Chaos Part Four: Genesis

In the skies above Cybertron, Arcee and Hardhead try to explain current events to the Kimia Facility refugees. Thanks to Galvatron hacking his mind, which allowed him to do the same in reverse, Hardhead is able to lay an info dump and explain that Galvatron has been raising his armies and wielding the Heart of Darkness to try and stop the D-Void emerging into the universe, but the Heart is the D-Void, conning Galvatron into turning the dead world of Cybertron into a Dead Universe portal so the D-Void can make everyone dead. Swerve heroically simplifies the situation to "stop bad guys, save universe".

Down on Cybertron, everything is up the creek: the titanic D-Void avatar composed of the Decepticons' bodies is tearing through the ruins, and only Megatron stands against it while the Autobots flee for their lives. Deep under the surface, Drift is bleeding out while Rodimus and Optimus Prime are aware, thanks to the Matrix, that Galvatron's going to doom them all. To Ironhide's dismay, he's being sent back to the surface to get help for Drift, rather than guard Optimus.

Despite horrific wounds, Megatron refuses to give in and blasts the D-Void's avatar to bits; deep underground, Galvatron feels the pain and can't work out why. As he reels, the Primes arrive to stop him before he can release the Heart... except he already has done so. Up in space, the Kimia shuttle's readouts tell it Cybertron is no longer there and navigation is impossible; Arcee, zen-like, points out you can see the planet because it's a planet. Unfortunately, the planet is being ripped apart by storms and the crew are forced to bail out for cover, while the Decepticons on the surface crumble to rust... And below, Galvatron bellows that he's won...

And then the shuttle crashes on him. ("Did we get him?", asks Hardhead.)

The Primes have an opening but the D-Void is coming through, consuming Vector Sigma as it does. Rodimus realizes that the only way to stop it is, of course, the Matrix. Optimus Prime is against the idea, as with Sigma and Cybertron both lost, it's the only part of their heritage left; Rodimus argues that he just knows the Matrix can save them, but Prime remains doubtful. Those doubts allow Galvatron to shoot him in the back. He snarls that he is going to unite their race as their new leader, that there's no secret allies left to ambush him—and then Cyclonus rams him, enraged by what he's been made to do to the planet he loved. Galvatron swats him aside but, as he dissolves, realizes his failure to see the true forces at work.

Optimus Prime realizes he must use the Matrix after all, and opens it to the light the darkest hour...

And a long time after, when the glow fades and night has calmed, Optimus Prime remains kneeling in the new crater, the hollow halves of the Matrix at his feet.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots

Decepticons

Others

Arcee (1)
Hardhead (2)
Rung (3)
? (4)
Rewind (5)
Slamdance (6)
Chromedome (7)
Brainstorm (8)
Swerve (9)
Sureshot (10)
Jackpot (11)

Mainframe (12)
Rad (13)
Crosshairs (14)
Silverstreak (15)
Wheelie (16)
Sideswipe (17)
Cliffjumper (18)
Rodimus (22)
Optimus Prime (23)
Ironhide (24)
Drift (25)

Megatron (20)

Quotes

"We've made it sound more complicated than it is."

—Hardhead, master of plot summaries

"No, Ironhide. You're going to make it through this time, no matter what. Prime and I need to finish this. You save lives. Save this one more."

—Rodimus

"Muster your parts - my own soldiers - for the final sortie. I can feel you in my head, trying to master my will. But I will not yield. I will not be conquered. I will not be defied.
I
AM
MEGATRON!"

—You know who, staring down the Deceptigod

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"

—You plonker, Galvatron

Notes

Continuity notes

Step 1: Fight D-Void!
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Profit!!

Though it isn't drawn attention to, Swerve sports a riveted metal patch on his shoulder where his Autobot symbol was on his Generation 1 toy. This would end up being significant years down the line.
When last seen, Hardhead was still fighting alongside Galvatron, helping him defeat Nova Prime/D-Void. It's untold at which point exactly Hardhead saw through Galvatron's delusion and ditched him to rejoin Arcee.
This issue reveals that Galvatron's battle to defeat the D-Void, i.e. everything involving him since Infestation, has actually been a plan of manipulation on the D-Void's part to kill everything. The D-Void is one clever spawn of a glitch.
As in "Chaos Theory Part 2", Rodimus seems to be more in-tune with the Matrix than Optimus.
Cyclonus was first established as a Cybertronian patriot in his spotlight.
The finale in the Vector Sigma chamber would have a marked effect on nearly everyone present:
- Optimus Prime was transported three weeks into the future, as confirmed in The Death of Optimus Prime.
- Galvatron was transported back into the Dead Universe, as revealed in the Dark Cybertron saga.
- Cyclonus's spark was supercharged with energy, like that of a newborn, sowing the seeds for a future plot in More Than Meets The Eye #21.
- Ironhide received a vision of the future, Pax Cybertronia, as depicted next issue.
- Drift also received a vision, as referenced in More than Meets the Eye #21, although his was more abstract than Ironhide's.

Real-world references

Just like the previous issues in the story, Part Four is named after a book of the Bible.

Errors

On page 11, "Darkness" is misspelled "Darkenss".
Optimus says Vector Sigma will be consumed in a "manner" of minutes. He means "matter".

Trivia

The Matrix has been completely spent. (Mike Costa thinks the image of an empty Matrix was James Roberts's idea.)^[1]
The opening two pages, where Arcee and Hardhead explain the plot, are a loving fourth-wall-bending admission that, yeah, there's a need for some heavy exposition: Brainstorm asking it to be gone through again, characters calling it an "info dump", Hardhead trying to claim it's not as complicated as he made it sound and then admitting it is, Swerve trying to understand the plot and finally summing it up as "stop Galvatron, stop D-Void, universe saved"...

Foreign Localizations

Swedish

Title: "Kaos Del 4: Skapelse" ("Chaos Part 4: Creation")
Like with Part Two, the translated title breaks against the Biblical theme naming, with the Swedish name for the Book of Genesis being "Genesis".

Covers (3)

Cover A: Optimus Prime; art by Livio Ramondelli
Cover B: Galvatron; art by Livio Ramondelli.
Cover RI: Black & white art of Megatron; art by Livio Ramondelli.

Light our darkest hour!
Light our... wait a sec!
Turn down the lights!

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Collections

The Transformers, Volume 7: Chaos (March 14, 2012) ISBN 1613771401 / ISBN 978-1613771402
- Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, plus B&W art sketches from Livio Ramondelli.
- Trade paperback format.

The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Eight (May 7, 2013) ISBN 1613776276 / ISBN 978-1613776278
- Collects Heart of Darkness issues #1–4, and The Transformers (2009) issues #19–31.
- Hardcover format.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 52: The Death of Optimus Prime (December 13, 2017)
- Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31, and The Death of Optimus Prime.
- Bonus content includes an interview with James Roberts on how he worked his way up to become an ongoing writer, character design sketches by Livio Ramondelli, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
- Hardcover format.

The Transformers: Chaos (October 31, 2018) ISBN 978-4-86491-400-0
- Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31.
- Japanese reprint. Trade paperback format.

Transformers: Kaos och skuggor (November, 2020)
- Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #22–24, #26, #28 & #30, The Death of Optimus Prime, and More than Meets the Eye issues #9–13.
- Swedish reprint. Hardcover format.

Volume 7: Chaos – cover art by Livio Ramondelli
The IDW Collection Volume Eight – cover art by E. J. Su
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 52: The Death of Optimus Prime – cover art by Don Figueroa (Prime) and Livio Ramondelli (retro)
Chaos – cover art by Nagi Miyako
Kaos och skuggor – cover art by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham