Disassembled: Heroes and Villains

How The Fallen Became a Monster And What That Says About Us - Transformers Deep Dive

• Tom Bedford of Handsome Comics • Season 1 • Episode 7

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Megatronus was forged for greatness.

A Prime. A brother. A guardian of the stars.

But when love became grief—and grief became purpose—he didn’t rise.

He fell.

In this episode of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains, we unravel the legacy of Megatronus, better known as The Fallen. From The Covenant of Primus to IDW’s twisted time loop, to the Dreamwave cults and the Bayverse apocalypse, his story echoes across the multiverse in flame, shadow, and sorrow.

This isn’t just the tale of a traitor.

It’s the story of what happens when belief turns to obsession—

when guilt calcifies into dogma—

and when even the noblest lose sight of who they were.

Because Megatronus didn’t fall out of ambition.

He fell because he believed he was right.

So what happens…

when a Prime trades mercy for certainty?

And who do we become when we do the same?


🔥 New episodes of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains every Thursday.


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WHAT TURNS A BROTHER INTO A BETRAYER? WHAT DRIVES A PRIME TO BREAK THE CODE OF CREATION ITSELF? THERE HAVE BEEN TYRANTS. THERE HAVE BEEN MONSTERS. THERE HAVE EVEN BEEN GODS. BUT MEGATRONUS WAS SOMETHING ELSE. HE WAS A PRIME. ONE OF THE FIRST. A BEING FORGED FROM THE FIRES OF CYBERTRON'S BIRTH. CHOSEN NOT FOR GREED, BUT FOR GREATNESS. A BROTHER AMONG THIRTEEN. A GUARDIAN OF THE STARS. AND THEN, HE FELL. IN ONE UNIVERSE, IT WAS LOVE THAT BROKE HIM. IN ANOTHER, BELIEF. IN ANOTHER, STILL, AMBITION. OR RAGE. OR COSMIC BETRAYAL. THERE IS NO SINGLE TRUTH. NO SINGLE WOUND. BUT ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE, HIS NAME ECHOES LIKE THUNDER BEFORE A STORM. THEY CALL HIM THE FALLEN. AND WHEN HE RISES, WORLDS BURN. HE IS THE GOD WHO TURNED ON HIS OWN, THE WARRIOR WHO FORGED RUIN INTO RELIGION, THE TRAITOR EVERY PRIME FEARS THEY MIGHT BECOME. AND FOR ALL THEIR WISDOM, FOR ALL THEIR MIGHT, THE OTHERS COULD NOT STOP HIM. NOT FOREVER. BECAUSE YOU CAN DESTROY A BODY, BUT HOW DO YOU KILL A MYTH? THIS IS. DISASSEMBLED, HEROES AND VILLAINS, AND TODAY, WE'RE DIVING INTO THE STORY OF A PRIME WHO BROKE THE STARS TO MOURN THE SILENCE BETWEEN THEM, WITH MEGATRONUS, THE FALLEN. EVERY MYTH BEGINS WITH A MOMENT, A SINGLE CRACK IN THE FOUNDATION, A SINGLE SPARK IN THE DARK. BEFORE THE WARS, BEFORE THE BETRAYALS, BEFORE THE NAME THE FALLEN WAS WHISPERED WITH FEAR, THERE WAS ONLY MEGATRONUS. A PRIME, A BROTHER, AND FOR A FLEETING MOMENT, SOMETHING EVEN RARER, A LOVER. WHAT FOLLOWS IS NOT THE STORY OF EVIL, NOT YET. THIS IS THE STORY OF A GOD WHO HELD LOVE IN HIS HANDS, AND DESTROYED IT. BEFORE HE WAS THE FALLEN, HE WAS MEGATRONUS, AND IN THE BEGINNING, HE WAS LOVED. FORGED IN THE WELL OF ALL SPARKS ALONGSIDE TWELVE OTHERS, MEGATRONUS STOOD AS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN PRIMES. DIVINE EMISSARIES CREATED BY PRIMUS TO STAND AGAINST UNICRON. EACH PRIME WAS MORE THAN A WARRIOR. THEY