LG-EX Grand Maximus

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"LG-EX Grand Maximus" LG-EX グランドマキシマス
First published	2018 March 31
Manga	Hayato Sakamoto
Continuity	G1 World, Legends World
Packaged with	Legends LGEX Grand Maximus

When Devil Z reveals his true identity and makes his move to destroy all life, only Grand Maximus and the Masterforce warriors can stop him.

Synopsis

The Autobot Matrix of Leadership records the bearer's life and experiences, their "wisdom", and converts it into an all-purpose form of energy. It was created by Primacron, a scientist said to have existed since the dawn of time, who built it into his assistant, the Oracle, before they went on to create the ultimate planet robot, Unicron. Upon learning that the wisdom of the Matrix was the only thing that could match his power, Unicron rebelled against Primacron and destroyed the Oracle, who survived by transferring his being into the Matrix. He fled to the center of the galaxy and emptied the Matrix into a planet, becoming an embodiment of its wisdom and fusing with the world that would one day become Cybertron. The planet was later settled by the Quintessons, who discovered the Oracle's power and confined it within Vector Sigma, a supercomputer they controlled using a Key with which they then mechanized the planet. The aliens used Vector Sigma to manufacture intelligent slave robots who later rose up and claimed the planet for themselves, recovering the Matrix in the process. Finding it full of evil energy after years of absorbing the Quintessons' wisdom, they emptied it out and disposed of the energy.

This is the story told by Devil Z, who is none other than that very discarded Matrix energy! During police interrogation, the captured being explains that his motive is revenge against the universe for being discarded, and that thousands of years ago he stole unprogrammed Powermaster bodies from the G Nebula 89 factory and brought them to Earth to be infused with the planet's Zodiac and Angolmois Energy, transforming them into Godmasters. Furthermore, he himself absorbed the same energies to evolve: the true meaning of his name is "Devil Zodiac". With this revelation, he taps into Shinchōkon, breaks his restraints and summons the brainwashed Scorponok from the G1 World, where he's been busy enslaving Beastformers and using them to build a new BlackZarak transtector. With Scorponok as his Headmaster and Devil Z in his abdomen as a Getmaster power source, BlackZarak makes short work of the Decepticon Headmasters when Mindwipe attempts to exorcise Devil Z, then announces his plan—he will kill all beings in the Legends World so that its energies will feed only him: Devil Z will become the Legends World and use its Shinchōkon to dominate other universes. Katsu Don explains that this is why he wanted to destroy the world entirely, its energies being dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.

Gran then arrives through a portal to battle Devil Z, leaving his human Pretender shell to form the head of Grand. Devil Z doesn't understand why a robot would transform into a human, so Grand explains that he's a follower of their creator's, the Oracle's, belief that true peace can only be achieved when machines and living beings come together. It all began with the Oracle himself being a beast-type robot who believed that infusing machines with life, thus granting robots instincts, was the road to peace. His first creations were the Trans-Organics, failures who only inherited the rage of wild beasts and cruelty of machines, but in recent years the Transformers have come far and invented the Powermaster fusion between robots and humans. Grand hopes that one day, they will come so far as to create a new type of life that is equally organic and mechanical. Speaking through a Synapse, the computer of the G Nebula factory explains that it was created by the Oracle for the purpose of pursuing this goal after he was forced by the Quintessons to create purely mechanical beings. Its research has led to the creation of the many Masterforce warriors who now activate their suits and join the fray.

