#blueike

In the Japanese version of events, while mentioned in a prior guidebook, ES is considered a splinter alternate timeline to the G1 cartoon, simply due to the cartoon using the 80’s cartoon visuals for a flashback.

In story, the explanation is quite literally …

-pause for effect-

G1 Alpha Trion writing fan fiction in the Covenant of Primus.

No, I’m not being cute.

It is indeed a Fionna & Cake situation.

As for the continuation itself, that part is weird overall.

Most of it has to do with the cancelled Hasbro releases of Cosmos and Soundwave being released in Takara markets instead under the New Legends collector aimed toy line. This has happened before where several Transformers Animated toys were only released in Takara markets such as Blackout.

In story, the conflict takes place after the end of EarthSpark in American markets, as EarthSpark only lasted one season before it was cancelled.

G1 Unicron & the Sweeps (at least the G1 Legacy/Studio Series versions cuz To Sell Toys naturally) arrive and make a bargain: The Maltos either get permanently cancelled or they’re left alone if Optimus surrenders his Matrix.

Optimus surrenders his Matrix, and Unicron backs off.

Because there’s not a fully reliable translation atm, I’m not super sure what’s going on here with Soundwave.

But Soundwave has traveled to the dying G1 Universe to acquire his prototypical self from Sideways and Noisemaze, both are back working for Unicron and have a stake in the comic’s affairs. Noisemaze had a radio in the anime that was visually G1 Soundwave as an Easter Egg, but like many things in the Legends series, it turns out he actually had the OG Soundwave enslaved for some reason.

Meanwhile, ES Optimus began to travel the multiverse after this, having upgraded into Star Convoy (or rather Star Optimus Prime for brand synergy reasons and because the Stars are considered separate characters for some reason), having reformatted using the Zodiac (from Transformers Zone) which apparently exists in EarthSpark World.

The ES writers are either happy to see the story sorta continues or are having a meltdown over the super robot stuff being re-integrated into Transformers, indeed ES Optimus getting a Super Mode and its Star Convoy of all things would be something the staff would’ve shut down or screwed up if forced to use it (like the already clunky Combiner toys included in the ES toy line).

To make it more Japanese shonen to their potential disgust: ES Optimus gets in a Kaiju fight with his counterpart controlled by Energon Shockblast: Dark Star Optimus Prime.

Because Dark Nova Prime or Nova Nemesis Prime couldn’t be trademarked I s’pose.

Anyhoo, in context, the Nemesis Prime version of Star Convoy is the corrupted version of the corpse of G1 Optimus Prime, who was buried on GF Velocitron after helping create it in ancient times.

Isn’t Japanese media a kick?

Alan Tudyk Prime defeats his dark progenitor, but there’s still a problem. The prototypical Prime is still filled with Unicron’s essence, and until they can use the Matrix to purify him they can’t get too close unless they get Unicron’d too. …And because Alan Tudyk surrendered his Matrix, there’s nothing they can do right now.

…Why a version of Unicron wanted the Matrix when it’s toxic to him isn’t clear yet, but it might feed into the overall story of the manga, where aspects of Unicron are beginning to revive.

Dark Amber Lio Convoy, reborn from an Angolmois Energy infused corpse of BWII Lio Convoy from the then dying Planet Gaia/Earth (don’t worry Earth is restored thanks to Amber) was the first major kick off and that was somewhat of a fluke.

The instigator of this Unicronian plot is none other than Liege Maximo, specifically the Age of the Primes G2 based design. His goal is to collect Unicronian essence and use it to Transform the dying G1 Universe into a new Unicron that will feed on other Transformers universes to restore their reality for infinity.

Because of the similarities to IDW Dark Cybertron and EarthSpark Liege’s own scheme, some have wondered if New Legends Liege and ES Liege are the same character, and he’s merely trying his plan again on a more ambitious scale.

That or all Liege Maximos think alike, who’s to say.

Most of the fallout of ES getting a small boost is people largely being stunned it’s back at all considering how much of a flop it was in media and toy sales, and of course, has reignited discussions of gender identity among Cybertronians.

Most of the topic is people wondering how Skywarp became a woman if this is an alternate timeline to G1, taking things a bit too literally when even in show, there’s a lot of continuity snarls that don’t really add up between the two anyway.

Surprise Ultra Magnus reveal.

A rather large leap from his past selves, this Magnus turns into a space jet similar to Energon Wing Saber.

His Robot Mode meanwhile seems to borrow as lot from TFP Magnus.

No word on if he’s actually a tiny green dude in a mech suit, tho given the surprise mnemonosurgey return in CyberWorld through Airachnid, a throwaway line in show could imply this Magnus used to be Minimus before undergoing the Magnus upgrade similar to Skybound’s Arcee Magnus.

Considering CyberWorld’s own take on repaints as recent as Pirate Optimus, I wonder who else we might get in this body.

In sales news, I’m sure there’s a better site to keep track of this sorta thing, but going by how many loud fandom complain about certain toys clogging shelves there must not be, BUT the good news?

CyberWorld is selling.

While it appears to struggle in brick & mortar stores like Walmart, so much so that inspire of a current Walmart collaboration, a lot of Walmarts my way largely don’t carry it as of typing, the series is doing great on Amazon.

Grimlock is a best seller, which is interesting since he’s something of a Walmart shelfwarmer like his giant Cyberverse counterpart was my way for a few years.

Scorponok does pretty decently too on Amazon, and reviews of him are pretty positive from collectors and parents getting him for their kids.

The notable dud is, funnily enough, Elita. After the main TFONE line largely abandoned her, and other past attempts didn’t appear to sell, it seems Elita’s resurgence as a main character doesn’t translate into toy sales.

