Disassembled: Heroes and Villains

Why Galvatron Proves You Can Survive Anything and Still Lose Everything - Transformers Deep Dive

• Tom Bedford of Handsome Comics • Season 1 • Episode 9

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He survived death.

He survived time.

He survived the unraveling of history itself.


But Galvatron’s story isn’t one of triumph—it’s a warning.


In this episode of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains, we explore the tyrant forged from Megatron’s shattered shell, reforged by Unicron’s hand, and doomed to endure across timelines, wars, and worlds. From his unhinged reign in G1, to his time-lost crusades in Marvel, to his ancient warrior roots in IDW, Galvatron’s legacy is one of power without purpose—and survival without healing.


Was he a conqueror who outlived his era?

Or a ghost who refused to fade?


We explore:

– How Unicron’s rebirth turned Megatron into something stronger… and infinitely more unstable

– Marvel’s time-twisting Galvatrons, both fighting to escape their fate and sealing it instead

– IDW’s Galvatron, a relic of endless war with no place in peacetime

– And the pattern every version shares: that survival alone corrodes what it’s meant to protect


Whether you know him as Unicron’s herald, a fractured warlord, or the shadow of Megatron, this is the definitive story of why Galvatron proves you can survive anything—

and still lose everything.


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


📩 For sponsorships and business inquiries, contact: handsomecomics@gmail.com

🎙 Written and hosted by Tom Bedford | Handsome Comics

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SURVIVAL BECOMES YOUR CURSE? WHEN YOU CLAW YOUR WAY BACK FROM DEATH ONLY TO FIND THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF WHO YOU WERE? THERE HAVE BEEN TYRANTS. THERE HAVE BEEN WARLORDS, THERE HAVE EVEN BEEN LEGENDS. GALVATRON IS SOMETHING ELSE. IN ONE UNIVERSE, HE WAS REFORGED BY UNICRON, REBORN FROM MEGATRON'S SHATTERED SHELL. CROWNED BY THE EXECUTION OF STARSCREAM, HE DIDN'T RISE IN GLORY. HE FELL, SCREAMING INTO MADNESS. IN ANOTHER, HE RETURNED FROM THE FUTURE, NOT TO SAVE IT, BUT TO DOMINATE IT. TO ERASE HIS OWN LEGACY, AND LOSE IT ALL OVER AGAIN. ACROSS TIMELINES, GALVATRON SURVIVES ALMOST EVERYTHING. OBLITERATION, BETRAYAL, THEFT. BUT SURVIVAL ISN'T THE SAME AS SALVATION. NOT EVERY RESURRECTION BRINGS YOU BACK WHOLE. BECAUSE GALVATRON PROVES THE TRUTH WE'RE MOST AFRAID TO FACE. YOU CAN SURVIVE ANYTHING, AND LOSE EVERYTHING. THIS IS DISASSEMBLED, HEROES AND VILLAINS. AND TODAY, WE DIVE INTO THE STORY OF A TYRANT FORGED IN FIRE, AND CONSUMED BY IT, WITH THE STORY OF GALVATRON OF THE TRANSFORMERS. WE'VE SEEN MEGATRON REBORN IN MANY FORMS. A WARLORD. A GLADIATOR. A REVOLUTIONARY. A TYRANT. BUT NONE ARE AS FRACTURED AS GALVATRON. BECAUSE GALVATRON ISN'T JUST A NEW NAME, HE'S A RUPTURE. A BREAK IN THE MIND. A RESURRECTION THAT LEFT THE BODY STANDING, BUT THE SOUL LEFT BEHIND. SO LET'S GO BACK. BACK TO THE MOMENT IT ALL CHANGED. TO THE BROKEN HUSK DRIFTING THROUGH SPACE. TO THE VOICE OF A GOD WHO PROMISED NEW PURPOSE. TO THE FORGING OF SOMETHING STRONGER, YET INFINITELY MORE UNSTABLE. LET'S FOLLOW THE SPARKS TO WHERE THE MADNESS BEGAN. GALVATRON WAS BORN IN FIRE. NOT THE KIND THAT PURIFIES, BUT THE KIND THAT CONSUMES. IN TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE, WE WATCHED MEGATRON. A WARRIOR KING BROUGHT TO HIS KNEES, DRIFTING LIFELESSLY THROUGH SPACE. HIS ARMOR BROKEN. HIS PRIDE SHATTERED. