The Sacrificers #6: Remender doesn't give us happy endings almost as a rule, but fuck me if he doesn't at least give us one to conclude this arc.
First things first, Soluna is alive but wizened. The Foreman gloats over successfully luring her into his lair and tells her that free will is an illusion. In the most Remender way possible, the Foreman gets his comeuppance when Pigeon bursts from the pipes and the elixir the Foreman created from Soluna's essence falls on him. Pigeon helps Soluna to her feet as an enraged Foreman attacks him. The pair tries to flee but falls through a trap outside the castle. Pigeon opens his eyes to find Noom's skull and whispers to himself that she was his only friend. He then hears a horn, which we see the Foreman's assistant blowing to send out the "Husks." (This entire sequence is spectacular, not just because of Fiurama's amazing art but also due to Remender's propulsive script.)
Meanwhile, Rokus visits Luna on the Moon, where we see many versions of her arguing over which one gets to face the world. Rokos tells Luna that their fighting is harming their daughter and reminds her that it was never his choice to separate. Luna tells him that she will not participate in "this abomination." Rokos screams at Luna that she participated in the ceremony for eons without a problem, and she tells him that she's simply acting on what they all know — it's time to turn over power to the next generation. (Man, this theme is relevant this month!)
Rokos says that the next generation isn't ready and rages when Luna criticizes what he's doing to his own people, since he believes that he's serving their every need. He attacks her, and, when her other selves try to defend her, he destroys them. He demands that she return with him to the palace, drink the elixir, and raise their daughter, but she tells him that she won't become something she hates to survive. In a true Remember moment, Rokos kills her, saying that she will never eclipse him again. I mean, wow. I think I stopped breathing at some point here it was so intense.
In a tangled forest of vines, Pigeon tries to carry Soluna but can't. They fall into a poisonous bog, and Soluna says that she won't run — she's going to wait for Luna to save her. When Pigeons asks why Luna would do that, she tells him that Luna is her mother. Pigeon is stunned that she's "one of them" while Soluna rails at the moon, which turns to face her and then disappears.
The Husks arrive and attack, and Pigeon tells Soluna to stand. She says that she no longer has a reason to do so, and Pigeon uses newfound powers to rip the Husks to shreds. While he marvels at what he did, Soluna attacks him, realizing that he has her powers. She demands that he return her powers or she'll do...something, but Pigeon hurls her to the ground before she can finish that threat. In a spectacular moment, he looks on her with a face full of determination and strength (thanks to Fiurama) and tells her that she'll do nothing.
Telling Pigeon that she's lost everything, Soluna demands he help her. He tells her that people helped her for her entire life and the only way to help her now is to leave her on her own. She pledges her family will reward him, and he tells her that her family murdered his best friend so he's going to reward them.
Ha! Again, I worry for Pigeon, but right now? I'm going to gloat in the comeuppance that he's set to bring.
Star Wars #42: This issue is interesting for a number reasons, in no small part because it really delves into Jedi lore. But Soule goes further, as Gretta's feelings for Luke become clear in a way that we usually don't see in "Star Wars."
The issue begins with Luke tracking down Gretta, revealing that Artoo ("Star Wars'" true hero) tracked her telemetry after they last met and they've been visiting her potential destinations since the Scourge's threat ended. Luke tells Gretta that he wants to enter the red khyber crystal again so that he can get more experience confronting Sith, since he knows that he'll have to face the Sith one day.
Barging into the room, Gretta's Auntie Feez tells Luke that she's Force-sensitive but didn't become a Jedi because it's a path for obsessives. (She isn't wrong.) Feez tells Luke that she taught Gretta everything she knew about the ritual they tried last time but hasn't told her everything she knows. (She never really addresses why she didn't, which seems selfish given the fact the Fallanassi are virtually extinct.) Feez agrees to help Luke, given he helped Gretta. Luke exposits that he feels like if he can cure the crystal, he can bring a Sith back to the light as well. (Aha!)
Feez explains that 1) each crystal is unique because each Sith's pain is unique and 2) pain tends to pull in everyone around it so it's possible to get lost in the crystal. To bring the crystal to the light again, Luke will have to travel through the owner's memories, which are embedded in the crystal. Luke leaves, and Feez teases Gretta about how Luke is only interested in the Force, unlike most boys his age. Feez is worried about breaking the law and helping a Jedi, but she agrees with Gretta's assessment that Luke seems lonely and has kind eyes.
At a ritual that night, Feez guides Luke into the crystal, where he once again encounters the Sith that he first saw. The Sith's guards make quick work of him and throw Luke in the dungeon. The Sith expresses surprise, though, that Luke is clean and has a lightsaber, explaining that the last Jedi in his (I think) court was a jester until he committed suicide. The Sith then expresses skepticism that a Jedi could "heal" him since they couldn't even save themselves.
