As Sam Witwicky seeks a normal life and the Autobots seek acceptance, The Fallen rises again...
Vital statistics[]
ISBN 0345515935
ISBN 978-0345515933
Writer: Alan Dean Foster
Pagecount: 336
Synopsis[]
On ancient Earth, early human hunters are stalking a tiger when they find what they believe to be a god. Said god briefly examines one, then lets it drop and walks off. Some of the hunters follow the god when they find smaller gods building something....
In the present, the city of Shanghai is being evacuated due to a major chemical spill. However, the team sent in are not hazmat teams, they're NEST, special force of soldiers from multiple Earth governments working with the Autobots to locate and eliminate the Decepticons still on Earth. Ironhide, Arcee, Sideswipe, Skids and Mudflap are deployed to locate a Decepticon in an industrial sector. When Major Lennox discovers two children who were not evacuated, the Decepticon Demolishor strikes. As Demolishor attacks, his partner Sideways tries to escape, and is forced to fight Arcee and the Twins. He fights them off but is killed by Sideswipe. Demolishor continues his attempts to escape, but is intercepted by Optimus Prime. He and Ironhide fatally damage Demolishor, but the dying Decepticon relays a warning: "The Fallen shall rise again."
Back in Burbank, Sam Witwicky is packing up for college while watching a report of the cover up on Mission City, which laid blame on Massive Dynamics. Sam dismisses it with disgust and resumes his packing. He then has to deal with his mom Judy suffering from sadness over Sam's departure. As his father Ron expresses pride in Sam for getting a scholarship to Princeton, Sam gets a call from Mikaela, who halfheartedly announces that they're breaking up. Sam then announces that he has a long-distance relationship kit for her, including some personal items, a Sector Seven badge, certain glasses, and even offers up the shirt he was wearing that day. As he unfolds it, a fragment of the AllSpark falls out. Picking it up, Sam experiences a brief flash of images, then is shocked by the fragment and drops it, which burns through his floor and lands in the kitchen. The resulting surge of energy brings several appliances to life, who immediately make their way to Sam's room and attack him. Sam jumps out the window and seeks cover with his father, before Sam yells for Bumblebee. The little Autobot manages to destroy the rampaging mutations, but is overzealous and destroys Sam's room in the process, damaging the house.
Emergency services are already there when Mikaela arrives and Sam gives her the fragment, telling not to tell anyone about it. Judy then announces that Bumblebee will be leaving when he leaves, and since freshmen aren't allowed to have cars on campus, Bumblebee is going back to the rest of the Autobots. Sam and Mikaela share a goodbye, but reach a minor rough patch when both hesitate to be the first to say "I love you". They move though, and Sam and his parents head for the airport, while Mikaela heads home. Unknown to her, Wheels, a Decepticon, is watching her, and discovers that she has the AllSpark fragment with her. He relays his discovery to Soundwave, who orders him to retrieve to the fragment.
On Diego Garcia, NEST is returning to base after the operation in Shanghai when Director Galloway arrives, saying he has a message for the Autobots. NEST is preparing to debrief Admiral Morshower, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, via satellite conference. Soundwave promptly hacks into the satellite and listens in on the message. Optimus Prime relays the warning of "The Fallen", and admits that he is unaware of its origins. It implies a link to the past, but since the only recorded history of Cybertron was contained in the AllSpark, they cannot research it. Director Galloway then interrupts, asking why the Decepticons are still interested in Earth with the AllSpark's destruction. Galloway reveals the President is concerned over the destruction resulting in Shanghai, and takes issue with the Autobots refusing to share weapons technology with the humans and continued sending of transmissions into space inviting more Autobots to come to Earth. Major Lennox and Sergeant Epps defend the Autobots, but Galloway dismisses their defense. Galloway then explains that with Megatron at the bottom of the Laurentian Abyss, and the last fragment of the AllSpark locked on Diego Garcia, there is only one reason for the Decepticons to be interested in Earth: they're here to hunt the Autobots. Galloway then asks that if they conclude that humanity would be better protected by denying the Autobots further asylum on Earth, would they leave peacefully? The other Autobots and NEST personnel are less than thrilled with the concept, but Optimus says that as freedom is the right of all sentient beings, he will honor the request. However, Optimus aks Galloway to relay a question to the President: what if they leave, and the Decepticons do not? Having learned of Megatron and the AllSpark shard's location, Soundwave begins to formulate a plan...
