points at him as he left - and he could feel bad about it - and we still could have seen the flashback.

One thing that does bug me - and I realize a lot of this is probably due to differences in writers - is the contrast in how IDW has treated Megatron and Optimus. Megatron spearheaded a several million year long war, committed/ordered mass atrocities during said war and is responsible for said war spreading across a number of other planets. Within only a few years after the end of that war - an *extremely* short time on a Cybertronian time scale - Megatron has found acceptance, friendship, forgiveness and been presented in an overwhelmingly positive light, with most of the main characters in Lost Light having seemingly gotten over everything bad he's done. Meanwhile, Optimus has made a few morally dubious decisions, been a bit manipulative and taken a few admittedly extreme actions...but all for the right reasons with good intentions. As a result, within the same 'few years after the end of the war', he's now widely disliked by his allies and considered by many - including himself - to be a despot and a fascist. Megatron has a long history of atrocities that are quickly forgiven/ignored after a sudden change of heart, everyone loves him and he's supposed to be a sympathetic character; Optimus has a long history of virtue and heroism which is quickly forgotten/ignored after some recent morally dubious actions, everyone hates him and he's supposed to be an evil fascist now.

 

It's never really discussed as to the natural biological progression of Transformer growth. "Generation 2" Sidedwipe appears to have gone from protoform to fully functioning within a few months, although his mental state is still left up for impression. However, Made to Order Soldiers were forced from birth to adulthood in about an hour.

For Transformers, it looks like age is mental state moreso than a biological one. As a result, I'd say that it really depends on the individual. For example, how "mature" is Rodimus compared to Kup or Ultra Magnus?

 

I get your position, but I think that's supposed to underlie the philosophical bent here. Optimus might WANT to be punished and subject himself to the endless berating if only to make himself feel better for committing what he might consider "bad acts" regardless of whether they're pragmatic or logical ones. He's less concerned about guys like Jetfire and their statements because they're just providing information, not this apparent emotional flagellation that he keeps seeking out.

As for your second point... I think that really addresses the contrast. While much of the readership may have forgiven him, Megatron has hardly been forgiven. The people that have forgiven him? Arguably horrible/broken people. Rodimus? Whirl? Ultra Magnus? Really? Are these the people we're going to use a barometer of sane, rational decision making? A egoist, a psychopath and a deadbeat "police officer" with crippling OCD? In addition, don't forget, Getaway managed to get half the LL crew on his side on the simple premise of having Megatron killed to the point where most of the mutineers, smart guys like Perceptor included, ignored all the other warning signs Getaway was exhibiting. Megatron isn't loved by the "normal universe". He's just been largely someone else's problem since his trial.

In contrast, Optimus is saddled with the burden of not just being himself, but engaging in actions that are burdened by the tyranny of past primes AND Megatron. The bastard's under everyone's microscope and while we as the reader "get" what he's doing and why out of virtue of being a third-party omniscient observer, Optimus's contemporaries don't have that luxury. Absolutely, people will forget all of the good things he's done because that's the nature of publicity and leadership, especially when set in the context of nearly every leader Cybertron has had over several million years being /awful/. Aside from a set few, nobody "knows" Optimus/Orion Pax. At all. He's a legend, a wartime leader, and a symbol morseo than a living being. Image changes faster than people and in a vaccuum, Cybertronians are just waiting for things to go bad because they always do, and humans are waiting for him to go south because that's what they think Transformers always do... and so on and so forth.

Ultimately, Slide and people like Slide are his penance - his way of trying to convince himself he's alright as long as he can continue to listen to the people and not turn into this conscienceless, guiltess autocrat that doesn't give a crap about who he runs over and never looks back for an instant... even if he doesn't actually do anything about what they're saying to him.