« The Transformers vol. 2 #52 »
"All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	April 20,2016
Cover date	April 2016
Written by	John Barber
Art by	Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

With his list of allies growing ever shorter, Optimus Prime must compromise his morals even further in the pursuit of peace, even as Starscream seeks to capitalize on his fall and end his legacy for good.

Synopsis

Aboard theNemesis,Galvatron watches a recording ofOptimus Prime's battle with theSeeker clones on theWhite House lawn, content to see that the current holder of the "Prime" name is now acting just as outwardly arrogant as the Primes of old. Galvatron informsBlackrock he is departing to keep an "appointment," but as soon as he has left, Blackrock turns to address the eavesdroppingSkywarp, still injured and molecularly unstable. As Galvatron seems to have no intent of following through on his promise to heal Skywarp, Blackrock offers to scratch the Seeker's back if he scratches his...

OnCybertron,Starscream gleefully talks with the "spectre" ofBumblebee about Optimus Prime's fall from grace, made all the more sumptuous by the fact that it is legitimately the result of his own actions, and not any trickery or twisting of the facts by Starscream himself.Rattrap knocks on the door to inform Starscream that Prime has arrived to state his case before theCouncil of Worlds, but Starscream insists on "keeping up appearances" by not arriving until the very last second before the Council meets. Once hedoes arrive, he immediately accuses Optimus of starting interstellar war by annexingEarth. Prime appeals to the group to recognize that his intentions are noble and to allow the planet representation on the council, but unfortunately, none of the delegates are willing to blindly accept this, and evenWindblade cannot fully side with Prime. Starscream reminds all present of the many violent despots who have also carried the Prime name; Optimus begins to lose patience with Starscream's word games, but the evidence against him only continues to mount as footage of rioting Cybertronians andSterling's corpse are played as further proof of the damage his actions have caused. The Council refuses Prime's request; Windblade apologizes, but Optimus grimly accepts the judgement, aware from the beginning that he was bringing this upon himself.

Back on Earth,Astrotrain drops off Galvatron at theCopahue volcano on theChile-Argentina border for his "appointment"—a meeting called byArcee, who immediately attacks him in pursuit of vengeance for the Decepticon assault on theArk-7. As they battle in the caldera, Galvatron wonders aloud if Optimus's recent combination withProwl has altered his mind and influenced his recent actions; Arcee rejects the notion, but Galvatron tells her she should know better than to believe in "allies," given her own past. Considering herself to be on the side of right regardless of the things done to her during her life, Arcee disappears into an ash cloud, vowing that her rivalry with Galvatron will inevitably end in death for one of them... just not today.

Optimus andAileron arrive onCaminus viaspace bridge; Prime has forgiven the impetuous Camien for her actions in Washington, explaining that the only reason he did not take them himself was because of the complicated past Cybertronians have with humanity, a way of thinking that is difficult for Aileron, as the teachings of theWay of Flame urge one to always be moving forward. The pair go to meet with theMistress of Flame, where Optimus requests that she share the knowledgePyra Magna had previously implied she possessed: the true identity of "The Arisen," the thirteenth and final member of theThirteen Primes. The Mistress agrees, and begins by highlighting the massive significance that Earth has had in Cybertronian history, believing thatit is the thirteenth colony. Thus, she rations that Earth's leader must be a Prime... that the Arisen is none other than Optimus Prime himself!

Arcee returns to the Autobots' bivouac inMonument Valley, and visits the bedside of the comatoseSideswipe. Presently, she is joined byTracks, and Arcee brings up the subject of his Decepticon brotherNeedlenose. Tracks admits that he doesn't blame Needlenose for what he's doing, given the Autobots were responsible for killing hisConjunx EnduraHorri-Bull... a statement that grabs Arcee's attention. A short time later, after Optimus Prime and Aileron have returned, and plans are in motion to visitSanctuary Station, Arcee approaches Prime with some important information...