WERE THE LIVING MANIFESTATIONS OF UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES. VECTOR PRIME COMMANDED TIME. ALPHA TRION CARRIED THE WEIGHT OF WISDOM. MEGATRONUS WAS WAR INCARNATE. BUT IT WASN'T ALWAYS VIOLENCE THAT DEFINED HIM. IN THE COVENANT OF. PRIMUS, HIS EARLIEST CHAPTERS ARE NOT FILLED WITH FIRE, BUT WITH LOVE. SOLACE PRIME, THE ARTISAN, THE FORGER, THE CREATOR OF WONDERS. SHE WAS NOT JUST HIS COMPANION, BUT AN EQUAL. TOGETHER, THEY FORGED A BOND THAT DEFIED THE CULT GRANDEUR OF DIVINITY. SOLACE SHAPED THE TOOLS OF LEGEND. THE STAR SABER. THE APEX ARMOR. MEGATRONUS WIELDED THEM, NOT FOR CONQUEST, BUT FOR PROTECTION. THEIRS WAS NOT A UNION OF DESTRUCTION. IT WAS A PROMISE. THAT EVEN WAR COULD BE TEMPERED WITH CARE. THE POWER COULD SERVE BALANCE. AND THEN, CAME THE REQUIEM BLASTER. CRAFTED IN THE DARKEST HOURS OF THE THIRTEENS' WAR WITH UNICRON, THE REQUIEM BLASTER CHANNELED STELLAR FUSION IN THE RAW ESSENCE OF PRIMUS HIMSELF. IT COULD LEVEL MOUNTAINS, AND MAKE ENTIRE WORLDS. ITS VERY EXISTENCE DIVIDED THE PRIMES. ITS CREATION WAS APPROVED BY A SINGLE VOTE. SOLACE HESITATED. SHE FEARED WHAT IT MIGHT BECOME. BUT MEGATRONUS BELIEVED IT WAS NECESSARY. AND IN THE END, SHE TRUSTED HIM. BUT, THAT TRUST WAS SHATTERED. ACCORDING TO THE. COVENANT, THE FRACTURE BEGAN WITH A GIFT. A CREATURE GIVEN TO SOLACE BY LIEGE MAXIMO. SHE BELIEVED IT TO BE A HARMLESS PET. IN TRUTH, IT WAS A SPY, RECORDING HER EVERY CREATION. WHEN MEGATRONUS DISCOVERED THE DECEPTION DURING AN ARGUMENT OVER THE CREATION OF ARMOR FOR LIEGE MAXIMO, HE ACTED WITHOUT PAUSE. WITHOUT WARNING, HE FIRED THE REQUIEM BLASTER AND OBLITERATED THE CREATURE. SOLACE PRIME, FURIOUS AND BETRAYED, CONFRONTED HIM. AND IN THE HEAT OF HER ANGER, MEGATRONUS REACTED AGAIN. HE FIRED. NOT OUT OF MALICE. NOT WITH INTENT. BUT WITH RAW EMOTION. UNTEMPERED BY LOGIC OR LOVE. AND IN THAT INSTANT, SHE WAS GONE. ONE MOMENT, THEY STOOD AS SPARKS ENTWINED. THE NEXT, HE HELD ONLY ASH. THIS WAS THE WOUND THAT BROKE THE PRIMES. SOME SAY UNICRON'S SHADOW MOVED EVEN THEN. THAT HE WHISPERED INTO MEGATRONUS' MIND. FEEDING THE CRACKS IN HIS SOUL. OTHERS SAY NO WHISPER WAS NEEDED. THAT GUILT ALONE WAS ENOUGH TO CORRUPT A GOD. THE OTHERS WERE SHATTERED. SOME WEPT. SOME RAGED. THEY ARGUED. WAS IT A MOMENT OF MADNESS? A SIN OF PASSION? OR HAD HE ALWAYS HARBORED DARKNESS? BUT NO JUDGMENT CAME. BECAUSE MEGATRONUS DID NOT WAIT. HE LEFT. NOT AS A FUGITIVE. BUT AS SOMETHING WORSE. A BEING AKIN TO THE BIBLICAL CAIN, WHO NO LONGER BELIEVED HE DESERVED TO EXIST AMONG HIS OWN. AND SO, THE MYTH BEGAN. OF THE PRIME WHO BROKE THE CIRCLE. OF THE WARRIOR WHO MOURNED IN EXILE. OF THE GOD WHO TURNED HIS TEARS INTO FIRE. LATER TALES WOULD CLAIM UNICRON FORGED HIM ANEW. TWISTING HIM INTO A HERALD OF ANNIHILATION. BUT MAYBE, THAT WASN'T NECESSARY. MAYBE GRIEF WAS ENOUGH. GRIEF SO VAST, IT TURNED INWARD. UNTIL. MEGATRONUS SAW THE UNIVERSE NOT AS CREATION TO PROTECT, BUT A MISTAKE TO CORRECT. THIS IS WHY THE ALIGNED VERSION OF THE FALLEN HITS SO HARD. BECAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT AMBITION. NOT YET. IT'S ABOUT LOSS. THE KIND OF LOSS THAT HOLLOWS OUT A SOUL AND LEAVES ONLY SHADOW. MEGATRONUS