Ironhide mini-series

[Shockwave]

True, but they did exist in BW and I kind of always assumed that that's how that happened anyway. My point was that they didn't explain it when it happened for Dinobot so why are we going to require it with Ironhide? Doesn't seem fair to Ironhide now does it? I just used Dinobot as an example because it's pretty much the same basic thing.

step 1: Character "Dies"
step 2: Spark goes "somewhere"
step 3: A completely new body is created for said character who is then somehow "alive" and is presumably carrying original spark.

I don't see how that's applying a new definition to BW.

[Dominic]

Uh, actually, in "5 Faces of Darkness".....Arcee specifically notes that she did not feel Rodimus's life force draining away from his body.

Dom
-not helping at all now.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, there is president for the same basic concept of a Spark existing in G1, even if the concept wasn't actually invented until Beast Wars. For example, the episode "Divide and Conquer" had Megatron asking about Optimus Prime's condition after a battle, if Starscream could "guarantee his laser core was extinguished", before sending Laserbeak to spy in order to make sure of it. "The Autobot Run" also has Megatron ordering Devastator to "extinguish their laser cores forever". Sounds an awful lot a spark if it's some part of a Transformer that is "extinguished" when they die. If fact, the term "laser core" has been used synonymously with "Spark" in a couple bios and comics since Beast Wars. Also, in the G1 comics (issue #14), Jetfire thanks Optimus for using the creation Matrix to "ignite the spark of life" in him. Granted, this was originally a metaphorical use of the term "spark of life", but it also actually works with the concept of a Spark post-BW.

Anyway... I recall that in Beast Machines, Primal mentioned that sparks are released from the Matrix essentially to experience life and when they return to the Matrix, they share that experience which in turn allows the Matrix to grow and evolve as well. I'm thinking that isn't all that dissimilar to what they're going for with Ironhide's resurrection in this comic. My theory is somewhat like Shockwave's... When Ironhide was wounded 4 million years ago, his spark 'downloaded' all of his memories and experiences to The Core while his body was being repaired, essentially creating a backup copy of Ironhide up to that point in his life. Then when Ironhide was killed on Earth, his spark returned to The Core, but the damage to Cybertron essentially prevented his spark from 'downloading' this time, resulting in those memories being lost. With Ironhide's spark and the first download though, Alpha Trion was still able to resurrect Ironhide up to that earlier point at least.

[Onslaught Six]

So, the real question is...besides Alpha Trion literally wanting everything to be the way it used to be, is there any real motivation for Ironhide's revival?

[Shockwave]

Yes, Ironhide is the Chuck Norris of the Transformers universe.

[andersonh1]

So, the real question is...besides Alpha Trion literally wanting everything to be the way it used to be, is there any real motivation for Ironhide's revival?

I keep thinking that there has to be another twist somewhere, that even this crazy version of Alpha Trion can't really mean for Ironhide to kill the entire Swarm by himself. A whole squad of Autobots (including Ironhide) couldn't do that in AHM, so there's no way Ironhide's going to manage it on his own. And I think previewing the next issue by calling it "heroic nonsense" is not just a callback to the movie, but a way to admit that.

So there's got to be another shoe that still has to drop.

[Shockwave]

Ironhide AND Sunstreaker will defeat the swarm.

Unless A3 tweaked Ironhide's new body somehow that would give him an ability he didn't have before.

[Dominic]

"Beast Machines" pretty much looked to be playing from an Eastern Religion angle though.

The key thing here is that Ironhide's return is unusual.

Dom
-just finished "Exodus" last night.

[andersonh1]

Ironhide #4

It’s interesting to look back at my review for the first issue and review my speculation about just how Ironhide had been returned to life. I’m glad to see that none of the standard sci-fi avenues for resurrection were correct, and indeed that this isn’t actually a resurrection at all in the standard sense of the word. It’s more like buying a new computer and installing an older operating system on it, or something to that effect. Ironhide’s comeback is something uniquely possible because the Transformers are mechanical life forms.

So, issue four. Ironhide goes out to kill every remaining member of the Swarm on Cybertron, all by himself. I have to admit that I still have something of a problem with this, given how much trouble a whole squad of Autobots had with them back in “All Hail Megatron”. I could come up with a couple of explanations, such as Ironhide’s new body being a lot tougher than the standard Autobot body, or that he’s fully charged by Alpha Trion’s battery pack, while the Autobots stranded on Cybertron were operating on low power. It still seems unlikely that one bot could prevail where fifteen or twenty really thought they were going to be overwhelmed.

And I didn’t exactly get the other shoe that I thought would drop. I was half-convinced that Alpha Trion had some hidden scheme in place, and the cover where Ironhide has obviously attacked Alpha Trion briefly convinced me that I was right. But I wasn’t… Alpha Trion was absolutely on the level and serious about wanting Ironhide to take out the Swarm single-handed. I’ve explained why I thought this was unlikely, but apparently Alpha Trion is just crazy enough to think such a plan is viable. And to be fair, he was right. It did work.

But that aside, its fun watching Ironhide smash the mutant Insecticons and watch purple goo go everywhere. It’s really fun when he finds the wrecked Wreckers spaceship from AHM and turns the batteries on the Swarm quite enthusiastically. And then he takes out presumably hundreds of them by self-destructing the ship. Also fun is Ironhide’s indignation when Metroplex stomps the remaining Swarm into pulp. “Why didn’t you just do that to start with?” AT’s explanation for why he didn’t makes sense. And his explanation for how he knew to bring Ironhide back is hilarious.

Several things in this storyline exist not only to service the story, but also to tie up some loose ends from “All Hail Megatron”. The Wreckers’ spaceship is one such loose end, the Swarm is another, and obviously Sunstreaker’s return would be a big one. But there’s a final revelation that really solves a major problem with “All Hail Megatron”. The radiation present on the planet during “Stormbringer” was lethal after prolonged exposure, but it’s just about gone by the time the Autobots are stranded, despite Jetfire predicting that it would take hundreds of years for the planet to repair itself. It turns out that Alpha Trion is responsible for cleaning up the atmosphere, and that his planetary recovery project has been going on for some time, long before he brought Ironhide into the picture. It’s a retcon, but one that ties up a big plot hole, so I’m glad to see it. Good for Mike Costa, who’s clearly read Furman and McCarthy’s storylines and has made the attempt to adhere to past continuity, and to use that continuity to tell new stories.

Overall: I’ve enjoyed this series far more than I thought I would four months ago. I had assumed it was going to be a flashback storyline since Ironhide was killed in ongoing #1. Instead we’ve gotten an Ironhide that’s missing 4 million years of memories, mad genius Alpha Trion, and the restoration of Sunstreaker. This has been an excellent little series.

[Onslaught Six]

Where the hell's the Magnificence?