Optimus Prime,Thundercracker andBuster pay a visit to Sanctuary Station, but their arrival is met with icy hostility fromSoundwave. Nevertheless, Prime and Thundercracker try to convince Soundwave to ally with them; the Decepticon communicator refuses to work with a Prime, even when it is pointed out that Soundwave has compromised his morals for the greater good in the past. With Soundwave unwilling to budge, Optimus drops the bombshell provided by Arcee: it wasSoundwave, not Bumblebee, who triggered Horri-Bull'sI/D chip and killed him, and Prime will tell Needlenose, and let the Decepticons tear themselves apart from the inside out, if Soundwave does not work with them. Backed into a corner, Soundwave has no choice but to put himself at Optimus's service.

Back on Cybertron, Starscream puts a new strategy in play: he summons news reportersCircuit andLongtooth to his office, and announces that he will be sending them to Earth so that they can report onexactly what is happening on the planet, allowing Starscream to bury the legacy of the Primes forever.

Featured characters

Characters initalic text appear only as hologram record images.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"The council isgrateful for your appearance, but we need anexplanation."
"Bolts to that, Windblade. We'renot "grateful"."

—Windblade andStrika don't exactly see eye to eye, and a new Transformers epithet is born.

"Creatures such asyou andI can afford no such sentimentality. An "ally" turned you into what youare."
"I'm what I was alwaysmeant to be."
"That seems like ahealthy attitude. Whatchanged it?"
"Somewhere along the line, I realized I'd wound up on theright side."

—Galvatron andArcee

"Soundwave isn't really abad guy. Sendanybody else butyou and Soundwave'll join us, Iknow it. The thing is, he just doesn't likePrimes."
"Cosmos... I don'twant Soundwave to bow tosomeone else. I want him to bow tome."

—Cosmos andOptimus Prime. Holy crap, Prime, we're gettin' a little worried about you, over here.

Thundercracker: "You'vecompromised your beliefs for thegreater good before. Megatron killedbillions of organics—look at all thehumans hemurdered."
Soundwave: "This is nonsense. Humans are not the equal of Cybertronians. By attempting to place them in aCybertronian council, Optimus denigrates us. And by calling himself "Prime," he places himselfabove us, denigrating us further. Following him isone moral compromisetoo far. Was this request to join theAutobots yourfinal piece of business?"
Optimus Prime: "Not quite.Needlenose, and presumably therest of the Decepticons, believeBumblebee detonated theI/D chip thatkilled Horri-Bull. But that'snot true. You, Soundwave, had secretlydisabled the chipsbefore Horri-Bull died. Bumblebeetried to kill him, but in truth...you pulled the trigger. If Needlenose learned thetruth, and told the others, that would be theend of yourdream. Youalready made one moral compromise too far."

Notes

Continuity notes

• Optimus has an entirely grey left arm, an as-yet-unpainted replacement for the limb he lost last issue.
• Galvatron brings upJhiaxus's experimentation on Arcee once more. As part of the ongoing drive to mend IDW's early issues with gender among Transformers as best as possible, there's an alluded attempt to address the issue of Arcee's questionable "transition," as she delivers the line quoted above, asserting that the form she has now is the right one.
• Galvatron also notes that Jhiaxus was once "ally" to Arcee, which seems to confirm an implication fromSins of the Wreckers #3—that Arcee had once willingly followed Jhiaxus (and, as noted in that issue, now blames herself for letting him experiment on her, and for not seeing him for the monster he really was).
• Prime originally spoke with the Torchbearers and learned of the Mistress's questionable beliefs back inissue #47. All that we learned from Pyra Magna in that issue was that the Mistress professed to know who "The Arisen" was, with this issue revealing that she believes it is Optimus himself (see "Transformers references," below).
• While covering the history of Earth, the Mistress of Flame refers to the fact the war ended there and shows an image of Prime and Megatron in battle, in reference to the climax ofAll Hail Megatron. She also covers the history of theEnigma of Combination, revealed to have fallen to Earth back inissue #34, and Shockwave's planting ofOre-13 on the planet, from way back inSpotlight: Shockwave.
• We called it! Soundwave was revealed to have remotely triggered Horri-Bull's I/D chip all the way back inissue #2. It makes sense Arcee would know about this, as she was brought into the Decepticon fold soon afterward (though even if she hadn't been, that was when she was in her "skulking around in shadows on the rooftops watching everything and everyone" phase, so it's still no surprise she'd have known).

