Much like Palpatine in the Clone Wars, Megatron actually controls both the Ascenticons and the Rise. The attack on him was just a False Flag Operation used to justify him building up an army. When the other Ascenticons find out about this, Megatron and his supporters will be branded deceivers or Decepticons. Megatron and his Decepticons then attack the remaining Ascenticons and that's how the Great War gets started.
- Sort of confirmed, this is how Megatron want's things, with the Rise's leader, Shockwave, working for Megatron, who smuggled him back to Cybertron, but Shockwave appears to have his own agenda, certainly Brainstorm and Rubble's murders were not part of Megatron's plan.
- Jossed, Optimus retains the Leader Class Figure design after becoming a Prime.
- Seems possible, while it's not an outright declaration that the war will begin, but the November solicitations state that issue 15 will see the Rise and Ascenticons be replaced with the Decepticons, so...
- Jossed, as of issue 15 the war hasn't begun and issue 15 was pushed back to new years day.
- Turns out it started right at the END of 2020. So close.
- It's been pretty common to make Sentinel Prime a bad guy in the last decade (or at least corrupt and incompetent/somewhat amoral), but this time it could go back to his original characterization of a benevolent peacetime leader who is simply ill-suited for leading a war effort.
- What original characterisation? Megatron Origin was his first prominent appearance in any media and he was still pretty bad there.
- I think it more refers to the idea that, back before anything pre Optimus was really established, the previous Prime was a decent guy. Perhaps a better term than the original poster saying Original Characterization more invoke Not His Sled and have him not turn out to be a bad guy.
- Confirmed... sort of. He's not evil, but he is corrupt, and his hubris inflames the conflict. He does prove to be relatively heroic in his final moments, though.
- What original characterisation? Megatron Origin was his first prominent appearance in any media and he was still pretty bad there.
- Original poster: It may be Jossed, while there is no confirmation it is possible that, going off their interaction in Issue 10 Cyclonus is Froid's forbidden patient,and their relationship doesn't fit this theory if it is right.
- Looks like his forbidden patient was Pyra Magna, and the only reason he can't speak with her anymore is because, well, it just wasn't working.
- Jossed: Cybertron's depiction is so radically different (Transformers don't even reproduce the same way they did in the previous series) that it can't just be the result of a time-traveling Springer instituting social reform.
- Cyclonus is probably half-right: Something out in deep space corrupted Exarchon (Unicron? The Fallen? Liege Maximo?), and they're still out there... and probably far worse than him or Megatron put together.
- When Orion ventured into the Matrix, his guide made a point of saying Exarchon "had yet to come home", so...
- Issue 32 suggests that the Cybertron ruled by Exarchon that Jumpstream found herself on is not an alternate universe but the future...
- Issue 36 indeed confirms this as it's revealed that he survived in Provoke's body.
- It's probably more likely that Megatron has been "Indoctrinated" by Exarchon and doesn't know it.
- I imagine we'll get Unicron eventually, but IDW1 didn't really get to do much with the Reapers (due to Simon Furman's plans being scrapped) or the Elder Gods (because there brought up so close to reboot time) so maybe this might be their shot at the limelight. Or the writers might be looking at someone like, say, Violenjiger from the Japanese Continuity, and see him as obscure enough that they could do whatever they want with him (that reasoning made Overlord the villain of Last Stand of the Wreckers).
- A possible clue is the title of the current arc of the book; "The Lord of Misrule." Now while this title has so far, in universe, been applied to Skywarp he is tied to Exarchon in this continuity, not to mention that the arc includes a hop into a potential future where Exarchon rules Cybertron. Misrule is a synonym of chaos, and one of Unicron's most well known nicknames? The Chaos Bringer.
- In Darkness, Once Gazed Upon: Part One in a flashback it is revealed Exarchon's spark was modified to be an infectious agent capable of taking over others, and was given weapons and technology to wage war to the entirety of Cybertron, taking into consideration other continuities, Unicron is capable of corrupting and altering sparks and even providing technology and weapons forged in his bowels, on another note in the previous IDW continuity one of Unicron's many titles was "The Enemy of Cybertron".
- Probably Jossed, War's End #2 sees Exarchon credit the "Quintessence" as being responsible for his transformation, and a flashback shows him restrained in tentacles. While it could be a Bait-and-Switch, this would imply that the Quintessons are the ones responsible for Exarchon.
Therefore it is possible that, when the time comes that the Ark comes in to the narrative either will either immediately be revealed as a Titan or will later be revealed as a Titan at a crucial moment, possibly either Autonomous Maximus, aka The Last Autobot, who some say the Titan in the Kingdom artwork resemble, or Omega Supreme, who turned into the spaceship used by the main group of Autobots in Transformers: Animated, in which he did spend time sticking out of a mountain, not unlike the Ark.
If so then it is possible that, like his aligned counterpart, the Nemesis would be revealed to be the alternate mode of Trypticon.
Joining her will be her fortress who, already shown to be intelligent, will gain true sentience either through Termagax's upgrades or other means and make a body and name for itself: Scourge. Her house has already shown it's able to produce drones of incredible likeliness to Cybertronians; they will turn this into a Sweeps factory.
Cyclonus will tag alone wanting revenge on the Rise, and by extension the Decepticons, for the destruction of the Memorial Crater and won't ally with the Autobots because they released Pyra Magna from prison. He and Termagax may have history during the War of the Threefold Spark that could be explored.
No doubt when he's encountered again, having to resort to cannibalizing parts of his Ark (and probably his citizens) will probably have driven Straxxus insane. I mean, using a smelting pool to melt Transformers down to build new ones is something the original Straxus did, and it's a good way to make use of limited resources...
This could start a theme of Jumpstream going to the future, finding a bad future courtesy of Decepticons or other factors and then returning in an attempt to prevent said future from happening. This could happen any number of times but the last time it happens will be on a down note. Jumpstream will jump and find a desolate Cybertron ruined by war like most continuities before the exodus to Earth. The 'bots will try as hard as they can but will eventually accept that this is one bad future they cannot avert.