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END, BUT DEATH, IT SEEMS, HAD OTHER PLANS. FROM THE VOID CAME UNICRON, A PLANET-SIZED GOD OF ANNIHILATION. THE CHAOS BRINGER. OFFERED MEGATRON A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN, LACED WITH UNBREAKABLE TERMS. A NEW BODY. A NEW ARMY. A SECOND CHANCE. BUT WHAT DID IT COST? MEGATRON WAS FORGED IN MOLTEN METAL. HIS NAME STRIPPED. HIS FORM ENHANCED. HIS VOICE DEEPENED. WHAT EMERGED WAS GALVATRON, A BEING MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE, BUT NO LONGER WHOLE. THE OTHERS, SKYWARP, THUNDERCRACKER, AND WOUNDED DECEPTICONS, WERE FORCIBLY REBORN ALONGSIDE HIM, BUT ONLY GALVATRON SPOKE WITH UNICRON'S VOICE ECHOING INSIDE HIS SKULL. HIS VOICE WOULD NEVER GO SILENT. GALVATRON'S FIRST ACT AS THIS NEW CREATURE WAS UNFORGETTABLE. HE DIDN'T RALLY HIS TROOPS. HE DIDN'T MOURN THE FALLEN. HE DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE. HE OBLITERATED STARSCREAM IN A SINGLE, SAVAGE BLAST. STARSCREAM'S LONG-AWAITED CORONATION LASTED SECONDS. HIS THRONE TURNED TO ASH BENEATH HIS FEET. AND AS GALVATRON'S FOOT CRUSHED THE REMNANTS OF THE CROWN, HE DECLARED, CORONATION STARSCREAM. THIS IS BAD COMEDY. TO THE AUDIENCE, IT WAS TRIUMPHANT. CATHARTIC. THE BETRAYAL REPAID. SERPER PUNISHED. BUT BENEATH THE SPECTACLE, SOMETHING WAS WRONG. STARSCREAM'S DEATH WASN'T A MOMENT OF JUSTICE. IT WAS A SIGNAL FLARE. GALVATRON DIDN'T PUNISH A TRAITOR. HE ANNIHILATED A SYMBOL OF THE DECEPTICONS LONG BEFORE THE COMING OF A GOD. NOT JUST A REBELLION, BUT OF A MEMORY. OF A WORLD BEFORE UNICRON. HE WASN'T MERELY RECLAIMING POWER. HE WAS ERASING ANYONE WHO REMINDED HIM OF WHO HE HAD BEEN. AND HE DIDN'T RECLAIM LEADERSHIP. HE SEIZED IT. VIOLENTLY. IMMEDIATELY. AND WITHOUT THE CHARISMA OR CUNNING THAT ONCE DEFINED MEGATRON. THERE WAS NO STRATEGY. NO DECEPTICON CODE. JUST RAGE. JUST IMPULSE. IT WAS THE FIRST SIGN THAT SOMETHING IN HIM HAD BROKEN. AND THAT WHATEVER SURVIVED UNICRON'S CRUCIBLE WASN'T THE SAME WARRIOR WHO ONCE TERRIFIED. OPTIMUS PRIME. BECAUSE MEGATRON, FOR ALL HIS BRUTALITY, UNDERSTOOD THE POWER OF PATIENCE. HE WEAPONIZED FEAR NOT JUST WITH STRENGTH, BUT THROUGH CALCULATION. HE COULD MANIPULATE, NEGOTIATE, EVEN INSPIRE. BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN SOMETHING. GALVATRON, BY CONTRAST, BELIEVED IN NOTHING. HE DIDN'T LEAD THE DECEPTICONS. HE LOOMED OVER THEM LIKE A STORM. IN THE EPISODES THAT FOLLOW, HIS BRILLIANCE FADED INTO MADNESS. HE LASHED OUT AT SUBORDINATES. HE ATTACKED AUTOBOT STRONGHOLDS WITH RECKLESS ABANDON, NOT FOR VICTORY, BUT FOR VENGEANCE. AND WORSE STILL, HE HEARD VOICES. EVEN WHEN UNICRON'S BODY WAS DESTROYED BY THE MATRIX. GALVATRON WASN'T FREED, HE WAS SHATTERED. THE GHOST OF HIS MASTER LINGERED, AND WITH IT, THE MADNESS DEEPENED. IN THE ARC FIVE FACES OF. DARKNESS, GALVATRON SPEAKS OF UNICRON'S GHOST AFTER THE TITAN WAS SHATTERED. THE VOICE IS GONE, BUT THE DAMAGE REMAINS. HE'S NOT HAUNTED BY GUILT, HE'S TORMENTED BY PROGRAMMING, BY MEMORY, BY THE WHISPER OF A MASTER THAT STILL CLAWS AT THE EDGE OF HIS MIND. HE'S A WEAPON WITHOUT A WIELDER, A TYRANT WITH NO IDEOLOGY, POWER WITHOUT PURPOSE. BY WEBWORLD, EVEN HIS OWN TROOPS BECOME DESPERATE. CYCLONUS, EVER LOYAL, DRAGS HIS LEADER TO AN ALIEN PSYCHOLOGY CENTER. THERE, GALVATRON TEARS THROUGH THERAPISTS AND COUNSELORS ALIKE, NOT TO ESCAPE, BUT BECAUSE HE CANNOT STOP FIGHTING. EVEN IN PEACE, HE STILL HEARS WAR, AND YOU CAN SEE IT. GALVATRON'S ANIMATION EVEN BECOMES MORE ERRATIC, HIS MOVEMENTS SHARPER, HIS OPTICS FLARING WITH UNNATURAL INTENSITY. THE ONCE COLD COMMANDER, NOW THRASHES LIKE SOMETHING IS TRAPPED. EVEN THE COLORS FEEL MORE SATURATED, MORE UNHINGED. HIS DESIGN DOESN'T EVOLVE, IT DETERIORATES. THE CONTRAST IS STRIKING. MEGATRON LED WITH STRATEGY AND AMBITION, GALVATRON IS A BLUNT INSTRUMENT, SWINGING WILDLY AT GHOSTS. HIS DECEPTICONS DON'T FOLLOW HIM BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE, THEY FOLLOW HIM BECAUSE THEY FEAR HIM. EVEN CYCLONUS, HIS MOST DEVOTED FOLLOWER, SPENDS ENTIRE EPISODES TRYING TO TETHER GALVATRON TO REALITY, TO PULL HIM BACK FROM THE BRINK. HIS LOYALTY BECOMES A KIND OF TRAGEDY, A MAN CLINGING TO THE ASHES OF SOMEONE WHO ONCE STOOD FOR SOMETHING. BUT HOW DO YOU REASON