NEVER ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS. HE DIDN'T BELIEVE HE WAS WORTHY OF IT. AND WHEN HE EMERGED, REBORN AS THE. FALLEN, HE BROUGHT FIRE. BECAUSE WHEN LOVE BECOMES PAIN, AND GUILT BECOMES PURPOSE, EVEN A GOD CAN TURN SORROW INTO A WEAPON. AND THAT WEAPON WOULD ECHO ACROSS TIME, WAR, AND WORLDS. BUT GRIEF IS NEVER THE END OF THE STORY. IN ONE UNIVERSE, IT LEAVES A GOD BROKEN. WANDERING IN EXILE. HIS NAME SPOKEN IN WHISPERS. BUT IN ANOTHER, IT BECOMES A DOCTRINE. A PROPHECY. A SPARK THAT FLICKERS IN THE ANCIENT PAST. AND IGNITES THE FAR FUTURE. BECAUSE IN THE PAGES OF IDW'S EPIC CONTINUITY, MEGATRONUS DOES NOT SIMPLY FALL. HE BECOMES THE CORNERSTONE OF FAITH. A GOD NOT MOURNED, BUT WORSHIPPED. HERE, HIS LEGEND IS BURIED IN TIME. DISTORTED. EXALTED. WEAPONIZED. AND WHEN THAT LEGEND AWAKENS, IT DOESN'T BRING COMFORT. IT BRINGS FIRE. AGAIN. THIS IS THE STORY OF THE FALLEN NOT AS A TRAGIC MEMORY, BUT AS A GOD REBORN THROUGH BELIEF. NOT ALL GODS ARE BORN. SOME ARE MADE. AND IN THE TWISTED LABYRINTH OF TIME, WHERE THE PAST CAN BE WRITTEN BY THE WILL OF THE PATIENT, MEGATRONUS WAS FORGED. NOT BY PRIMUS, BUT BY SHOCKWAVE. TWELVE MILLION YEARS AGO, CYBERTRON WAS A FRACTURED, ANCIENT WORLD. IN ITS HARSH DESERTS, A HUMBLE SHEPHERD WANDERED THE WASTES BESIDE HIS COMPANION ONIX AND A FLOCK OF CYBERBEASTS. THEIR WORLD WAS RAW, UNTOUCHED BY CIVILIZATION. THAT IS, UNTIL A WOUNDED FIGURE FELL FROM THE SKY. A TRAVELER NOT OF THEIR TIME, BUT A RELIC OF CYBERTRON'S FUTURE. THIS WAS SHOCKWAVE, FLUNG BACKWARD THROUGH TIME IN THE AFTERMATH OF HIS FAILED CHRONAL EXPERIMENT. RECOGNIZING HIS CHANCE TO RESHAPE HISTORY, SHOCKWAVE ACTED WITH SWIFT PRECISION. HE MURDERED ONIX. SCATTERED HIS FOLLOWERS AND TURNED TO THE ONE WHO STAYED BEHIND. TO THIS LOST SOUL, SHOCKWAVE OFFERED A NAME. MEGATRONUS. HE WOULD BECOME THE SEED OF LEGEND. DISGUISED AS ONIX PRIME, SHOCKWAVE TRAINED HIS NEW PUPIL IN THE ARTS OF WAR AND CONQUEST. WITH KNOWLEDGE DRAWN FROM MILLENNIA OF HISTORY, HE WEAPONIZED MEGATRONUS AS A TOOL OF DESTINY. NO LONGER A SHEPHERD, MEGATRONUS BECAME A CONQUEROR. AND WHEN HE SET FORTH TO CLAIM THE WESTERN LANDS, HE LEFT NO DOUBT. THE AGE OF MYTH HAD BEGUN. FROM HIS FIRST CAMPAIGNS, MEGATRONUS PROVED HER TERROR FORGED IN THE FIRE OF. SHOCKWAVE'S GRAND AMBITION. HE OVERTHREW SEPTIMUS PRIME AND PROTOHEX, SLAUGHTERED THE SUPPLICANTS OF Arrius, AND RECRUITED ARCEE AND GALVATRON INTO HIS FOLD BY BLOOD AND BLADE. TOGETHER, THEY CUT A SWATH ACROSS THE PLAINS, UNSEATING LIEGE MAXIMO AND PUSHING TOWARD THE VILLAGE THAT WOULD ONE DAY BECOME CRYSTAL CITY. BUT SHOCKWAVE WAS NOT DONE ORCHESTRATING FATE. UNBEKNOWNST TO MEGATRONUS, ONIX PRIME AND LIEGE MAXIMO HAD ALREADY ARRIVED AT CRYSTAL CITY. THEY HAD UNIFIED THE LOCAL TRIBES AND PREPARED THEM FOR WAR. THE ENSUING CLASH DREW THREE DORMANT TITANS FROM BENEATH THE SURFACE, AND AS THE EARTH TREMBLED, MEGATRONUS PAUSED. AND IN THAT PAUSE, PEACE FOUND ITS FIRST BREATH. ONIX EMERGED FROM THE BATTLE TO CONFRONT MEGATRONUS, NOT AS AN ENEMY, BUT AS A FRIEND. A TRUCE WAS STRUCK. MEGATRONUS, THE WARMONGER, BECAME A PRIME. TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER LEADERS, THEY FORMED