Arriving at Princeton, Sam makes his way to his dorm and meets his roommate, Leo Spitz, owner of The Real Effing Deal, an alternate news website trying to prove the existence of alien robots on Earth. He and his partners are working on a scope regarding the recent events in Shanghai, but they are beaten to the punch by their rival, Robo-Warrior, at GiantEffingRobots.com. Sam quickly realizes that they may have some conflict of interest, and asks if there is another room available, but there are no other rooms available. Sam and Leo are introduced to Alice, an attractive young girl who seems interested in Sam, but Sam has other priorities—namely, controlling his mother, who has just ingested marijuana laced brownies and nearly reveals the existence of the Autobots.
Over Diego Garcia, Soundwave releases his partner Ravage, who sneaks onto the base and releases the Microcons that make up Reedman. Reedman manages to remove the AllSpark fragment in the vault, and kills several soldiers in the process. Rejoining Ravage, the pair blast off for their next destination.
At Princeton, Sam is dragged to a fraternity party by Leo, despite his insistence that he has a web chat date with Mikaela. While he avoids any brownies, he does feel strange at the party, seeing strange images. Alice is there, and starts chatting him up, until a member of the fraternity announces that a yellow Camaro is parked outside in the bushes. Sam runs out and sees Bumblebee, and quickly decides to take him away. Alice hitches a ride, and makes it clear she's interested in Sam. Bumblebee disapproves of the girl, and douses her in lubricant, causing her to get out in a huff. Sam is angry at Bumblebee's behavior until he mentions a meeting with "the boss". Mikaela eventually gives up on the live chat date, while Sam is taken to an abandoned graveyard to meet with Optimus Prime, who informs Sam of the theft of the AllSpark fragment and the trouble he's having with the United States. Optimus needs outside help, and believes Sam to be a worthy ambassador. Sam is upset, as he just arrived at college. Optimus knows that fate rarely calls at a moment of one's choosing, and believes that there is greatness in Sam. Sam, however, disagrees, and declines the request. Optimus is disappointed but respects his decision.
On the Bayos, a ship traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, a sailor finds of his comrades dead, but is quickly killed himself by four of the Constructicons on the ship. Ravage arrives on the ship, and the five Decepticons jump overboard and begin diving for the ocean floor. A Naval submarine detects their presence and begins diving as well. Finding Megatron's shell, the Doctor is released and declares that he needs more parts. Three Constructicons descend upon the smallest of them and kill him, quickly using his components to repair Megatron. Once they're complete, the Doctor inserts the fragment into Megatron's spark core. The plan works, and Megatron is reactivated, hitting the submarine on the way to the surface.
At Princeton, Sam attends Professor Colan's Astronomy 101, and quickly begins seeing the images from before. He quickly reads Colan's book in seconds, and then stands up and says that Einstein was wrong about the theory of relativity. It's only accurate if you take this dimension into account, but false if you take the other seventeen. He then writes down complex equations on the chalkboard in alien script and cites the Sentinel Prime expedition as his source. Furious, Colan orders Sam out of class. Realizing something is wrong, he looks up information on his great-great-grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, and learns that he drew the same images after he discovered Megatron.
Elsewhere, Megatron has reached a dying star system and made his way to a dead, cold world, where the Nemesis lies in ruins. Once he reaches the cargo hold, which still houses hundreds of Protoform Decepticons in stasis, an image begins to form, which Megatron bows before as the face of his master, The Fallen, who is gathering forces in other dimensions. Megatron tells the Fallen that the AllSpark has been destroyed, but the Fallen tells him that the Cube was destroyed, while the knowledge within the AllSpark was instead transferred into Sam. With it, they can find another source of energon to raise their army. Once he has succeeded, The Fallen will grant Megatron the powers of "The Dynasty". An incredibly fearful Starscream then enters the hold and tells Megatron he needed to take command in Megatron's absence. Megatron swats him aside and warns him that even in death, there is no command but Megatron. He then activates thirteen protoforms...
Meanwhile, Mikaela reaches the shop she works at, and is followed by Wheels. Sam calls her and starts telling her about the symbols she is seeing, and realizes they started happening when he touched the AllSpark fragment. She reassures Sam that it's safe in the shop vault. Wheels goes to retrieve it, but is caught in several mousetraps and attracts Mikaela's attention. She captures him, and says that she's heading for Sam. Meanwhile, NEST receives multiple Decepticon contacts on the East Coast, but the Autobots are both responding to the contacts, and not responding to NEST's communication attempts. Lennox orders NEST ready.
At Princeton, Leo attempts to woo Alice, who is more interested in Sam. They reach Sam and Leo's room, to discover that Sam has covered the room in alien symbols. Alice dismisses Leo, and attempts to seduce Sam. Leo goes to watch some television, when he happens across a commercial for an Alice in Wonderland amusement park...and the "Alice" of said amusement park looks exactly like Alice. Mikaela reaches Sam's room, and finds Sam with Alice. Before he can explain, Alice reveals herself to be a Decepticon. She chases Sam, Mikaela, and Leo to the library, and then to the parking lot, where Mikaela hot wires a car and runs over Alice. The car is intercepted by a helicopter Decepticon and taken to an abandoned foundry where Megatron and Starscream await. Megatron taunts Sam with threats of death, and restrains him as the Doctor inserts a probe into Sam's mind. The probe replays images from Sam's brain, including the symbols he's been drawing. Megatron orders the Doctor to remove Sam's brain, but the Doctor is destroyed by a sniper shot, just as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee break into the foundry. Optimus escapes with Sam, while Bumblebee escapes with Mikaela and Leo. Megatron, Starscream, and the copter Decepticon reach up with Optimus at a nearby forest, and Megatron says that the boy is the key to another Energon source. Optimus refuses to let him have Sam, unsheathes his swords, and fights the off the Decepticons, killing the copter Decepticon. As Optimus goes for Starscream, Megatron impales Optimus with his sword from behind. Fortunately, the rest of the Autobots arrive before Megatron can finish off Optimus and take Sam. Unfortunately, the damage is severe, and Optimus will be in complete stasis lock until he can heal, which will take some time.
A few days later, Megatron and Starscream meet near the Arctic. They cannot find Sam, and there are over seven billion humans to look through. Megatron decides to compel the humans to bring Sam to him, and then destroys the U.S.S. Lincoln, while Soundwave tracks Ron and Judy Witwicky to Paris, and dispatches another Decepticon to retrieve them. Following this, Megatron makes a televised broadcast to humanity, revealing the existence of the Transformers and demanding Sam be turned over to them within a day. At the military base where Optimus Prime's body is taken to, the United States military surrounds the Autobots at gunpoint, as Galloway reveals that he has operational command now and has deactivated NEST as a sign of good faith to the Decepticons, who they are negotiating with to buy time while they make a coordinated military strategy. Ironhide believes Galloway to be insane if he thinks the Decepticons will negotiate, but Sideswipe reminds him that this is not what Optimus would want. Reluctantly, the Autobots stand down.
At an abandoned prison in New Jersey, Sam, Mikaela, and Leo are hiding with Bumblebee and the Twins, Skids and Mudflap. They learn of NEST's deactivation, and the manhunt for Sam. Blaming himself, Sam announces that he will turn himself in, but Bumblebee and Mikaela insist that this will only make things worse. Sam then decides to figure out where this energon source is. He assumes that some knowledge got transferred to him when the Cube was destroyed, and Mikaela surmises that the information is what allowed Sam to ace his SATs and get a scholarship to Princeton. Sam has no idea what the symbols mean, and asks if the Autobots can read what he's writing. They identify it as the Language of the Primes, an ancient Cybertronian language they cannot translate. Leo then offers up the location of the Robo-Warrior, his rival.
