Warning: contains spoilers for Transformers #29!
Megatron just caused the destruction of three massive 1980s cartoon.) Their size notwithstanding, Titans are composed of scores of exotic and arcane weaponry that can unleash an immeasurable amount of firepower, rivaling an entire army, which is why taking down a Titan can usually only be achieved by another one of its kind. And when such a clash actually takes place, the devastation that ensues is akin to an apocalypse.
It is because of this unrivaled strength that the Autobots and the recently formed Decepticons are vying for their . Unfortunately, the Titans were previously crippled by a data-bomb fed to them by the Rise, a former extremist faction that Megatron had been using to legitimize the Decepticons, using them as scapegoats. Because of this, the Titans' days are already numbered, unless either the Autobots or the Decepticons can come up with a cure.
Based on Megatron's later comments, it is implied that the data-bomb was only meant to temporarily disable the Titans when the Rise used one of these massive Transformers to attack Cybertron. But now the Titans' minds are in meltdown, and they have begun a slow descent from their orbit in space towards Cybertron. Trying to control the situation, Megatron soon realizes that the Decepticons don't have the capacity to undo the effects of the data-bomb and, fearing that the Autobots will be able to help the Titans and win them to their cause, orders their extermination. Megatron's team succeeds in taking down Citadel, the largest Titan ever forged; Chela, the Titan who raced a comet; and Cargohold, a Titan who claims to the Firstforged. The issue ends with each Titan careening into various areas on Cybertron.
While it is undoubtedly an incredible feat to destroy three of the dominant lifeforms in the Transformers universe, IDW Publishing just threw the latest of its series' many curveballs. There have always been thirteen known Titans, but it has now been revealed that one of Optimus Prime's predecessors feared the power of the Titans to such an extent that, when others were forged, their life force (known as TitanSparks) was taken and they were locked away. There are sixteen of these Titan "souls" in storage, more than doubling their understood number.
This is a huge change to Transformers lore, altering something that has, for the most part, remained constant throughout the many iterations of the franchise, and proves that the Autobots are a more flawed group than originally imagined, having dabbled in ethically questionable endeavors (though Optimus Prime himself expresses disgust.) Even as Megatron destroys some of the known Titans, the new additions throw recent events up into the air, as the Autobots and Decepticons' mission to get the huge Transformers on their side takes on a new context in a world where both sides now have secrets that would give these powerful behemoths reason to turn against them.