THE THIRTEEN TRIBES. CIVILIZATION SPREAD, BUT ARROGANCE TOOK ROOT. THE MYTH WAS CODIFIED. ONLY A PRIME COULD SLAY ANOTHER PRIME. AND AS THAT ARROGANCE GREW, SO TOO DID THE DESIGNS OF SHOCKWAVE. AT ONIX'S URGING, PRIMA LED AN EXPANSIONIST CRUSADE TO ANTILLA, CLAIMING THE WORLD IN THE NAME OF PEACE. WHAT THEY FOUND INSTEAD WAS RESISTANCE. A PROUD CIVILIZATION, UNWILLING TO KNEEL. WAR FOLLOWED, AND WITH IT, ANNIHILATION. AN ANTILLAN DOOMSDAY WEAPON SCOURED THEIR WORLD, AND IN ITS WAKE, THE UNIVERSE WOULD COME TO FEAR CYBERTRONIAN MIGHT. PRIMA BLAMED MEGATRONUS, AND WHEN LIEGE MAXIMO OFFERED WHISPERS OF VENGEANCE, MEGATRONUS LISTENED. THE TWO CONSPIRED AGAINST PRIMA, AND THE CHAOS THAT FOLLOWED. SOLACE PRIME DIED BY. MEGATRONUS'S HAND, RUN THROUGH WITH HER OWN STAR SABER. SHOCKWAVE'S PLAN HAD BORNE FRUIT. THE UNITY OF THE THIRTEEN SHATTERED. WAR RETURNED TO CYBERTRON. MEGATRONUS FLED TO THE STORM-WRACKED WORLD OF Tsiehshi, WHERE ITS ELECTROCHEMICAL FLOWER SUSTAINED HIM. HIS EMPIRE CRUMBLED, AND ITS WARRIORS SCATTERED. GALVATRON, DISGUSTED, BEGAN HIS OWN BLOODY CRUSADE. BUT JUSTICE CAME IN THE FORM OF THREE. PRIMA, ALPHA TRION, AND ONIX. THEY TRACKED MEGATRONUS TO HIS EXILE. THERE, MEGATRONUS SLEW PRIMA IN BATTLE. YET, EVEN VICTORY COULD NOT SAVE HIM. ONIX, HIS TEACHER, HIS CREATOR, ENDED HIM WITH COLD PRECISION. IT WAS NEVER ABOUT SALVATION. IT WAS ABOUT THE STORY. ONIX RETURNED TO CYBERTRON BEARING A LIE. THAT PRIMA HAD SLAIN MEGATRONUS, DYING A HERO. AND IN THAT LIE, HISTORY WAS SEALED. THE NAME. MEGATRONUS WAS STRICKEN FROM THE RECORDS. HE WOULD LIVE ON ONLY IN WHISPERS, ONLY IN SHADOW. THE MYTH OF THE FALLEN WAS BORN. BUT SHOCKWAVE ENSURED HIS LEGACY ENDURED. ORATE WAS SEATED AT. Tsiehshi. ALPHA TRION CARRIED THE TALE TO OPTIMUS PRIME, UNCERTAIN OF WHY THE NAME MEGATRONUS ECHOED SO CLOSELY TO THE MODERN MEGATRON. EVEN STARSCREAM, IN A MOMENT OF DELUDED CLARITY, BELIEVED HE WAS. MEGATRONUS REBORN. YET, THE TRUTH IS FAR MORE HAUNTING. MEGATRONUS WAS NOT A GOD. HE WAS A PAWN. A WEAPON BUILT TO MAKE A FALSE ONE. AND HE DID. BUT MYTHS DON'T STAY BURIED. THOUGH MEGATRONUS WAS ERASED FROM CYBERTRON'S RECORDS, HIS NAME LINGERED. ECHOED IN CULTS. WHISPERED IN TOMBS. REBORN IN WARLORDS WHO NEVER KNEW THE ORIGIN OF THEIR OWN FURY. HE WAS A SHADOW, CAST ACROSS THE AGES. RESHAPED BY EACH RETELLING. SOMETIMES A MARTYR. SOMETIMES A MONSTER. ALWAYS THE FALLEN. AND IN THE WORLDS BEHIND IDW, THAT SHADOW DEEPENED. IN DREAMWAVE, HE RETURNED NOT AS A LEGEND, BUT AS A LIVING FLAME. EXILED TO THE REALM OF ASH, YET STILL BURNING WITH PURPOSE. IN OTHERS, HE WAS A ROGUE PRIME. A TRAITOR BEYOND REDEMPTION. AND ACROSS EACH FRAGMENTED MIRROR OF CONTINUITY, ONE TRUTH REMAINED. THE WAR NEVER LEFT HIM. BECAUSE MEGATRONUS WAS NOT JUST THE FIRST BETRAYER. HE WAS THE ONE WHO KEPT COMING BACK. BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH THE RISE AND FALL OF MEGATRONUS, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW OR SUBSCRIBE ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP. DISASSEMBLED HEROES AND VILLAINS DIVES DEEP INTO THE ICONS AND MONSTERS THAT SHAPE POP CULTURE. AND NEXT WEEK, WE EXPLORE A DIFFERENT KIND OF FALLEN LEADER. A MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO END THE SITH, NOT JOIN THEM. NEXT WEEK, WE MEET THE LEADER OF THE EMPIRE, DARTH VADER. NOW, BACK TO THE STORY OF THE FALLEN PRIME, MEGATRONUS. IN SOME TIMELINES, MEGATRONUS FADES INTO SHADOW. IN OTHERS, HE RETURNS, NOT AS A PRIME, BUT AS AN OMEN. IN DREAMWAVES, THE WAR WITHIN, THE DARK AGES, THE FALLEN IS NO LONGER A MYTH. HE IS ENTROPY INCARNATE, ANCIENT, DELIBERATE, AND BURNING WITH A DIVINE HUNGER. ONCE ONE OF THE THIRTEEN CREATED BY PRIMUS, MEGATRONUS WAS CHARGED WITH OVERSEEING THE ORDERLY DISSOLUTION OF THINGS, THE NECESSARY COLLAPSE BEFORE RENEWAL. BUT HE TOOK LONG INTO THE FIRE. FASCINATED BY DESTRUCTION, HE GAVE HIMSELF TO UNICRON. HE WAS CONSUMED BY ITS CHAOS. CAST INTO A DIMENSIONAL PRISON DURING THE CATACLYSMIC BATTLE BETWEEN PRIMUS AND UNICRON. THE FALLEN VANISHED. BUT TIME IS FRAGILE. AND WHEN A SPACE BRIDGE ACCIDENT INVOLVING OPTIMUS PRIME AND MEGATRON SHATTERED THE WALLS OF REALITY, IT CREATED AN OPENING. THE FALLEN HAD RETURNED. HE DID NOT RISE TO REUNITE THE THIRTEEN. HE ROSE TO UNBIND CREATION. FROM THE SHADOWS OF CYBERTRON'S FRACTURED WARS, HE MANIPULATED BOTH THE AUTOBOTS AND DECEPTICONS, SEEDING CONFLICT, SPLINTERING FACTIONS, AND HASTENING COLLAPSE. HIS GOAL? THE UNBINDING. A RITUAL TO SUMMON UNICRON BACK INTO THE MATERIAL WORLD. TO ACHIEVE THIS, HE RECRUITED BLUDGEONED, MINDWIPE, AND BUGLY, OUTCASTS HUNGRY FOR FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. IN THEM, THE FALLEN INSPIRED BOTH FEAR AND AWE. AT THE WELL OF ALLSPARKS, HE REVEALED A MACHINE, AN ARCANE CONSTRUCT DESIGNED TO BREAK THE SEAL OF PRIMUS, BUT IT REQUIRED FOUR LIVING KEYS. FOUR. TRANSFORMERS WHOSE SPARKS WERE GEOMETRICALLY ALIGNED TO BREACH THE DIVINE. GRIMLOCK, JETFIRE, BLITZWING, HOTSPOT. GRIMLOCK WAS HIS FOCUS, A FIERCE WARRIOR DISILLUSIONED BY DIPLOMACY. TORN BETWEEN HONOR AND RAGE, THE FALLEN TEMPTED HIM WITH VISIONS OF DOMINANCE, OF FREEDOM FROM IDEOLOGY, OF PRIMAL STRENGTH UNBOUND. AND FOR A MOMENT, GRIMLOCK WAVERED. ONLY JETFIRE'S LOYALTY AND THE ECHO OF BROTHERHOOD PULLED HIM BACK. BUT THE FALLEN WAS UNDETERRED. HE ABDUCTED THE FOUR TARGETS, OUTWITTED AUTOBOT SECURITY, AND BOUND THEM TO THE MACHINE. AS THE RITUAL BEGAN, HE DID NOT PLEAD. HE PREACHED, NOT TO HIS VICTIMS, BUT TO PRIMUS HIMSELF. YET, AS ALWAYS, MEGATRONUS' HUBRIS WAS HIS UNDOING. A COALITION OF CYBERTRONIAN FORCES STORMED THE WELL. JETFIRE, IN AN ACT OF CLARITY, SHIELDED THE SEAL OF PRIMUS. AND WHEN THE LIGHT AWAKENED, IT WAS NOT A PRIME WHO ROSE, BUT THE GOD WHO MADE THEM. PRIMUS STRUCK DOWN THE FALLEN IN A TORRENT OF DIVINE FIRE. HIS ESSENCE SEALED ONCE MORE BEHIND THE COSMIC BARRIER, BUT THE STORY DID NOT END. IN THE UNPUBLISHED CONTINUATION, HIS CORRUPTED SPARK FOUND NEW HOSTS. FIRST SUNSTORM, THEN JETFIRE HIMSELF. A PARASITE OF DIVINE RUIN, WHISPERING FROM WITHIN, WAITING TO RISE AGAIN. THE FALLEN DOES NOT DIE, HE EVOLVES. THIS EVOLUTION TAKES A MONSTROUS FORM IN THE BAYVERSE. IN TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, MEGATRONUS IS REBORN, NOT AS THE GUARDIAN OF ENTROPY, BUT AS ITS AVATAR, THE FIRST DECEPTICON, THE BETRAYER OF SUNS. EONS AGO, HE VIOLATED THE SACRED OATH OF