WITH A FIRE THAT'S ALREADY BURNING OUT OF CONTROL? THIS ISN'T JUST A DESCENT, IT'S A WARNING TO THOSE WHO REBUILT FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH. BECAUSE GALVATRON DIDN'T LOSE BECAUSE HE WAS OUTGUNNED, HE LOST BECAUSE HE WAS LOST. TO PARANOIA, TO FURY, TO THE ECHO OF A GOD THAT MADE HIM STRONGER AND LEFT HIM BROKEN. WHAT MAKES THIS ARC SO TRAGIC IS THAT GALVATRON SURVIVED THE FIRE. HE CLAWED HIS WAY BACK FROM THE EDGE OF DEATH. HE WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE MOST CHARACTERS WOULD KILL FOR, BUT IN DOING SO, HE LOST THE ONLY THING THAT KEPT HIM CENTERED, HIS PURPOSE. NOT DOMINATION, NOT CONQUEST, BUT VISION. MEGATRON ALWAYS HAD A REASON, WHETHER POLITICAL, PERSONAL, OR PRIMAL. BUT GALVATRON? HE ONLY HAD THE VOICE OF UNICRON, AND THE SOUND OF HIS OWN MIND CRACKING. HE'S A REVENANT, A GHOST OF WAR STILL TRYING TO FIGHT BATTLES THAT HAVE LONG SINCE ENDED. AND IN THE PROCESS, HE BECAME A TYRANT NO ONE, NOT THE AUTOBOTS, NOT HIS OWN TROOPS, COULD TRUST. BECAUSE POWER WITHOUT PURPOSE DOESN'T MAKE YOU STRONGER, IT HOLLOWS YOU. UNTIL THE FIRE THAT KEPT YOU ALIVE STARTS EATING YOU FROM THE INSIDE. HE'S NOT JUST THE EVOLUTION OF MEGATRON, HE'S THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIGNING A PACT WITH THE DEVIL. BECAUSE WHILE YOU CAN SURVIVE THE FIRE, IF YOUR PURPOSE DIES IN IT, YOU'LL BE TORTURED BY THE FLAME. FROM A MIND LOST TO MADNESS, TO A FUTURE LOST IN TIME, GALVATRON'S FIRE SHOULD HAVE BURNED ITSELF OUT. BUT IN MARVEL COMICS, THAT FIRE DIDN'T DIE, IT FRACTURED. IT LEAPT ACROSS TIMELINES, SPLIT INTO ECHOES, AND INFECTED ENTIRE REALITIES. BECAUSE GALVATRON ISN'T JUST BROKEN, HE'S TIME LOST. A TYRANT DRAGGED FROM THE FUTURE INTO THE PRESENT. NOT TO PREVENT DISASTER, BUT TO CAUSE IT. NO LONGER SHACKLED TO UNICRON, THIS VERSION WAGES WAR NOT JUST AGAINST THE AUTOBOTS, BUT ON FATE ITSELF. HE DOESN'T WANT TO SURVIVE THE FUTURE, HE WANTS TO REWRITE IT. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A GHOST TRIES TO REWRITE THE SCRIPT THAT MADE HIM A MONSTER? LET'S FOLLOW THE CRACKS THROUGH THE MARVEL TIMELINE. GALVATRON DIDN'T JUST SURVIVE THE FIRE, HE SURVIVED TIME. IN THE MARVEL TRANSFORMERS CONTINUITY, PARTICULARLY THE UK SERIES BY. SIMON FURMAN, GALVATRON'S MADNESS TAKES A NEW SHAPE. HERE HE'S NOT JUST A BROKEN WARLORD, HE'S A TIME TRAVELER. A TYRANT UNTETHERED FROM THE PRESENT, CURSED TO REWRITE A FUTURE HE NO LONGER UNDERSTANDS. IT BEGINS WITH GALVATRON 1, A VERSION PULLED FROM THE FUTURE OF THE 2006 MOVIE TIMELINE AND HURLED INTO THE THEN PRESENT DAY OF THE COMIC SETTING. BUT HE DOESN'T COME BACK TO HEAL HISTORY, HE COMES BACK TO RULE IT. NOT AS MEGATRON REBORN, BUT AS GALVATRON UNLEASHED. THIS GALVATRON ISN'T CONTENT TO BECOME A PUPPET OF FATE, HE SEES THE PRESENT AS A BATTLEFIELD WHERE HE CAN CHANGE WHAT'S TO COME, BEND THE FUTURE TO HIS WILL. HE MANIPULATES. SHOCKWAVE, HE BATTLES MEGATRON, HE EVEN ATTEMPTS TO HARNESS AUTOBOT LEADER ULTRA MAGNUS AS A PAWN IN HIS SCHEME. EVERY MOVE HE MAKES IS AN ATTEMPT TO SEVER HIMSELF FROM THE DESTINY THAT HAUNTS HIM. BUT THERE IS A PARADOX IN THAT PURSUIT. GALVATRON DOESN'T JUST FIGHT HIS ENEMIES, HE FIGHTS TIME ITSELF. AND EVERY ACTION HE TAKES TO PREVENT THE FUTURE ONLY SOLIDIFIES IT. THE MORE HE TRIES TO DOMINATE THE TIMELINE, THE MORE HE BECOMES A PRISONER OF IT. EVEN THE AUTOBOTS AND DECEPTICONS HE CONFRONTS TREAT HIM LIKE A MYTH, AND A POSSIBLE ANOMALY. HE SPEAKS OF EVENTS NO ONE ELSE HAS SEEN, WARS THAT HAVEN'T HAPPENED, BETRAYALS YET TO COME, AND TRYING TO CONQUER TIME, GALVATRON BECOMES INCREASINGLY ISOLATED FROM IT. NO ONE BELIEVES HIM, NO ONE TRUSTS HIM, AND YET, HE CANNOT STOP PUSHING AGAINST THE FUTURE ONLY HE REMEMBERS. HE IS A LEADER WITH NO ARMY, A PROPHET WITH NO FOLLOWERS, AND A GOD WITH NO WORSHIPPERS. BUT THE TRAGEDY OF MARVEL'S GALVATRON DOESN'T STOP THERE, BECAUSE GALVATRON 1 ISN'T THE ONLY TIME-LOSS VERSION. GALVATRON 2 EMERGES AS SOMETHING FAR STRANGER, A TWISTED, ALTERNATE FUTURE VERSION OF MEGATRON CREATED THROUGH TIME DISPLACEMENT AND REALITY WARPING DURING EVENTS SURROUNDING THE TIME WARS AND G2 STORYLINES. HE'S NOT THE SAME GALVATRON WHO FOUGHT ULTRA MAGNUS. HE'S A NEW FRACTURE, A MIRROR IMAGE FORMED FROM A UNIVERSE WHERE THE WAR FOLLOWED A DIFFERENT PATH. AND YET, HE ENDS UP JUST LIKE THE FIRST. ALONE, UNSTABLE, AND CURSED BY FATE, GALVATRON 2 ARRIVES IN THE PRESENT NOT AS A CONQUEROR, BUT AS A REMINDER THAT TIME TRAVEL DOESN'T SAVE ANYONE. THAT POWER BROUGHT FROM THE FUTURE ONLY POISONS THE PAST. LIKE HIS PREDECESSOR, HE SEEKS TO AVOID. UNICRON'S LOOMING SHADOW. HE WANTS TO SIDESTEP DESTINY, CONQUER HIS FEAR, AND KILL HIS GOD. BUT EVEN WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH, HE FAILS. BECAUSE GALVATRON, IN ALL HIS FORMS, IS NOT THE MASTER OF TIMELINES. HE IS THEIR VICTIM. AND WHEN HE LASHES OUT, AGAINST HEROES, AGAINST FATE, AGAINST HIMSELF, WHAT HE'S TRULY FIGHTING IS THE UNBEARABLE TRUTH THAT NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES HE REWRITES THE STORY, HE ALWAYS ENDS UP THE VILLAIN. THAT'S THE CORE TRAGEDY OF MARVEL'S GALVATRON. HE HAS THE FIRE, HE HAS THE FORESIGHT, HE EVEN HAS THE SECOND CHANCE. BUT HE HAS NO ANCHOR, NO MEGATRON TO RETURN TO, NO FUTURE HE CAN TRUST, NO CAUSE LEFT TO BELIEVE IN. AND SO, HE BECOMES SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. A FORCE OF NATURE THAT CANNOT BE REASONED WITH. A MAD TYRANT CAUGHT BETWEEN TIMELINES, SLOWLY UNRAVELING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MEMORIES THAT NO ONE ELSE SHARES. IN THE TARGET 2006 ARC, WE SEE GALVATRON CLAIM THAT BY RESHAPING THE TIMELINE, HE WILL SAVE CYBERTRON. THAT HE WILL FREE HIMSELF FROM THE MISTAKES OF HIS PAST. BUT BY THE END, IT BECOMES CLEAR. GALVATRON'S GREATEST DELUSION ISN'T THAT HE THINKS HE CAN CONQUER THE TIMELINE. IT'S THAT HE BELIEVES HE CAN OUTRUN WHO HE TRIES. NO MATTER HOW FAR BACK HE TRAVELS, OR HOW VIOLENTLY HE TRIES TO REMAKE THE PRESENT, HE IS STILL GALVATRON. STILL THE ECHO OF A BROKEN MEGATRON. STILL THE BYPRODUCT OF. UNICRON'S CORRUPTION AND HIS OWN NEED FOR CONTROL. AND SO HIS STORY, ACROSS BOTH GALVATRON 1 AND 2, BECOMES A SPIRAL. A RECURSIVE COLLAPSE. TWO TYRANTS FROM TWO DIFFERENT FUTURES, TRYING TO MANIPULATE THEIR WAY OUT OF HELL, AND FINDING ONLY DEEPER LEVELS OF TORMENT. IT'S NOT TIME TRAVEL THAT DAMNS THEM, IT'S THE REASON FOR IT. THEY DON'T WANT TO LEARN FROM THE FUTURE, THEY WANT TO ERASE IT. BUT THE MORE THEY RUN FROM WHAT THEY'VE BECOME, THE MORE THEY PROVE THAT IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE. BECAUSE SURVIVAL ISN'T JUST ABOUT ESCAPING DEATH, IT'S ABOUT FACING WHO YOU WERE, AND WHO YOU MIGHT BECOME. IN GALVATRON, HE SURVIVES, AGAIN AND AGAIN, ACROSS TIMELINES AND SHATTERED REALITIES. BUT EACH VERSION GROWS MORE UNHINGED, MORE UNMOORED, MORE DESPERATE TO AVOID THE FATE THAT MADE HIM. UNTIL ALL THAT REMAINS, IS A TYRANT WITH NO TIMELINE LEFT TO RULE. BECAUSE YOU CAN SURVIVE THE TIMELINE, BUT NOT THE CONSEQUENCES. GALVATRON TRIED TO CONQUER TIME AND FAILED. BUT WHAT IF SURVIVAL COMES NOT FROM TIME, BUT FROM ENDLESS WAR? IN THE IDW CONTINUITY, GALVATRON IS IN A TWISTED ECHO OF THE FUTURE. HE'S A REMNANT OF THE PAST. A WARRIOR BORN IN AN AGE WHERE GODS STILL BLED, AND CYBERTRON HAS YET TO FRACTURE. BUT WHEN THE WAR ENDS, AND PEACE TAKES ROOT, WHAT BECOMES OF A GHOST ONLY FORGED BY VIOLENCE? BEFORE WE CONTINUE OUR DESCENT INTO GALVATRON, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP. DISASSEMBLED, HEROES AND VILLAINS DIVES DEEP INTO THE ICONS AND MONSTERS WHO SHAPE POP CULTURE. AND NEXT WEEK, WE FACE SOMETHING OLDER THAN FEAR. A WARRIOR FORGED IN HELLFIRE. A MORTAL MADE WEAPON. HE DOESN'T SPEAK. HE DOESN'T STOP. HE ONLY RIPS AND TEARS, UNTIL IT'S DONE. NEXT WEEK, WE UNLEASH THE DOOM SLAYER OF THE DOOM