In other words, this period isn't great for a Jedi, which is definitely intriguing. Soule seems ready to tell a story that he really wants to tell, so I'm here for it.
Transformers #4: Ho boy.
With Starscream in hot pursuit, Optimus radioes Ratchet to tell him that he's taken major damage and Spike is hurt. Ratchet apologizes to Wheeljack's prone form, telling him that they need firepower. In a fantastic sequence, Starscream lands in front of Optimus and hovers over him menacingly. Johnson then changes the perspective to Carly, as she sees Starscream through Cliffjumper's windshield. Carly tells Cliffjumper to, "Get his ass.", and Cliffjumper rams Starscream, throwing him to the ground. Optimus then takes the chance to drive over him. Ha! Starscream calls Soundwave for backup as Optimus and Cliffjumper speed away.
The team arrives at the hospital, and Sparky runs to the awaiting doctors carrying Spike. Laserbeak arrives, and Cliffjumper and Optimus cover the hospital staff as Laserbeak opens fire. Rumble takes down Cliffjumper as Soundwave arrives in all his glory, with a kick to Optimus' face. Starscream arrives and tells Soundwave to halt, noting, with joy in his voice, the hospital is where they "fix the squishy ones." He rants that he can't believe Optimus would bring the "ants" to "get repaired." To exacerbate Optimus' suffering, Starscream opens fire on the hospital, taking out the generator and delaying Spike's surgery.
Soundwave warns Starscream they've got incoming Autobots, and Cliffjumper gives us his best, "All right!!!" as Jazz speeds at the Decepticons. Jazz transforms and launches a rocket at Stascream's head and then slides under Soundwave. Regrouping, the four Autobots face the four Decepticons, who flee.
In yet another amazing scene, Optimus later watches Spike's prone form from a hole in the hospital's ceiling, and we learn that, without power, the doctors can't keep Spike, or several other patients, alive. Sparky cries over his "beautiful boy," which hit the dad in me in the feels. It also hit Optimus in the feels, since he opens his chasis and uses the Matrix to power the hospital. Ratchet tries to stop him, but Optimus says, "No more death[,] even if it comes at a price." One of the nurses says "Oh, thank God," and one of the doctors replies, "Not God...thank...metal?"
At the Ark, Soundwave criticizes Starscream for his lack of a plan and focus only on destruction. Starscream demands repairs, but Soundwave notes that the materials they need only exist in Cybertronian technology. He and Starscream then look at a still-wounded Skywarp who screams, "What are you doing? Brothers?", as they rip him to shreds. (It's interesting he calls them 'brothers," a term of endearment I wouldn't associate with Decepticons."
At the hospital, Sparky tells Spike's comatose body that, after the war, he moved him and his brother to Farmington so he could protect them from where he was raised, another reminder of how grim Sparky's life sounds like it was. He tells Spike that he couldn't see the good in the world after the war and his brother's death. He says his depression (though he doesn't call it that) is like a sickness that spreads to the ones he loves the most and contemplates how he doesn't have Spike there to remind him of the good.
From the courtyard, he overhears a young patient on an IV ask Optimus to transform, which he does, delighting the boy. Sparky asks Optimus if he saved Spike and, if he did, could he do it again as Spike is in a coma. Optimus explains that the Matrix is now empty so what happens now "is up to the Great Spark."
In the hospital, Ratchet tells Optimus he's fixed the generator and then reminds him that they need him. He knows the Matrix, when empty, drains its host, and he's worried Optimus chose to save Spike instead of fix himself. Optimus calls the humans innocent, and Ratchet disagrees, noting they're prone to destruction, as they're the ones who shot Spike. Optimus comments, "Just like us."
Jazz collapses, and Ratchet explains that he pooled all their energon to get him going. Ratchet makes the point that they all die if Optimus dies and then they won't be there to protect the humans from the Decepticons. (Fair enough, Ratchet.) Ratchet suggests they use something in Optimus' trailer to even the score, as they're the last of their kind, "fighting for survival." Optimus balks and, before we see what it is, Sparky arrives, telling them that he has an idea about their energy problem.
Inside Carly's broken house, Cliffjumper attempts to console her, telling her that Starscream killed his clan and he joined the war the next day. Carly cries and asks Cliffjumper if the feeling ever stops, and he simply comments, "Oh, Carly." It's an incredibly moving moment, an example of why this series is so engaging. At this point, Optimus arrives, with Megatron's cannon (clearly the item in his trailer) on his arm, asking them if they're ready to go on the offensive. Fuck, yes!
Meanwhile, Starscream drags Decepticon bodies that he's raided to a pile, gloating that he's the Deception leader, "Today! Tomorrow! Forever!" Putting some doubt on that, we end with a panel of Megatron on ice somewhere else.
In other words, man, I love this series.
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