Set Description:
The Transformers was an ongoing series published by IDW Publishing, set in the main IDW continuity three years after the events of the All Hail Megatron miniseries.
Published monthly from November 2009, it went bi-weekly from July 2011 until December 2011, alternating between two stories as part of the series-ending "Chaos" event. After that wrapped up in issue #31, a one-shot (initially solicited as issue #125) entitled The Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime was published, and then the title was replaced by two new monthly ongoings,Robots in Disguise and More than Meets the Eye.
Three years after the defeat of the Decepticons, the Autobots remain stranded on Earth low on energon and hounded by Skywatch. After a rescue raid led by Hot Rod results in Ironhide’s death, Optimus Prime gives up his position as leader and surrenders to Skywatch, causing a schism between the Autobots, who split into two groups: one led by Hot Rod, who, taking the name "Rodimus", joins forces with a group of Decepticons fronted by Swindle in an effort to build a ship and leave the planet, and a second who elect Bumblebee as their new leader, and are soon joined by Ultra Magnus, who determines to arrest Rodimus for treason. In the battle that follows, Swindle betrays Rodimus and reveals his new creation, Menasor, but the day is saved thanks to Skywatch, with whom Optimus Prime has brokered an alliance, and some timely side-switching from the disillusioned Thundercracker. The disgraced Rodimus flees Earth alone, and the Autobots rally under Bumblebee.
Working with Skywatch, the Autobots begin helping them deal with Transformer-related crises around Earth, finding themselves caught between the Combaticons, allied with North Korea, and the Predacons, working for China. Disenchanted Skywatch operative Sandra broadcasts footage of his battle to the world, exposing Skywatch's secret alliance with the Autobots; when Bumblebee tries to hold a press conference in response, he is grievously injured by a human agent of anti-Transformer movement Earth’s Children, wielding Cybertronian weaponry surreptitiously supplied by the Decepticons. This heralds the return of the rebuilt Megatron, who launches a devastating attack on Skywatch and the Autobots but is eventually defeated by Optimus Prime and surrenders to his custody.
Meanwhile, on his sojourn in space, Rodimus manages to recover the Matrix of Leadership from Starscream. Gathering allies Wheelie and Garnak on the planet LV-117 and then heading to Cybertron itself, where he adds Sunstreaker and a resurrected Ironhide to his team, Rodimus discovers that Galvatron has returned with an army and is planning something on the Transformers' home world. Rodimus returns to Earth to pass on this news, and most of the Autobots then join Optimus Prime in taking off for Cybertron aboard Omega Supreme, with Megatron as their prisoner, to stop Galvatron's scheme.
A small contingent of Autobots remains behind on Earth to investigate allegations that Skywatch head Spike Witwicky illegally executed Scrapper, discovering that his crimes go far deeper, and that he has been trading weapons technology with Swindle. Spike goes on the run, and Jazz, already compromised after killing a human in the heat of battle, dissolves the Autobots' alliance with Skywatch.
Prime's Autobots arrive on Cybertron and engage both Galvatron's forces and the Decepticons who have followed them there, but when they are merged into the monstrous "Deceptigod” by the power of Galvatron's dark master, D-Void, Megatron joins the fight and triumphs over the hellish avatar. Galvatron, meanwhile, ventures into the planet's depths, intending to use the Heart of Darkness with Vector Sigma to open a portal to the Dead Universe and release D-Void, but is stopped by Optimus Prime, who opens the Matrix and drains its energies to stop the creature's entry into the living universe. The interaction of the Matrix and Vector Sigma, however, prompts an incredible transformation for Cybertron itself...
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