Confrontation

The Fallen and his soldiers hunt down the four Transformers needed for The Unbinding.

Writer: Simon Furman Pencils: Andrew Wildman Inks: Erik Sander Colors: Alan Wang & Ramil Sunga Letters: Ben Lee


 * Original release date: March 17th, 2004
 * Preceded by: The Dark Ages, Part 4
 * Followed by: The Dark Ages, Part 6
 * Characters (In order of appearance): Grimlock, The Fallen, Bludgeon, Mindwipe, Bugly, Shockwave, Prowl, Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Skids, Hound, Sideswipe, Swoop, Slag Jazz, Sunstreaker, Mirage, Protectobots, Blitzwing, Gears, Bumblebee
 * Chronology: The Dark Ages

Synopsis
The monstrous Fallen, with a bit of difficulty, manages to down Grimlock with a wave of dark energies flowing into Grimlock. Jetfire watches the deactivation of Grimlock and speculates on The Fallen's origins, then blacks out. The Fallen drags away Grimlock and Jetfire, while Bludgeon and the other henchmen leave to retrieve the third target. Shockwave, forgotten, awakens.

At the hub-capital Iacon, beneath Virtue's Forum, in the Autobase, Prowl and the other Autobots discuss the escalation of the arms race between the six factions. Trailbreaker relates to Prowl Jetfire's theory of intelligent manipulation behind recent events. Sideswipe interrupts the discussion, bringing Prowl to answer a video communication from Swoop regarding Grimlock's disappearance. Moments after Swoop hangs up, an alarm signals an attack within the Autobot's brig. The lower levels of the base are invaded by the unstoppable Fallen.

In another part of Iacon, the Protectobots ponder why their combined form, Defensor, has such a reduced intellect. Bludgeon and his cronies crash the deliberations. With the elements of surprise, Mindwipe's hypnosis, and Hot Spot's hesitation to initiate the interlink into Defensor, the Protectobots are quickly defeated. Hot Spot is declared a captive.

Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Mirage continue to defend, refusing to let The Fallen retrieve the Autobot's prisoner. The Fallen's dark power lets him shrug off the Autobot's attacks and disable the three of them. He tears open the jail cell and recruits the fourth and final component of the unbinding: Blitzwing.

Above, in the tactical central of the Autobase, Prowl orders a containment field errected to make sure The Fallen doesn't escape. But when Bumblebee sets up the sheild, feedback detonates his console and almost injures bumblebee. There's no question that The Fallen has escaped.

In the Well of All Sparks, Jetfire awakens, bound to a machine with the three other Transformers captured by The Fallen.

Quotes
"You..." "You're from before. Aren't you? Before the golden age, before recorded time."
 * -Jetfire

"You know so little... about who and what you are, about the forces at work around you...beneath you. The golden age--heh." "Welcome, Jetfire...." "...To the Dark Age"
 * -The Fallen

Items of Note

 * It's never made clear why particularly Jetfire, Grimlock, Hot Spot, and Blitzwing were necessary for The Unbinding.
 * On the final page of the story, the The Fallen casts a shadow with horns intentionally evocative of Unicron. How it's possible for him to cast a shadow with his back being constantly on fire is unclear but there's all kinds of Dark Magic involved so don't think about it.
 * This issue contains advertisements for
 * Skyfire (comic issue): "Firestorm" G1 Ongoing #3 (interior front cover)
 * What Lies Beneath, Part Two: "Ghosts of the Past" Transformers Energon #21 (back cover)
 * Devil May Cry Book two: Superbeast.
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Director's Cut (interior back cover).
 * "Declarations Of War" page has reader mail answered by Roger Lee and a piece of fan artwork by Ryan Wilton of Megatron in a manner similar to the famous scene from Planet of the Apes.
 * Wavelengths contain an article from the desk of John Ney Rieber.