FRANCHISE. NOW, BACK TO GALVATRON, AND THE TYRANT WHO SURVIVED EVERYTHING, EXCEPT HIMSELF. HE WAS BORN FROM A DARKER AGE. ONE THAT PREDATES THE RISE OF OPTIMUS PRIME, THE DECEPTICON, OR EVEN THE GREAT WAR ITSELF. HE IS ANCIENT, BRUTAL. A WARLORD WHO FOUGHT IN THE FIRST. CYBERTRONIAN CIVIL WAR ALONGSIDE NOVA PRIME. LONG BEFORE THE RISE OF AUTOBOT AND DECEPTICON BANNERS, A CONQUEROR FORGED IN BLOOD, CONQUEST, AND THE DREAM OF A PURE CYBERTRON. NOVA PRIME'S REGIME PROMISED EXPANSION. GALVATRON DELIVERED IT THROUGH ANNIHILATION. HE BELIEVED IN THAT DREAM, IN PURGING WEAKNESS, AND THE DIVINE RIGHT OF. CYBERTRONIANS TO RULE THE GALAXY WITH COLD LOGIC AND IRON FIST. NOVA'S RHETORIC BECAME DOCTRINE. GALVATRON TURNED IT INTO GENOCIDE. BUT WHEN NOVA PRIME VANISHED INTO THE DEAD UNIVERSE, TAKING HIS CRUSADE AND HIS MOST LOYAL GENERAL WITH HIM, THE DREAM DIDN'T EVOLVE. IT DECAYED. AND WHEN GALVATRON RETURNED MILLIONS OF YEARS LATER, IT WASN'T AS A KING. IT WAS AS A GHOST. A REVENANT OF A FORGOTTEN AGE, WIELDING STRENGTH UNTEMPERED BY WISDOM. HIS BODY HAD ENDURED, BUT HIS PURPOSE HAD NOT. IN THE MODERN AGE, GALVATRON RE-EMERGES TO A WORLD THAT NO LONGER NEEDS HIM. THE DECEPTICONS ALREADY HAVE A LEADER. THE AUTOBOTS HAVE WON A THOUSAND WARS. THE CHAOS HE ONCE THRIVED IN HAS GIVEN WAY TO DIPLOMACY, RECONSTRUCTION, AND UNEASY PACE. AND HE HATES IT. GALVATRON FIGHTS BECAUSE HE BELIEVES IN A CAUSE, BUT BECAUSE BELIEF ITSELF IS ALIEN TO HIM, WHERE OTHERS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM OR TYRANNY OR BALANCE. GALVATRON FIGHTS FOR MOTION, FOR IMPACT, BECAUSE STILLNESS FEELS LIKE DEATH. HE CLASHES WITH CYCLONUS, WHOSE HAUNTING MELANCHOLY REFLECTS THE PAIN OF SURVIVAL. HE ATTEMPTS TO DOMINATE ARCEE, UNABLE TO GRASP THAT THIS WARRIOR ISN'T SOME FRAGILE RELIC OF THE OLD GUARD, BUT SOMETHING STRONGER, MORE EVOLVED. HE ALLIES WITH SCOURGE IN THE SWEEPS, SPECTERS OF A BYGONE TERROR, DESPERATE TO MATTER AGAIN. HE EVEN CLAIMS A DECEPTICON MANTLE, BUT HE NEVER EARNS IT. BECAUSE HE DOESN'T INSPIRE. HE INTIMIDATES. HE COMMANDS LOYALTY, NOT FEAR. AND FEAR FADES. IN DARK CYBERTRON, GALVATRON BECOMES A PAWN OF THE DEAD UNIVERSE. THE VERY REALM THAT ONCE GRANTED HIM TWISTED IMMORTALITY NOW SEEKS TO CONSUME HIM. HE TRIES TO TURN ENTROPY INTO A WEAPON, BELIEVING THAT HE CAN NOT RULE CYBERTRON. HE WILL NOT MAKE IT, INSTEAD. BUT ENTROPY DOESN'T OBEY. IT DEVOURS. EVEN AS HE STRIKES DOWN ANCIENT ENEMIES AND CROSSES SWORDS WITH THE GREATEST WARRIORS OF HIS AGE, HE BECOMES LESS A TYRANT AND MORE A SYMPTOM, A GLITCH IN HISTORY THAT REFUSES TO RESOLVE. DURING THE. COMBINER WARS AND THE ALL-HILL OPTIMUS ARCS, HE SEIZES CONTROL OF EARTH, NOT AS A LIBERATOR, BUT AS A CONQUEROR WHO MISTAKES BRUTALITY FOR STRENGTH. HE DOES NOT SEE A FRAGILE SPECIES STRUGGLING TO RISE. HE SEES AN ENEMY TO BE CRUSHED BENEATH CYBERTRONIAN DOMINANCE. BUT EARTH RESISTS. ITS PEOPLE RESIST. EVEN SOUNDWAVE, ONE OF THE LAST TRUE DECEPTICONS, AN ICON OF LOYALTY AND VISION, ABANDONS HIM. BECAUSE GALVATRON'S WAR IS NOT A REVOLUTION, IT'S A REGRESSION. HE SEES PIECES OF BETRAYAL, A UNITED CYBERTRON AS A WEAKNESS, WHERE OTHERS LOOK TO BUILD. GALVATRON SEES ONLY SOFTNESS TO BE BURNED AWAY. AND WHEN HIS LAST RAMPAGE COMES, IT ISN'T TO REDEEM AN OLD CAUSE. IT'S BECAUSE HE CAN'T IMAGINE BEING ANYTHING ELSE. HE IS WAR WITHOUT PURPOSE, POWER WITHOUT DIRECTION, A SWORD THAT NEVER LEARNED HOW TO BE SHEATHED. AND SO, OPTIMUS PRIME KILLS HIM. NOT IN WAR, NOT IN TRIUMPH, BUT IN MERCY. BECAUSE GALVATRON ISN'T A VILLAIN TO BE STOPPED. HE'S AN OLD, RABID DOG, TOO FAR GONE TO BE SAVED. AND WITH THAT, GALVATRON ENDS. NOT WITH A PROPHECY, NOT WITH FIRE, BUT WITH SILENCE. THAT'S THE TRAGEDY OF IDW'S GALVATRON. HE OUTLIVES THE WORLD THAT FORGED HIM. HE SURVIVES THE DEAD UNIVERSE. HE CHEATS DEATH AND DEFIES ENTROPY. BUT THERE'S NO PLACE LEFT FOR WHAT HE REPRESENTS. MUCH LIKE THE VERSIONS SEEN IN OTHER WORLDS, HE