Heading to New York City, Leo explains that he and his friends once revenge-hacked Robo-Warrior's site, and saw some of the symbols on his site. The group make their way to a deli, where Robo-Warrior is located. To Sam and Mikaela's shock, Robo-Warrior is none other than Seymour Simmons, former chief agent of Sector Seven, now working in his mother's deli. For his part, Simmons is hostile to Sam and Mikaela, blaming them for the loss of his job and failing to kill Megatron. Simmons tells them to get lost, but when Sam mentions the symbols, Simmons interest is piqued. Taking them to the attic above the meat locker, Simmons shows them his archive of research he poached from Sector Seven (along with the head of Frenzy). The research is the presence of alien symbols on ancient ruins all over the world, meaning that the Transformers visited Earth several thousand years ago, and Simmons believed some were left behind. He shows them evidence of suspected Transformers across the planet, which Sector Seven dismissed as insignificant, despite Simmons insistence on investigating them. However, Simmons is just as in the dark on the symbols as the Autobots. With no choice, Mikaela brings out Wheels, who panics when he sees Frenzy's head. It's enough to frighten Wheels talking, who says that he cannot read the language of the Primes either, but tells them of those who can: the Seekers, the Transformers that Simmons mentioned, who were sent to look for something thousands of years ago. He tells them where to find them, and the nearest one is in Washington, D.C..
The group head to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where the Seeker is located. After dispatching the guards, the group finds that the Seeker in question is the Blackbird on display. Unfortunately, it's also a Decepticon, and is revived by the AllSpark fragment from Sam. It quickly becomes apparent that the Decepticon, named Jetfire, is barely functioning. He makes his way outside and is shocked by how much time he's been in stasis, also revealing that he defected to the Autobots. This amazes Wheels, who announces that he's defecting to Mikaela, dubbing her "Warrior Goddess". Jetfire also says that he has a mission, but cannot remember what it is. Sam writes down some of what he's been seeing, and Jetfire realizes that they're part of his mission. He quickly teleports them to Egypt. The trip is unpleasant for all, human and Transformer. It also attracted the attention of another Seeker, this one as barely functional as Jetfire, but still a Decepticon. The Seeker tries to kill Jetfire, but his shot bounces off him, and Jetfire crushes the Decepticon under his foot.
With things settled down, Jetfire explains what is going on: in the beginning, the Transformers were ruled by the Dynasty of Primes, the Thirteen original Cybertronians and their descendants, who were forged by the AllSpark to bring order to Cybertron. Because Energon was scarce, the AllSpark forged for them the Matrix of Leadership, which contained the AllSpark's power and fueled the Great Machines needed to recharge the AllSpark...by destroying stars. The Dynasty had a single rule in their searches: life is precious, so any inhabited star system was spared. One day, the Dynasty came to Earth and built a machine in Egypt, but when they discovered the humans, twelve of the Primes upheld their law. One of the Primes despised the humans and tried to defy the rule, and he was forever known as The Fallen. He killed eleven of his brothers, but the twelfth stole the Matrix and hid it in a tomb made of his brothers bodies, sacrificing his own spark to fuse it shut. The machine was abandoned, and the Seekers dispatched to find the Matrix. If The Fallen finds the Matrix, he will activate the machine, which will mean the end of all life on Earth. Mikaela asks how they can stop him, Jetfire explains that only a Prime can defeat The Fallen. Sadly, The Fallen knew this, and he destroyed the rest of the Dynasty when he returned to Cybertron. A single orphan was hidden from him, unaware of his lineage. Sam recognizes that he's talking about Optimus, and wonders if the Matrix, as a part of the AllSpark, could heal Optimus. Jetfire says it's possible, but they need to find the Tomb first. He then relays a riddle the Seekers discovered: "When dawn alights the Dagger's tip, Three Kings will show the way". Unable to help them further, Jetfire goes back into stasis. Leo is ready to give up, but the rest of the group leaves him and drives far enough away to convince him to shut up and get in Bumblebee.