Transformers references

• Starscream refers to the Crystal City Metrotitan as just "Metrotitan" (not "the Metrotitan" or "a Metrotitan"), the "ancient Titan." "Metrotitan" has fallen out of use as the name of the race in IDW's comics in the last couple of years, with them usually just being referred to as "Titans" instead; does this suggest the word has been repurposed as an individual name for the Crystal City Titan, making it a version of theZone Metrotitan character? Itwas always blue and magenta like him...
• The concept of Optimus being one of the Thirteen was introduced inThe Covenant of Primus, and previously applied only to theAligned continuity family. Obviously, there are a lot of specifics as to how this mightwork in IDW continuity that have yet to be addressed.
• Circuit calls Longtooth the "camera walrus", a nod to hisPretender shell (which doesn't exist in this continuity).

Real-life references

• This issue's title is a reference to the concept of "The medium is the message".

Other trivia

• The religion of Caminus is referred to as the "Way ofthe Flame" again, as it was inMore than Meets the Eye #42, when it was just the "Way of Flame" (no "the") when it was introduced inWindblade vol. 2 #1. We're two for one on that now...
• Buster in a spacesuit!!!
  • Wuff!!!

Errors

• The real-life volcanoCopahue is misspelled "Copahua". This is corrected for the trade paperback.
• When theSkyroller docks atSanctuary Station, the caption reads "in orbit of10" when it should be "in orbit ofIo".

Covers (4)

• Regular cover: Arcee versus Galvatron, byAndrew Griffith andJosh Burcham
• Subscription cover: Bumblebee regards a preserved and enclosedSky-Byte, byCasey Coller andJoana Lafuente. One of a series of variant covers release for IDW's "Art Appreciation" month emulating famous works of art; in this case, Sky-Byte is homagingThe Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a work which features a preserved shark. Given the work's title, that the deceased Bumblebee should be the one to featured looking at it seems to refer his own continued existence in "the mind of someone living."
• Retailer incentive cover: A sword-wielding Optimus ridesSky Lynx into battle against Galvatron and Soundwave, byJosh Burcham
• Phase 6 exclusive cover:Drift versus Deadlock, byAndrew Griffith,Naoto Tsushima, andJosh Perez

• 

  Don't do it Anakin. I have the high ground.

• 

  Do NOT Feed!

• 

  Tallyho!

• 

  Me versus Me!

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• The Transformers #53
• More than Meets the Eye#52
• IDW Art Appreciation Month
• Aliens: Defiance
• IDWMicronauts comic
• Wynonna Earp series (back cover)

Reprints

• The Transformers Volume 10(October 5,2016)ISBN 1631407481 /ISBN 978-1631407482
  • CollectsThe Transformers (2012) issues #50–55.
  • Bonus material includes covers from each issue.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 71: All Hail Optimus(March 7,2018)
  • CollectsThe Transformers (2012) issues #50–55.
  • Bonus material includes Background material on theCouncil of Worlds.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 12(February 10,2021)ISBN 1684057469 /ISBN 978-1684057467
  • CollectsThe Transformers (2012) issues #51–55 & #56–57,Till All Are One issues#1–4,Titans Return#1, andMore than Meets the Eye issues#56–57.
  • Hardcover format.

• 

  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 10 – cover art byCasey Coller andJohn-Paul Bove

• 

  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 71: All Hail Optimus – cover art byDon Figueroa (Sky Lynx) andLivio Ramondelli (retro)

• 

  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 12 – cover art byMarcelo Matere

External links

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