BECOMES POWER WITHOUT PLACE, PURPOSE WITHOUT MEANING. YOU CAN SURVIVE THE ABYSS. YOU CAN SURVIVE THE DEATH OF YOUR IDEOLOGY. BUT ONCE THE WAR ENDS, WHAT'S LEFT OF THE SOLDIER WHO EMBODIED THE WAR? GALVATRON ENDURED THE PAIN. AND THAT LED TO THE SADDEST ENDING OF THEM ALL. BECAUSE YOU CAN OUTLIVE YOUR ENEMIES. YOU CAN EVEN OUTLIVE YOUR GODS. BUT BY OUTLIVING YOUR ERA AND REFUSING TO ADAPT, YOU CAN OUTLIVE YOUR PURPOSE. AND THAT BECOMES A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH. WHEN THE BATTLE ENDS AND THE FLAGS FALL, AND THE NAMES FADE, WHO, REMEMBERS THE GHOST? WHO MOURNS THE WEAPON? WHO FEARS THE WARLORD WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO FIGHT FOR? NO ONE. BECAUSE GALVATRON DIDN'T FALL IN BATTLE. HE WAS ERODED AWAY BY THE SANDS OF TIME. SLOWLY, PAINFULLY. UNTIL THE UNIVERSE FORGOT WHAT HE WAS FIGHTING FOR. BUT GALVATRON'S TRAGEDY DOESN'T END IN IDW. IT ECHOES. ACROSS TIME. ACROSS SPACE. ACROSS FRACTURED TIMELINES AND DYING STARS. THERE ARE OTHER GALVATRONS. BORN FROM DESPERATION. SHAPED BY WAR. TRANSFORMED BY FORCES THEY COULD NEVER CONTROL. SOME RISE FROM THE ASHES OF MEGATRON'S CORPSE. OTHERS CLAW THEIR WAY OUT OF DEATH ITSELF. A FEW ARE REBORN BY HUMAN HANDS. STITCHED TOGETHER BY SCIENCE AND HUBRIS. BUT NO MATTER THE ORIGIN, THE END IS ALWAYS THE SAME. THEY SURVIVE. THEY EVOLVE. AND SLOWLY, INEVITABLY, THEY DECAY. GALVATRON SURVIVES. NOT JUST IN MEMORY. NOT JUST IN LEGEND. BUT ACROSS TIMELINES. ACROSS UNIVERSES. A MULTIVERSAL ECHO. EACH ONE MORE TWISTED THAN THE LAST. EACH GALVATRON A REFLECTION OF THE SAME TRUTH. WHEN SURVIVAL BECOMES OBSESSION, IDENTITY BECOMES A PRISON. IN BEAST WARS 2, GALVATRON IS NO LONGER A MAD PROPHET OR CORRUPTED SCIENTIST. HE IS COLD. TACTICAL. CONTROLLED. A CALCULATING WARLORD WHO LEADS THE PREDACONS WITH SHARP PRECISION AND RUTHLESS AMBITION. BUT BENEATH THE COMMAND, ISOLATION FESTERS. HIS GALVATRON IS NOT REVERED. HE IS FEARED. EVEN BY HIS MOST LOYAL WARRIORS. HE SEEKS POWER NOT AS A MEANS TO AN END. BUT AS A BALM FOR UNKNOWING EMPTINESS. HIS DESIRE TO HARNESS OKAMOI'S ENERGY. THE LIFE ESSENCE OF PLANETS IS NOT JUST FOR CONQUEST. IT'S TO FILL THE VOID. HE GROWS MORE ERRATIC. MORE VOLATILE. POWER BECOMES ADDICTION. UNTIL FINALLY, IT CONSUMES HIM. NOT IN FIRE. NOT IN GLORY. BUT IN SILENCE. A TYRANT OUTLIVED BY THE BEAST HE TRIED TO MASTER. BUT IF BEAST WARS 2 ITERATION OF GALVATRON SHOWED US THE COST OF CONTROL WITHOUT CONNECTION, THEN THE INCARNATION IN ROBOTS IN DISGUISE REVEALS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DESPERATION BECOMES TRANSFORMATION. IN R.I.D., GALVATRON IS BORN NOT FROM THE ANCIENT LEGEND. FROM A FINAL ACT OF DESPERATION. MEGATRON IS ALREADY FRACTURED. MAD. PARANOID. BUT WHEN DEFEAT LOOMS, HE PUSHES FURTHER. TRANSFORMING INTO GALVATRON THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF WILL. A MUTATION. A SURVIVAL MECHANISM. A LAST-DITCH EVOLUTION AGAINST IRRELEVANCE. THIS. GALVATRON ISN'T ASCENDING. HE IS UNRAVELING. THE MORE HE CHANGES, THE LESS HE BECOMES. NOT A LEGACY, BUT A MALFUNCTION. THERE'S NO IDEOLOGY. NO VISION. NO FUTURE. JUST ESCALATION. UNTIL EVEN HIS ENEMIES NO LONGER SEE A CONQUEROR. JUST A VIRUS THAT MUST BE PURGED. AND FROM THAT DOWNWARD SPIRAL, WE DESCEND FURTHER STILL. INTO THE GALVATRON OF THE UNICRON TRILOGY. WHERE SURVIVAL TWISTS NOT INTO EVOLUTION, BUT INTO DELUSION. IN ARMADA, ENERGON, AND CYBERTRON, GALVATRON'S LEGACY FRACTURES AGAIN. THIS TIME, INTO MADNESS. AT FIRST, HE IS SIMPLY MEGATRON REBORN. BUT EACH RESURRECTION PUSHES HIM FURTHER FROM SANITY. HE BEGINS TO BELIEVE IN DESTINY AND DIVINITY IN HIS OWN MYTH. BY ENERGON, GALVATRON WILLINGLY SURRENDERS HIMSELF TO UNICRON, HOPING TO TRANSCEND LIMITATION, BECOME SOMETHING MORE THAN A MACHINE, MORE THAN MORTAL. HE SUCCEEDS, AND THEN FAILS. FOR WITH EACH POWER-UP, EACH NEW FORM, EACH COSMIC REVELATION, GALVATRON LOSES HIMSELF. BY CYBERTRON, HE'S