In New Jersey, the Autobots are loaded onto cargo planes, strapped in nets and under heavy guard. Although they could easily free themselves, they realize that this is what Optimus would want, and that time will make the humans realize that they are still valuable allies. Lennox and Epps have no such extended concept of time, and are angry at the Autobots mistreatment. It would comfort them to know that Morshower and the Joint Chiefs are working to relieve Galloway of command, but without a proper target to retaliate against, the Administration needs a scapegoat.
As Sam's group travels through the desert, Simmons calls his CIA contact in general history, and learns that "the Dagger" is the Gulf of Aqaba, a region which separates Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. The group find themselves at a checkpoint, and the Twins are easily able to move through without papers as their holodrivers used supermodels. Simmons tries to take charge, but he doesn't speak Arabic and the soldiers do not speak English. Worse, there are cameras at the checkpoint, and Sam tells Bumblebee to drive, fearing that he was identified. They are able to make their way through Cairo, but pick up police on the way. Unable to shake them, Wheels jumps out Bumblebee and attacks the following police car, his screams surpassed only by those of the police. After driving the car off the road, he steals a window wiper as a trophy and says his actions are evidence of his defection. Sam needs to call Lennox and have Optimus brought to Aqaba, but Simmons says that contacting Lennox will allow him to get traced. Instead, Sam calls Lennox's wife Sarah, and tells her what is going on. The group then makes their way to abandoned tourist center outside the Pyramids of Giza.
Sarah and Epps' wife Monique call their husbands, but Galloway refuses to allow a private call and places them on speakerphone. Saying that Monique is interested in plastic surgery, the two wives are able to convey the message in an incredibly unsubtle way. Fortunately, Galloway is untrained in subtlety. Lennox and Epps then talk with the pilot of the plane that will take them back to Diego Garcia, who says that the coordinates are in Jordan. Lennox realizes that Sam knows or has something Megatron wants, and hatches a plan to fake engine trouble over the coordinates, while Lennox has a message relayed to Admiral Morshower, who is trying to get NEST reactivated. Morshower realizes that Lennox knows something and arranges for assets in the target area.
Traveling to Egypt in jet mode, Megatron makes a stop at the Rock of Gibraltar and contacts The Fallen, saying that Sam has been spotted in the land where the harvester was constructed. The Fallen tells Megatron the harvesters specific coordinates and gives him two commands: assemble his forces, and prepare for his arrival.
At the tourist center, Sam and Mikaela get into another argument over who will say "I love you" first, with Mikaela pointing out the romantic location under the stars, which jogs something in Sam's memory. He recalls the textbook saying that Orion's Belt were called the "Three Kings", because they lined up with the pyramids when they were built. The trail leads to Petra, which appears to be a dead end. Skids declares that he's done listening to Sam, and when Mudflap defends the human, the Twins get into a brawl which ends up damaging the ruins. However, it also reveals Cybertronian symbols underneath, and Bumblebee blasts a hole in the wall. They find the Tomb of the Primes, but only find sand where the Matrix should be. Simmons assumes that the Matrix devoured itself in the years waiting, but quickly leaves when he hears C-17s approaching. Sam refuses to believe that something from the AllSpark would simply decay, so he gathers up the dust. On the C-17, the pilot announces engine trouble and orders the passengers to bailout. Galloway is tricked into opening his parachute while inside the plane, forgetting his cellphone and laptop. The team then parachutes out with Optimus's body, and Lennox relays words to the Autobots aboard the other plane, who immediately start releasing exhaust. When a guard opens the cargo door for fresh air, Arcee brings up her guns and "persuades" the guards to allow them to leave. The Autobots meet up with NEST on the ground at an abandoned fishing village. Bumblebee's team is quickly spotted, and a flare is popped. Unfortunately, Starscream reaches the area and releases an EMP burst, disabling communication. He and Megatron begin strafing Sam's group, and Sam and Mikaela leave on foot while Bumblebee, the Twins, Simmons, and Leo draw them away. A force of Thirteen Decepticons then land searching for Sam. At the Pentagon, Morshower begins observing the area through a satellite, but the Decepticons are not on the image. Soundwave is connected to the satellite and is doctoring the video to remove the Decepticons presence. After a while, Morshower becomes suspicious at the lack of communication, and asks for help to be sent from Egypt and Jordan to confirm on site visuals.