THE PRIMES, SEEKING TO HARVEST STARS WITH NO REGARD FOR THE LIFE THAT SURROUNDED THEM. FOR THAT, HE WAS BANISHED. BUT BANISHMENT IS NOT SILENCE. IN THE DARK VOID OF SPACE, THE FALLEN ENDURED, HIS BODY SUSTAINED BY HATRED, HIS WILL BOUND TO A SINGLE PURPOSE, REVENGE. HE TWISTS MEGATRON INTO A DISCIPLE. HE REDUCES THE DECEPTICONS' CAUSE TO SERVITUDE, AND HE HUNTS THE MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP NOT TO WIELD ITS WISDOM, BUT TO BURN IT AS FUEL. WHEN OPTIMUS PRIME RISES FROM DEATH TO CONFRONT HIM, IT IS NOT A BATTLE OF MIGHT, IT IS A RECKONING OF BLOODLINES, THE LAST PRIME AGAINST THE FIRST. AND WHEN THE FALLEN FALLS, IT IS BY THE HAND OF LEGACY. IN BOTH DREAMWAVE AND BAYVERSE, MEGATRONUS SHEDS THE SKIN OF A PRIME TO BECOME SOMETHING DARKER. HE IS THE FIRE THAT SEEKS TO CONSUME THE DIVINE, A GOD OF ENDINGS, A PROPHET OF COLLAPSE, A LEGACY NOT OF PURPOSE, BUT OF PLAGUE. MEGATRONUS, THE NAME ONCE MEANT BROTHER, PIONEER, PRIME. BUT ACROSS THE SCARS OF TIME AND THE ECHOES OF COUNTLESS REALITIES, THAT NAME NO LONGER SPEAKS OF HOPE, IT WHISPERS OF LOSS. WE'VE SEEN HIM RISE FROM FORGOTTEN CULTS IN THE DREAMWAVE CONTINUITY, DRAGGING SPARKS TO THE EDGE OF DIVINE ANNIHILATION. WE'VE SEEN HIM CORRUPT LEGACY ITSELF FROM THE BAYVERSE, TURNING. MEGATRON INTO A SERVANT AND DESECRATING THE MATRIX AS FUEL FOR HIS OWN RESURRECTION. IN EACH TIMELINE, HE SHEDS ANOTHER LAYER OF THE SACRED. BUT THE STORY DOESN'T END WITH HIS DEFEAT. BECAUSE MEGATRON IS NOT CONFINED TO ONE BODY. HE IS THE WOUND IN THE MULTIVERSE, AN IDEA THAT REFUSES TO DIE. AND THE QUESTION THAT LINGERS, THE ONE THAT BURNS DEEPER THAN ANY OF HIS COSMIC FIRES, IS THIS. HOW DOES A PRIME BECOME THE FALLEN? IT'S NOT A TALE OF ONE BAD DECISION. IT'S NOT A SINGLE BETRAYAL. IT'S THE SLOW CORROSION OF PURPOSE. THE BELIEF THAT YOUR BURDEN IS TOO GREAT, AND YOUR VISION IS TOO PURE. IT'S WHEN CONVICTION HARDENS INTO DOGMA. WHEN SACRIFICE BECOMES DEMAND. WHEN THE GUARDIAN OF ORDER BEGINS TO QUESTION WHETHER CHAOS MIGHT BE THE FINAL ANSWER. SO WE MUST ASK OURSELVES, WHAT IF MEGATRONUS ISN'T JUST THE FIRST TO FALL? WHAT IF HE IS THE FUTURE EVERY PRIME MUST OUTRUN? IN THE MULTIVERSE, EVERY VERSION OF THE FALLEN REVEALS A DIFFERENT KIND OF DESCENT. EACH ORIGIN ROOTED IN DUTY. EACH ENDING TWISTED BY PRIME. AND AS WE CROSS TIMELINES, FROM IDW, TO DREAMWAVE, TO ALIGNED, TO THE BAYVERSE, ONE TRUTH BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE. MEGATRONUS IS NOT MERELY THE BETRAYER OF CYBERTRON. HE IS THE SHADOW CAST BY THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT. BECAUSE IF EVEN THE NOBLEST OF CYBERTRONIANS CAN FALL, WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE REST OF US? LET'S TAKE A STEP BACK. LET'S LOOK BEYOND THE TIMELINES AND TITANS. LET'S ASK, WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM A GOD WHO BURNED EVERYTHING DOWN, JUST TO PROVE HE EXISTED? THE MULTIVERSE DOES NOT LIE. IT REVEALS, AND ACROSS ITS FRACTURED GLASS, THE FACE OF MEGATRONUS IS ETCHED INTO EVERY SHARD. NOT AS A GOD OF JUSTICE OR UNITY, BUT AS A CAUTIONARY TALE. IN NEARLY EVERY CONTINUITY, THE CORE REMAINS THE SAME. A PRIME. A BROTHER. A BEING BORN OF PURPOSE. AND