NO LONGER MEGATRON. HE'S BARELY GALVATRON. HE'S A SCREAMING STORM OF EGO AND MADNESS, DESPERATE TO MATTER IN A UNIVERSE THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED HIM BY. HE DOES NOT ASCEND, HE SPIRALS, UNTIL THE ONLY THING LEFT IS NOISE. BUT THERE IS STILL ONE FINAL ECHO, ONE FINAL GALVATRON, NOT A SPARK OR SOUL, BUT A MAN-MADE CIRCUITRY AND CODE. IN AGE OF EXTINCTION, GALVATRON IS NOT BORN. HE IS BUILT, CONSTRUCTED BY HUMANS, REVERSE-ENGINEERED FROM MEGATRON'S REMAINS, AND POWERED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. HE IS GALVATRON IN NAME ONLY, A FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER MADE OF ALGORITHMS AND AMBITION. BUT INSIDE HIM, MEGATRON'S SPARK LINGERS. HE MANIPULATES HIS CREATORS. SUBVERTS THEIR PROGRAMMING. RECLAIMS HIS FORM AND SECRET. BUT WHAT EMERGES NOT THE. DECEPTICON WARLORD OF OLD. IT IS SOMETHING COLDER. DETACHED. DISPASSIONATE. ROBOTIC IN MORE THAN JUST BODY. GALVATRON'S REBIRTH IN THIS WORLD IS NOT TRIUMPHANT. IT'S HOLLOW. A MACHINE WEARING THE CORPSE OF A TYRANT. PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING GREATER. HE IS NOT FEARED. HE IS NOT FOLLOWED. HE IS NOT MOURNED. AND SO, ACROSS EVERY CONTINUITY, WE SEE THE SAME PATTERN. STRENGTH WITHOUT SOUL, SURVIVAL WITHOUT EVOLUTION. THESE GALVATRONS COME FROM DIFFERENT ORIGINS. SOME MYTHICAL, SOME MECHANICAL, SOME FUELED BY AMBITION, OTHERS BY DESPERATION. BUT NONE OF THEM RETURN. NOT REALLY. EACH GALVATRON IS A WARNING. THAT SURVIVAL WITHOUT PURPOSE IS JUST DECAY IN SLOW MOTION. THAT POWER WITHOUT SELF-AWARENESS ALWAYS CONSUMES. THAT RESURRECTION WITHOUT REFLECTION IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR DAMNATION. THEY CLING TO LIFE NOT BECAUSE THEY HAVE HOPE, BUT BECAUSE THEY CANNOT IMAGINE LETTING GO. THEY GRASP AT THRONES LONG CRUMBLED, CHASE WARS LONG ENDED, AND SCREAM THEIR NAMES INTO A UNIVERSE THAT NO LONGER LISTENS. AND THAT IS THEIR SHARED FATE. NOT DEFEAT. OBSOLESCENCE. ACROSS EVERY WORLD, GALVATRON ENDURES. BUT IT'S NEVER REALLY HIM. NOT THE WARRIOR. NOT THE PROPHET, NOT EVEN THE TYRANT, JUST THE ECHO. HE CLINGS TO POWER BUT LOSES SELF. HE ESCAPES DEATH BUT BECOMES HOLLOW. AND IN EVERY CONTINUITY, HIS STORY ENDS THE SAME WAY. NOT WITH A BANG, NOT WITH GLORY, BUT WITH A WHISPER. FORGOTTEN, FRAGMENTED, ALONE. BECAUSE WHEN YOU REBUILD THE BODY BUT LEAVE THE SOUL BEHIND, WHAT'S LEFT? THERE ARE NO EMPIRES LEFT TO CONQUER, NO ENEMIES LEFT TO KILL, ONLY QUESTIONS. WHAT DID SURVIVAL COST HIM? WHAT DOES IT COST? AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE RAGE THAT ONCE KEPT YOU ALIVE BECOMES THE VERY THING THAT ERASES YOU? YOU CAN SURVIVE ANYTHING. WAR. BETRAYAL. OBLIVION. YOU CAN RISE FROM THE ASHES, REBUILD YOUR BODY, AND SCREAM YOUR NAME INTO ETERNITY. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU COME BACK. NOT REALLY. GALVATRON SURVIVES MORE THAN MOST. ACROSS TIMELINES, ACROSS WAR, ACROSS IDENTITIES. BUT WITH EACH RETURN, SOMETHING IS MISSING. NOT STRENGTH, NOT CUNNING, BUT SELF. BECAUSE SURVIVAL BY ITSELF IS NOT HEALING. IT'S A REFLEX. A HUNGER. A NEED TO KEEP GOING. EVEN WHEN THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO RETURN TO. HE CHASED POWER LIKE IT WAS PURPOSE. CONVINCED THAT IF HE BECAME STRONG ENOUGH, VAST ENOUGH, ETERNAL ENOUGH, THE PAIN WOULD DISAPPEAR. THE PAST WOULD STAY BURIED. THE FUTURE WOULD FINALLY SUBMIT. BUT WITHOUT CLARITY, AMBITION COLLAPSES IN ON ITSELF. THE LOUDER HE SCREAMED, THE MORE UNIVERSES MOVED ON WITHOUT HIM. THE MORE HE FOUGHT TO MATTER, THE MORE IRRELEVANT, HE BECAME. AND IN THAT EMPTINESS, THE MADNESS BLOOMED. HE RULED FROM THE SHADOWS, BARKED ORDERS NO ONE BELIEVED IN, LED ARMIES THAT FEARED HIM MORE THAN FOLLOWED HIM. HE TRIED TO FORCE CONNECTION THROUGH FEAR, THROUGH DOMINANCE, BUT ALL IT DID WAS DEEPEN THE SILENCE. ISOLATION TWISTED HIM, AND THE FURTHER HE SPIRALED, THE MORE HE TRIED TO ERASE