In the abandoned village, Sam and Mikaela sneak into a building as Starscream leads a group of Decepticons to search for him. A tiny Decepticon flies in and is crushed before Sam realizes what it is. Starscream tears off the roof and tries to grab the teens, but they manage to escape. Meanwhile, the Twins take Leo and Simmons to a quarry near the pyramids, where they find four heavy Construction vehicles. As Simmons grows suspicious, three more vehicles arrive...and the seven vehicles combine into one: Devastator. Back at the village, Sam and Mikaela are making their way to the soldiers when a Decepticon cuts them off, depositing Ron and Judy Witwicky, and demanding the Matrix. Sam is ready to give him the sand, but Bumblebee manages to ambush the Decepticon and kill him. Sam then tells Bumblebee to take his parents somewhere safe, despite Ron's initial refusal to leave Sam.
At the quarry, the Twins presence causes Devastator to activate his maw and suck everything in, which includes Skids. As Simmons realizes hiding underneath it is the only safe place, Skids busts out, and Mudflap helps him by climbing up. However, Devastator shrugs them off and makes his way to the Great Pyramid of Giza, where Megatron is waiting. Just then, a space bridge opens above the pyramid, and a Transformer arrives, this one appearing on fire: The Fallen has risen again, and he commands Megatron to go forth and deliver the Matrix to him. Two Jordanian helicopters arrive; one is shot down, while the other is crashed by the Fallen, who uses telekinesis. As Simmons and Leo make their way to the downed helicopter, Leo notices Devastator has begun attacking the pyramid, and realization hits Simmons: the pyramid is built right over the Star Harvester. Taking a radio, Simmons makes contact with Captain Wilder of the U.S.S. Roosevelt, and says that an experimental rail gun is the only way to destroy Devastator.
At the village, a UAV reaches the battle site, and begins transmitting information of what is really happening to the Pentagon. Morshower orders everything available sent at once. Just as Megatron arrives and begins attacking in tank mode, heavy armor from the United States, Egypt, and Jordan begin pouring in, reinforcing NEST and allowing Lennox and Epps to reach Sam and Mikaela. Just as they prepare to make a break for it, a Decepticon finds them. Before it can act, Jetfire appears and blows up the Decepticon. Unfortunately, Scorponok makes a surprise attack on Jetfire, impaling him with his tail. Jetfire is able to rip his head off, but is seriously injured. An Air Force strike manages to destroy most of the Decepticons, and Sam makes a mad dash toward Optimus's body. Just as he reaches it, Megatron fires a shot which hits the ground near Sam, sending him flying. Although Megatron is forced to retreat under human fire, Sam appears dead. Medics are unable to revive him, and even Mikaela's admission of love fails to do anything.
On another plane of existence, Sam finds himself with twelve Transformers, who identify themselves as the Dynasty of Primes. They have been watching him for a long time, as he was destined to find the Matrix. But the Matrix cannot be merely found; instead, it must be earned. Sam's courage, selflessness, and sacrifice were tests, and now he has earned the Matrix, and must fulfill his destiny: raise up the last Prime. Sam is returned to life, and tells Mikaela he loves her, as the Matrix begins to reform before him. Sam makes his way to Optimus's body, and drives the Matrix into him. The plan works, and Optimus Prime is reborn, and pleased that his assessment of Sam was correct. Unfortunately, The Fallen teleports in and steals the Matrix, crushing Optimus beneath him and swatting Ironhide and Sideswipe like they're nothing before teleporting to the now exposed harvester. Sam frantically urges Optimus up, but he is still injured from his fight with Megatron. Already injured, Jetfire offers his parts to Optimus, and snuffs out his own spark. Though all are shocked, Optimus recognizes that they do not have the time to mourn, and orders Ratchet to start refitting the necessary components onto his structure. Soon, Optimus Prime has achieved a more powerful flight mode, and flies off.