Now before anyone grouses about girl bots not selling: the updated Energon Surge Airachnid sold out on Amazon.

The toy line just came out today, that’s what makes it scarily impressive.

The series is doing something right, and sells great on Amazon, so perhaps more than ever we might have to turn to Amazon as a means to see if something is selling.

I don’t think many of us really take online stores into account, so whether Cyberverse and EarthSpark did better in their eras on Amazon I don’t think we’ll properly know, but there’s probably some data left to indicate that.

So if Elita wants to sell, Msybe they need to give her an upgrade for Energon Surge. Into what I dunno. Part of the fun is the unexpected forms they throw at us, like Ultra Magnus as a space plane and Shockwave as a Spinosaurus, so anything other than a boat might help.

As for the show, a Q&A was posted with the series creator that suggests what we can expect.

The stand out observations:

OpLita is canon (which is funny because of the ga ga eyes Elita had at Jackie and the elder brother/middle sister vibe Prime & Elita have in show, but it’s a refreshing change after Elita is too much of a bi…g meanie who don’t need no man in some recent media).

They remark they have roughly five seasons of material (this doesn’t mean it’s going to run that long, but how much longer they can keep things going when some have pointed out the story structure can’t really support its current form before people start to abandon the show for not going anywhere.)

Masterforce is brought up in a positive manner. (How a human led series fits in a series devoid of humans works I’m not sure, though they could make a GOD FIRE GUTS reference somewhere with Optimus I suppose. The more plausible option, if Masterforce is to be taken as an inspiration, is the final antagonist is a third party creature that’s not a Transformer, but takes on the body of one ala Devil Z controlling BlackZarak (Scorponok). So ergo, a living computer virus like Devil Z? CyberWorld is a Digital World of sorts, and Cybertronians ARE robots, so a computer virus trying to take out the Transformers makes sense.)

The second season may not include all characters in the toy line, but may cameo or are referenced in some capacity.

So this one stood out.

It’s rare for a Transformers cartoon to include every single toy in the main like for one reason or another. The anime series released in the west are a unique case of including extra toys to meet demand in Hasbro markets that weren’t part of the original Japanese line. So RiD01 sticks out by including additional Autobots, Decepticons and Predacons in the Hasbro line from left over Beast Machines and Beast Wars. Armada did something similar, but funny enough Rhinox did cameo in the final episode, so ergo circling back to what CyberWorld might try.

The question then becomes who will appear in show next.

Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Hound, Jazz, Spinosaur Shockwave, Squid Soundwave, Ratchet, Lockdown, Ultra Magnus, Scourge, Boat Mirage, Pirate Optimus, Drill Megatron are who we know is coming to the toy line so far.

Optimus Primal was confirmed in the season finale, complete with OG Maximal symbol instead of that awful Autobot hybrid logo they keep trying to push. People claim to have seen Shockwave in a flashback, and the Q&A seemed to both confirm Ratchet will be in and will be female. Soundwave was shown prominently in early Surge marketing. The series has been pretty good at including the toys, but the only toy not included is so far the G2 Megatron retool of Bayformers Hound.

So thus far what we have left is Magnus, Lockdown, Hound, Cheetor, Jazz & Rescan figures, and in show, the ice level was unlocked so Jazz and Hound both have a shot at appearing to represent it.

The rescans are trickier because only Optimus and Bumblebee took advantage of this. That does mean pirate Optimus might appear, but they’ve also been weird about showing a devoted water level. Soundwave’s squid mode implies they might finally do so, but whether Scourge appears is another matter. He works for Soundwave maybe, or if he’s a third part like the Beast Wars II Seacons, maybe his pirate crew consists of Sky-Byte with a renewed purpose, Chop Shop (who did survive getting squished accidentally but is constantly sea sick as a running gag), Mirage (who might be there against his will or is only around to get treasure, this allows him to have his boat mode, perhaps as another gag where Scourge wanted a certain uniformity in his crew that he let slide for Chop Shop) & Msybe Lockdown. We still don’t know, as of typing, what Lockdown’s situation is, but if you’re going to shake up the status quo, making Lockdown a pirate makes just as much sense. He even has his own hook hand!

… He’s gonna be a retool of Sky-Byte, isn’t he. It’s honestly not a bad fit, doubly so if he’s retooled into a hammerhead shark.

An upgraded Nightshade concept that pushes the Brigadoon mech design further, with their Beast Mode modified into an owl bear gargoyle to reference the original concept art.

A two pack of Optimus & Mirage who in context are Re-Scans (or is that Reskins considering game world) for the aquatic level.

Optimus is a retool of Scourge.

And assuming he had the same general accessories, instead of a cutlass he has an axe. The one toy to give him an axe and it’s a two pack that’s probably going to be impossible to find in certain areas, go figure.

Mirage is more curious as he’s a retooled Elita, but with a head that’s based more directly on IDW Riptide. I’ve seen TFW2K5 happy about a technical Riptide toy, but I have NEVER seen anyone actually like Riptide either So it might be another overestimating popularity thing again.

It also works as a double reference, calling back to Energon Mirage, which is even funnier considering the new Energon Surge branding.

This does answer a potential question about how the main cast might navigate the cyber seas, but it might also just be a toy only oddity like the G2 Megatron.

It also begs the question how the others would navigate the seas if they don’t have aquatic modes in toy form. I think Bumblebee’s new toy is meant to be semi aquatic so that might help to ferry some guys if necessary.

Commish for @DigimonTamer93 featuring his Digimon Frontier designs~!

There's a pure forms like with Loewemon and Duskmon, but for this, I focused on the concept art for the corrupt forms.

The Human Spirit is Reapermorimon.

The Beast Spirit is Limosmon. The Fusion Evolved form is ReaperLimosmon.