THE PAST. LIKE IT WAS A VIRUS IN HIS CODE, HE WOULDN'T MOURN WHAT HE LOST. HE WOULDN'T GRIEVE WHAT HE BECAME, WOULDN'T ADMIT WHAT HE GAVE UP. INSTEAD, HE REMADE HIMSELF AGAIN AND AGAIN. MEGATRON, GALVATRON, SOMETHING ELSE. ANYTHING ELSE. BUT WHEN YOU LOOK BACK, YOU DON'T MOVE FORWARD, YOU JUST LOOP. EVERY TRANSFORMATION, ANOTHER ESCAPE. EVERY RESURRECTION, ANOTHER MASK. EVERY WAR, ANOTHER ECHO. UNTIL EVEN HIS ENEMIES COULDN'T TELL IF THEY WERE FIGHTING A TYRANT OR A GLITCH IN THE TIMELINE. HE THOUGHT THE MONSTER WAS SOMETHING HE MIGHT BECOME, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS INSIDE HIM. THE RAGE, THE EGO, THE FEAR OF BEING FORGOTTEN. GALVATRON WASN'T CORRUPTED BY POWER, HE WAS EXPOSED BY IT. AND THAT'S WHY HE NEVER TRULY RETURNS. BECAUSE THE PART OF HIM THAT COULD RETURN, THE CLARITY, THE CONSCIENCE, THE SOUL, IS LONG GONE. BURNED OUT IN THE CHASE, STARVED BY ISOLATION, DROWNED IN NOISE. THIS IS THE TRAGEDY OF GALVATRON. NOT THAT HE LOST, BUT THAT HE KEPT GOING, AND LOST EVERYTHING ELSE. SO WHAT DO WE TAKE FROM THIS? THAT ENDURANCE ISN'T ALWAYS STRENGTH. THE THING THAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE IN WAR. CAN KILL YOU IN PEACE. THAT REFUSING TO LET GO OF THE PAST DOESN'T MAKE YOU POWERFUL. IT CORRODES EVERYTHING THAT COMES AFTER. AND THE LONGER YOU RUN FROM YOURSELF, THE MORE YOU BECOME THE VERY THING YOU SWORE TO DESTROY. WE ALL KNOW THAT KIND OF HUNGER. TO FIX THE PAST BY DOMINATING THE FUTURE. TO OUTRUN THE PAIN BY MAKING YOURSELF UNBREAKABLE. BUT IF THERE'S NO PURPOSE BEHIND THE POWER, NO REFLECTION BEHIND THE RAGE, YOU DON'T EVOLVE. YOU DECAY. GALVATRON ISN'T JUST A VILLAIN. HE'S A WARNING. THAT IT'S POSSIBLE TO SURVIVE EVERYTHING, AND STILL LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND. MIND, BUT A SHADOW. THANK YOU FOR WALKING WITH US THROUGH THE TORMENT, TRIUMPH, AND TRAGEDY OF GALVATRON. ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE, HE SURVIVES. DEATH THROUGH TIME, THROUGH THE VERY UNRAVELING OF HISTORY ITSELF. BUT FOR ALL HIS POWER, FOR ALL HIS TRANSFORMATIONS, GALVATRON WAS NEVER REBORN. BECAUSE RESURRECTION WITHOUT REFLECTION IS JUST PERSISTENCE WITHOUT PURPOSE. HE WASN'T A PHOENIX. HE WAS A REVENANT, DRAGGED FROM THE FIRE AGAIN AND AGAIN, BUT NEVER ALLOWED TO HEAL, NEVER ALLOWED TO CHANGE. THE WARS ENDED, THE FACTIONS CRUMBLED, EVEN THE LEGENDS FADED. BUT GALVATRON? HE KEPT FIGHTING, KEPT CLAWING HIS WAY THROUGH THE TIMELINES THAT NO LONGER WANTED HIM, CHASING PURPOSE AND A FUTURE THAT HAD MOVED ON. WITH EVERY RETURN, HE LOST SOMETHING DEEPER. NOT HIS BODY, NOT HIS MIND, BUT THE SOUL THAT ONCE BELIEVED THAT SURVIVAL MEANT SOMETHING. IN THE END, HE DIDN'T ESCAPE DEATH. HE BECAME WHAT IT LEFT BEHIND, A GHOST IN THE ARMOR OF A KING, A SCREAM WITHOUT A MOUTH, A MONUMENT TO EVERYTHING RAGE CAN DESTROY WHEN IT REFUSES TO LET GO. AND THAT'S WHY GALVATRON HAUNTS US. BECAUSE WE ALL WALK THROUGH THE FIRE, WE ALL CARRY PAIN, BURNED BRIDGES, BROKEN VERSIONS OF OURSELVES. AND SOMETIMES, WE CAN CONVINCE OURSELVES THAT SURVIVING IS ENOUGH. THAT IF WE JUST KEEP PUSHING, KEEP BUILDING, KEEP DOMINATING, THE DAMAGE WON'T CATCH UP. BUT SURVIVAL ISN'T HEALING. IT'S THE START OF A QUESTION. WHO ARE YOU NOW? BECAUSE WHAT WALKS OUT OF THE FIRE, THAT PART IS STILL YOURS TO CHOOSE. GALVATRON CHOSE TO BECOME THE WOUND, TO WEAR IT LIKE A CROWN, TO TURN HIS FEAR OF BEING FORGOTTEN INTO A DESTINY THAT NEVER ENDS. THAT NO ONE WOULD WANT TO REMEMBER. HE COULD HAVE CHANGED, COULD HAVE PAUSED, COULD HAVE ASKED WHY. BUT INSTEAD, HE ROARED, AND THE UNIVERSE MOVED ON. SO REMEMBER, YOU CAN SURVIVE ANYTHING, BUT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE WHEN THE FIRE FADES, YOU'LL BURN EVERYTHING JUST TO FEEL ALIVE. SO STAY REFLECTIVE, STAY AWARE, AND AS ALWAYS, STAY HANDSOME. AND REMEMBER, YOU DON'T ESCAPE YOUR DEMONS BY BECOMING STRONGER. YOU ESCAPE THEM BY BECOMING WHOLE.