At the pyramid, The Fallen, with Megatron, Starscream, and Devastator, inserts the Matrix into the harvester. As it powers up, Devastator sees Optimus and prepares to fire. Just then, Simmons relays coordinates the ship with the rail gun, which fires, killing Devastator. Unfortunately, the machine also activates, firing a beam which destroy the sun in eight minutes. Distracted by Devastator's death and the machine's activation, the Decepticons are unable to shoot down Optimus, who flies through the harvester and causes the beam to collapse, seriously wounding Megatron and Starscream. The Fallen is enraged, not just at the attack on the harvester, but at Optimus's presumption to challenge him, a Prime. Optimus declares that The Fallen abandoned that name when he slaughtered his brothers, and that as the last Prime, it is Optimus's destiny to avenge his lineage. As Optimus battles The Fallen, it quickly becomes apparent that Optimus is going to win. Incredulous and angry, Megatron reminds The Fallen of his promise to make Megatron a Prime. Optimus reveals that this is a lie, as Primes are born, not made. Panicking, The Fallen opens a space bridge and tries to flee, but Megatron and Starscream leave The Fallen to his fate. Optimus then rips off the top of the harvester and drives it through The Fallen's head, killing him. Optimus then recovers the Matrix and rejoins the others, who are also joined by Simmons, Leo, and the Twins.
Later, on the Roosevelt, Sam and Optimus watch the view, and Sam says that he can no longer see the symbols. Optimus explains that the knowledge of the AllSpark has been absorbed within the stuff of the Matrix, which is attached to his hip, and thanks Sam for preserving Cybertron's past and saving his life. Sam then asks what the future will hold, and Optimus Prime declares that it is a future Humanity and the Autobots will face together, as their ancestors did once before.
That future may be sooner than they think, for on the Nemesis, Megatron commands his Protoform army to "arise"...
Featured characters[]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes[]
Starscream: Forgive me, Lord Megatron, but in your absence, someone had to take command. I have deployed spy drones to the insect planet. They have already located the child who—bested you.
[Megatron rises and smacks Starscream into a wall]
Megatron: Even in death, there is no command but mine. My words ring truer in my absence than yours when you are present!
- —Megatron and Starscream reunite, but without the slashy subtext.
Jetfire: C'mon, you dimensionally challenged runts, have faith. Gather tight, stand still now, hurry. And let's just pray all my circuits are firing.
Mikaela: Why do we need to stand still?
Jetfire: So your parts get there in one piece.
Leo: One piece?! As opposed to what?!
- —Jetfire needs to work on his sales pitch.
Jetfire: Long ago on these very lands, a legendary battle was fought. A monumental slaughter that divided us all...
[Several minutes of silence]
Leo: And...?
Jetfire: And what?
Sam: What about the battle?
Jetfire: What battle?
- —Story time with Jetfire can take a long time.
"Anyone else get the feeling we got the dregs of the Cybertronian gene pool?"
- —Seymour Simmons on Skids and Mudflap.
"Everyone's after me because of what I know? Well, I know that this is gonna work."
"How?"
"Because I believe it."
- —Sam lets Mikaela know that he'll raise Optimus through burning justice if necessary.
"You dare challenge me?! I am a Prime!"
"You abandoned that name when you slaughtered your brothers. There is only one Prime now, and my ancestry will be avenged."
- —The Fallen and Optimus Prime settle their family feud.
Notes[]
Transformers references[]
- The Thirteen Cybertronians who founded the Dynasty of Primes are the same Thirteen originally created by Primus to man his planet mode[citation needed].
- The Nemesis is named for the cruiser that the Decepticons used to attack the Ark in Generation 1.