YET, IN ALMOST EVERY RETELLING, THAT PURPOSE COLLAPSES UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT. MEGATRONUS FALLS, AND WHEN HE DOES, THE UNIVERSE FLINCHES. IN DREAMWAVE'S THE WAR WITHIN, THE DARK AGES, MEGATRONUS IS LESS A CHARACTER THAN A LEGEND. A NAME HALF REMEMBERED, A SIN NEVER FORGOTTEN. DREAMWAVE GIVES THE MYTH ITS FIRST MONSTROUS SHAPE. A BEING WHO NO LONGER SEEKS REDEMPTION, BUT DOMINATION. HE ALIGNS WITH BLUDGEON AND THE CHAOS TRINITY, NOT TO LEAD CYBERTRON'S FACTIONS, BUT TO UNRAVEL THE VERY SOUL OF THE PLANET THROUGH THE UNBINDING. HIS AIM IS METAPHYSICAL, MYTHIC. HE WANTS TO TEAR THROUGH THE SEAL OF PRIMUS AND INVITE BACK THE PRIMORDIAL CHAOS. UNICRON'S WILL GIVEN FORM. HERE, MEGATRONUS IS NOT CORRUPTED BY PRIDE ALONE. HE IS SEDUCED BY THE ALLURE OF ENDING THINGS COMPLETELY. THIS FALLEN IS ENTROPY INCARNATE. THEN, THERE'S TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. HERE, THE MYTH TAKES A CINEMATIC FORM. MEGATRONUS IS REBRANDED AS THE FALLEN, THE FIRST DECEPTICON AND BETRAYER OF THE ORIGINAL PRIMES. HE IS CAST NOT MERELY AS A HERETIC, BUT AS A COSMIC THREAT. HIS GOAL IS EXTINCTION ON A PLANETARY SCALE, HARVESTING SONS TO POWER CYBERTRON'S RETURN, EVEN IF IT MEANS ANNIHILATING THE OTHER WORLDS. UNLIKE DREAMWAVE'S OCCULTIST, THE FALLEN IS A WAR LORD IN WAITING. HE MANIPULATES MEGATRON INTO SERVITUDE, WIELDING DARK SCIENTISTS AND MYTH TO MOVE PAWNS ACROSS GALAXIES. HE'S NOT A WARRIOR WITH A VISION. HE IS A PARASITE, FEEDING YOUNG WORLDS TO FUEL A LEGACY THAT WAS NEVER HIS TO BEGIN WITH. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PRIME BELIEVES ONLY HE KNOWS HOW TO SAVE A DYING WORLD? HOW MANY VOICES MUST BE SILENCED IN THE NAME OF EFFICIENCY AND SURVIVAL? IN THE ALIGNED CONTINUITY, TRANSFORMERS PRIME, THE NOVELS, AND THE COVENANT OF PRIMUS, WE MEET A MORE TRAGIC MEGATRONUS. HE IS A PRIME WITH SACRED CHARGE, EFFECTIVELY A GOD OF WAR, BUT ALSO A GOD SOFTENED BY LOVE AND COMPANIONSHIP. WHEN THIS LOVE FALTERS AND A CRIME OF PASSION OCCURS THAT RESULTS IN SOLUS PRIME'S FALL, WHETHER BY ACCIDENT, DESIGN, OR WHISPERED BY MANIPULATION, MEGATRONUS IS SHATTERED. HE DOES NOT SEEK FORGIVENESS. HE SEEKS UNDOING AND EXILE. WHAT BEGAN AS SACRED DUTY BECAME SACRILEGE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE CONFUSE PAIN WITH TRUTH? IF EVEN THE GODS FALTER IN THE FACE OF GRIEF, WHAT HOPE DO WE HAVE, EXCEPT TO CONFRONT IT HEAD ON? BUT NOWHERE IS THIS TRANSFORMATION MORE NUANCED, MORE DEVASTATING THAN IN IDW. IN THIS UNIVERSE, MEGATRONUS IS NOT BORN OF PRIMUS. HE IS NOT ONE OF THE THIRTEEN. HE IS AN IDEA, A LIE, A SYMBOL BUILT BY THE HAND OF ANOTHER FALLEN, SHOCKWAVE, WHO CRAFTS MYTH FROM MADNESS AND BINDS IT TO PROPHECY. HERE, MEGATRON, THE GLADIATOR TURNED REVOLUTIONARY, ADOPTS THE NAME MEGATRONUS NOT OUT OF EGO, BUT BELIEF. HE SEES IN THE LEGEND A BLUEPRINT FOR JUSTICE, FOR RESISTANCE, FOR A WORLD WHERE THE WEAK NO LONGER BOW TO THE POWERFUL. AND IT WORKS UNTIL IT DOESN'T. ACROSS ALL THESE TALES, WE BEGIN TO SEE A PATTERN. MEGATRONUS DOES NOT SIMPLY FALL. HE FALLS IN INFINITY. NOT BECAUSE THE MYTH IS WEAK, BUT BECAUSE IT'S REAL. BECAUSE EVERY TIMELINE GIVES HIM A REASON TO DESCEND. IN SOME, IT'S GRIEF. IN OTHERS, AMBITION. IN OTHERS, STILL. IT IS THE QUIET BELIEF THAT NO ONE ELSE WILL DO WHAT MUST BE DONE. HE BECOMES A SYMBOL, NOT OF BETRAYAL, BUT OF CONVICTION UNTEMPERED BY COMPASSION. AND THAT CERTAINTY, WHEN NOT SOLIDLY GROUNDED, IS THE SEED OF EVERY DOWNFALL. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US? WE ARE NOT PRIMES. WE ARE NOT TITANS FORGED IN THE CORE OF DYING STARS. WE DO NOT CARRY MATRICES. WE DO NOT BEND EMPIRES WITH OUR VOICE. BUT WE DO BELIEVE. IN CAUSES. IN CONVICTIONS. IN OURSELVES. AND THAT IS WHERE THE FALLEN FINDS US. BECAUSE MEGATRONUS ISN'T TERRIFYING JUST FOR HIS POWER. HE'S TERRIFYING BECAUSE HIS FALL FEELS POSSIBLE. HE LOVED. HE LOST. HE GRIEVED. AND WHEN THE WORLD NO LONGER MADE SENSE, HE DIDN'T SHATTER. HE HARDENED. HE CLUNG TO PURPOSE LIKE A WEAPON, AND WIELDED IT AGAINST THE VERY PEOPLE HE ONCE PROTECTED. HOW MANY OF US HAVE DONE THE SAME? HOW MANY HAVE REFUSED TO LET GO OF AN IDENTITY? A BELIEF? A GOAL? BECAUSE WITHOUT IT, WE DIDN'T KNOW WHO WE WERE. THE FALLEN TEACHES US THIS. WHEN YOU BELIEVE YOU ALONE CAN SEE THE PATH, YOU STOP LOOKING FOR OTHERS. WHEN YOU MISTAKE PAIN FOR CLARITY, YOU BLIND YOURSELF TO HEALING. WHEN YOU FEAR IRRELEVANCE, YOU CHOOSE INFAMY OVER HUMILITY. BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. BECAUSE IF THE MULTIVERSE SHOWS US MANY WAYS TO FALL, IT ALSO SHOWS US MANY WAYS TO RISE. YOU ARE NOT BOUND BY THE WORST THINGS YOU'VE DONE. YOU ARE NOT DESTINED TO BECOME THE VILLAIN OF YOUR OWN STORY. MEGATRONUS FORGOT THAT. WE DON'T HAVE TO. THANK YOU FOR WALKING WITH US THROUGH THE RISE AND FALL OF. MEGATRONUS. HE WAS A PRIME, A BROTHER, A GUARDIAN, AND IN NEARLY EVERY RETELLING, HE BECAME SOMETHING ELSE. SOMETHING DARKER. A MYTH ENGULFED IN FLAME AND SORROW. BUT FOR ALL THIS POWER, MEGATRONUS IS NOT SIMPLY A GOD OF DESTRUCTION. HE IS A WARNING. A SYMBOL HOW EVEN THE BRIGHTEST PURPOSE, LEFT UNCHECKED, CAN CAST THE LONGEST SHADOW. WITHOUT GRIEF, IF LEFT UNSPOKEN, CALCIFIES INTO CRUELTY. AND HOW BELIEF, WHEN WIELDED WITHOUT DOUBT, BECOMES DOGMA. THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE FALLEN MORE THAN A VILLAIN. HE IS THE GHOST IN EVERY CAUSE TOO RIGHTEOUS TO QUESTION. HE IS THE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWS AFTER WE SAY, ONLY I KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT. HE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN STRENGTH FORGETS HOW TO LISTEN. AND YET, THERE'S SOMETHING EVEN MORE TERRIFYING. ACROSS ALMOST EVERY CONTINUITY, NO MATTER HOW FAR HE FALLS, HE WAS ONCE ONE OF US. CHOSEN. TRUSTED. LOVED. AND THAT'S WHY HIS STORY MATTERS. NOT BECAUSE IT'S GRAND, BUT BECAUSE IT'S FAMILIAR. BECAUSE EVERY TIME WE BURY OUR PAIN, EVERY TIME WE TRADE COMPASSION FOR CONTROL, WE TAKE ONE STEP CLOSER TO HIS FIRE. BUT THERE'S ANOTHER TRUTH TOO. WE DON'T HAVE TO WALK THAT PATH. WE CAN QUESTION OURSELVES. WE CAN SHARE OUR GRIEF. WE CAN CHOOSE TO BE MORE THAN WHAT BROKE US. THE FALLEN DIDN'T, BUT WE STILL CAN. SO STAY HONEST, STAY REFLECTIVE, AND AS ALWAYS, STAY HANDSOME. AND REMEMBER, THE REAL DANGER ISN'T THE MONSTER IN THE FIRE. IT'S THE SPARK OF GRIEF WE NEVER LEARNED TO NAME.