Ch By Ch> Transformers Exodus Chapters 12-14

When we ended our last session Orion Pax and Megatron were preparing to meet with the high council. Now since this is the same author who gave us the K-Mart promo comic for the game War For Cybertron, I’m expecting to see the exact same scene. Last time I didn’t like it. Will it be different here? Well, grab some hot Energon and if you have your copy follow along because this time it takes place over a number of the short chapters that makes this book up so I’m reviewing all of the together.

At the beginning of Chapter 12 there are a few more errors, unless the Combiners play a part in the game. In most continuities Combiners (you know, those robot teams that merge Voltron-style into a bigger robot) are the result of both sides trying to gain an edge in the war. Here he seems to have them already in existence which just seems off. What place to Combiners have in peace time? The Protectobots, for example, don’t need to merge into a giant robot to fulfill their duties to rescue or (based on how I view a successful caste system and my theory on alternate modes fitting function) tracking down criminals. They only need it to battle other giant robots so the normal sized (for Cybertronians–to us they’re all giant) robots don’t get glory stomped by something the size of a building.

The “Lightning Strike Coalition” is another Furman concept from the second War Within comic (previously reviewed), and was part of Autobots splitting into numerous sub-factions after Optimus Prime and Megatron disappeared. In other words, more name dropping only this time, like the Combiners and Minicons, used incorrectly with established multiversal continuities. It smack of the “Matrix of Leadership” in the second movie as it’s just there for the fanboys, and yet so misused as it actually annoys them. Granted, I don’t know what others reactions are as I haven’t read any fandom reviews of the book. I’ve been busy.

Otherwise, Irvine sets the stage for his story, going into how the Council thinks and operates, plus the design of the chamber, both in and out, as well as introducing us to Halogen, the moderator for these proceedings.

Where I hated the comic, it works somewhat better in the novel.

I do have to say that I like the speeches that Megatron and Orion give. They’re well thought out, from both a character and narrative perspective. I found Orion’s (the future Optimus Prime, remember) to be the better argument, but I recognize a personal bias not only against Megatron but the perspective Orion gives. Both give good arguments, but Megatron is coming from a point of anger and Orion from one of hope in a better Cybertron. This would be accurate for both characters as we know them today.

The sequence ends as a more drawn-out version of what transpired in the promo comic, but outside of Orion being chosen as Optimus Prime still coming out of nowhere, I have to admit the scene worked better here. You get a good sense of where the battlelines are drawn. I kind of think Alpha Trion is manipulating things, that he chose Orion as Optimus and perhaps we learn why in the game. If I find any flaws with what is written here, it’s the events themselves rather than how it was written, because it’s beautifully done.But is it accurate to the mythos? Or even the game?

Actually, Optimus ISN’T Prime when the Autobot campaign starts. As far as I can tell when we begin playing, Nova Prime is dead (the second to last boss in the Decepticon campaign) and Optimus Prime is just Optimus. It doesn’t quite fit with the game as I’ve been playing it.

I have to give Irvine credit for writing a great story, but it still suffers from continuity errors established in numerous series and what I’ve seen thus far in the games. This isn’t killing my enjoyment of it, but it still carries the sting of disappointment. But that’s this edition. Next time…war? We are now about halfway through the book and if you haven’t picked it up, I can at least recommend borrowing it from the library. However, we still have the second half to screw it all up or make it a must read so keep an eye out for the next installment of Chapter By Chapter.