Differences with the movie[]
- In the film, six Primes killed themselves to create the Tomb of the Primes. Here, eleven Primes have already been killed by The Fallen, and the twelfth creates the tomb from their bodies, only killing himself to seal it up.
- Wheels talks in a very Dinobot-like fashion, but is normal, albeit pretty rude, in the movie.
- On that note, it's not only stated that the two Cybertronian factions have their own unique languages, but that Mikaela somehow has a passing knowledge of "Decepticon", and speaks it to Wheels before ordering him to use English.
- More information is given as to how Mikaela gets Wheels through airport security. She told the young male ticket agent that the case contained expensive mechanic's tools and therefore may look strange on the X-ray. That explanation along with her good looks and cleavage distracted the ticket agent enough that he failed to notice anything wrong.
- The Fallen is not physically present on the Nemesis when Megatron visits it. Megatron instead speaks with The Fallen by means of an odd communications device which consists of millions of tiny mechanisms which rose from the deck and formed a likeness of The Fallen's head.
- Optimus explicitly does not die in the battle with Megatron in the forest, but instead goes into a form of stasis lock which could last for years while his body repairs itself.
- The Decepticons spend at least a few days looking for Sam before Megatron makes the worldwide broadcast. Additionally, Megatron is so angry he does not strike Starscream.
- Instead of The Fallen, Megatron is the one who hijacks the news broadcasts.
- An entire sequence is added to the arrival in Egypt, in which Ransack, another Seeker, detects Jetfire's space bridge and opens his own portal there to follow them. Ransack and Jetfire exchange words, with Ransack inadvertently offending the saffron-hued Bumblebee by calling Jetfire a "yellow-bellied traitor", and then utterly fails to damage the much larger Transformer with his outdated weaponry, at which point Jetfire puts an abrupt end to the encounter by crushing Ransack to death with his sheer bulk.
- Epps and Lennox receive their coordinates via a roundabout conversation from Epps' wife Monique, with some input from Sarah. Simmons is the one who directly tells them where to go in the film.
- The Twins seem to switch places with their movie counterparts. For example:
- Skids is the one who refuses to follow Sam at Petra, and Mudflap comes to his defense.
- Simmons drives Mudflap while leading Megatron and Starscream away.
- Skids is sucked up by Devastator.
- Mudflap does not speak in jive, but instead has a severe lisp. Skids still talks in jive.
- Bumblebee speaks with his own voice, albeit with difficulty, several times throughout the novel.
- There are a lot of differences in deaths. Mixmaster (who is unidentified in the novel), is blown up by Jetfire instead of being bisected and crushed, and then Jetfire rips Scorponok's head off instead of smashing his head. Ravage's death is not mentioned. And finally, like in almost every piece of media, The Fallen is killed by being stabbed through the head with the top of the Star Harvester.
- The Fallen is revealed to have gained Megatron's allegiance by promising him the powers of a Prime, something Optimus reveals as a lie, which compels Megatron to leave The Fallen to his death, as opposed to being genuinely saddened by it.
- Optimus' final words in the novel are different. They are the same as in the comic adaptation.
- Another similarity with the comic adaptation is that Megatron is shown raising his army on the Nemesis.
Trivia[]
- Devastator is formed from seven Constructicons: a green hauler, a dump truck, a front loader, a construction crane, and three other unidentified Constructicons.
- The kitchen appliances that are brought to life are called "appliancebots." The "electric mixer" is described as having whirling blades on his hands. There are two mixer appliancebots, but the one with whirling hands is hand mixer.
- In Defiance #4, The Fallen claimed he would be imprisoned in his sarcophagus until the Star Harvester is rediscovered. This is apparently literally true. It seems the act of finding the harvester somehow freed him from prison.
- Mikaela absolutely despises Leo.
International printings[]
Japan
- ISBN 4150117152
- ISBN 978-4150117153
- Date published: June 10, 2009
- Publisher: Hayakawa Publishing Corp.
- Translator: Naoya Nakahara
- Pagecount: 416