Grand has built a new Grand Maximus transtector the same size as Fortress's for the sake of battling BlackZarak, causing Fortress to protest since his brother doesn't have the training to control it, but Grand is intent on showing that he can be just as useful. He forms Grand Maximus and joins forces with the Shinchōkon-powered God Ginrai wielding a combined Shaoshao, Sue, and White Lune, exclaiming that if even Devil Z is wielding the power of the gods in Shinchōkon, they can overcome it with their Super-God Masterforce! After spouting some platitudes that true strength lies in the pursuit of peace, Grand Maximus cleaves BlackZarak in two. He then chastises the Zamojin for trying to destroy the world, telling them that'd make them as bad as Devil Z and that the people of the Legends World can overcome any danger as long they work together. Plus, he can't let them destroy the only world where Fortress's condition can be treated. Grand finally reaches his limit and collapses, and when Fortress comes to his aid, he expresses his amazement that his brother does this sort of thing all the time and jokes that at least they can now receive treatment together.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• After remaining an enigma for thirty years, Devil Z is finally given a proper origin in this story, one containing a multitude of continuity references and retcons in typical Sakamoto fashion:
  • The creation of Unicron by Primacron and his assistant, and Unicron's subsequent rebellion against the two, was first witnessed in the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Call of the Primitives".
  • Originally given no actual origin of its own in the cartoon, the Matrix of Leadership is stated by Devil Z to have been created by Primacron, based on an originally-unexplained scene in "Call of the Primitives" that showed what very much looked like the Matrix rising out of the destroyed body of Primacron's assistant after being attacked by the defiant Unicron—Three years after this story's release, the Generations Selects Special Comic finale (also penned by Sakamoto) would insinuate that the Matrix was created not by Primacron but instead by another Matrix, but the backstory given here is told from Devil Z's perspective, so he may have only thought that Primacron made the Matrix without knowing the full story.
  • It is explained here why the Matrix is the only thing that could destroy Unicron (as was originally given in The Transformers: The Movie): The Matrix records the life and experiences of its wielder and converts the acquired wisdom into an all-powerful energy that contains such tremendous wisdom capable of overwhelming great evil power. This is derived from additional information given about the Matrix in the episodes "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" and "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2". The nature of the Matrix's energy and its anti-Unicron power would be further explored in the aforementioned Generations Selects Special Comic finale.
  • Primacron's assistant, the Oracle, coming to reside on a planet in the center of the galaxy also comes from "Call of the Primitives". What is new is the fact that the Oracle had become one with the Matrix and emptied its contents into said planet for the express purpose of building up its power to one day defeat Unicron. This is part of a larger retcon that was done in the second year of Kiss Players, in which the character of Primus was first brought into the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity, and was declared to be not only Primacron's Oracle assistant but also Vector Sigma, the supercomputer that gave life to all Cybertronians first introduced in "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1", and which was said to have predated Cybertron itself.
  • As further part of the Primus retcon, it is stated here that the Oracle's planet was ultimately colonized by the Quintessons, who trapped the Oracle within Vector Sigma and used the Key to Vector Sigma to transform the planet into the metallic world of Cybertron. This is meant to reconcile a number of things from both the Generation 1 and Beast Machines cartoons. The former stated that Cybertron had once been a factory world built by the Quintessons (in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4") while the latter declared Cybertron had originally been an organic world. The Key to Vector Sigma is used here as the explanation for how the Oracle's original organic planet was mechanized into Cybertron. Though, in its second debut episode, "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2" the key's ability to change organic matter into metal was originally treated as just an anomalous effect the key displayed while on Earth; Beast Machines later depicted it as just a normal property of the key.
  • The Quintessons' rule of Cybertron, their creation of the Transformers, and their being driven off the planet by said creations were all first depicted in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4". Some of the early-model robots from that episode (based on the design and colors of Rodimus Prime) are shown being created here, with Vector Sigma seen giving them life.
  • It is stated here for the first time ever that the Quintessons were in possession of the Matrix of Leadership before it fell into the hands of the Cybertronians during their rebellion. Throughout the flashback in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" that originally explained the history between Cybertron and the Quintessons, at no point was there any indication that the Matrix had ever belonged to the Quintessons, so this a new development. Of course, the flashback never actually explained where the Matrix had come from either (it didn't first appear in the flashback until long after the slave revolt, during the first war between the Autobots and Decepticons, being passed from its fourth bearer to its fifth), but the original implication was that its first three bearers had already had it back both before and during the slave revolt. This just means that each of those three both lived and received the Matrix later than the flashback would lead one to expect, after the Matrix had first been taken from the Quintessons.
  • Finally, it is revealed that, when the Quintessons controlled the Matrix, the life and experiences it took from them was converted into an evil energy. When the Cybertronians claimed the Matrix from the Quintessons, the evil energy within it was expunged and dumped out to the far reaches of the universe, and ultimately evolved into Devil Z. This is meant to align with what little was said of Devil Z's origin in the Super-God Masterforce direct-to-video featurette "Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!", in which Grand mentioned that Devil Z hailed from "the far reaches of the universe".
• Devil Z was previously arrested and placed into police custody (where he remains at the start of this story) back in Vol. 60.
• This chapter builds on revelations from Vol. 35 to further resolve mysteries surrounding the Godmasters left over from Super-God Masterforce. That earlier chapter revealed that the Transtectors were found thousands of years ago in the G Nebula, and it is here explained they were built there by an automated factory, run by a computer created by the Oracle.
  • The Transtectors are further explained to have been created to become Powermasters, only being turned into the Chōkon Power-manipulating Godmasters through Devil Z's interference. Back in the day, "Godmaster" was just the Japanese name for the toys Hasbro called "Powermasters" in their markets, but the American version of Powermaster technology would be introduced into Japanese lore in later years, through the release of the "Nucleon Quest" Optimus Prime figure in 2001, and this story helps fold the two concepts together, explaining their similarity.
• Moving away from the theological themes of Masterforce, which depicted Godmasters as having control of "Tenchōkon" (the "power of Heaven", the "ultimate energy of the growing universe") and "Chichōkon" (the "power of Earth," the energy that gives life to everything on the planet), this chapter reconciles these vague, spiritual powers with other established energies from Japanese Transformers lore. Tenchōkon is retconned into being the power of the Zodiac, the force that created the universe (with Devil Z even revealing his true name to be "Devil Zodiac"), while Chichōkon is Angolmois Energy, the lifeforce of Unicron that was originally said to be the "sacred life energy" of the Earth. Both these energies were established as being hidden deep within the Earth since its ancient days by previous pieces of Japanese media; the Zodiac being hidden on Earth was a plot point in Zone, while Angolmois Energy was first shown to be inside the planet in Beast Wars II and later shown to have been sealed within it in Kiss Players.
• Scorponok had previously been under Devil Z's command as BlackZarak during the Super-God Masterforce cartoon, with "Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!" explaining that Devil Z had brainwashed him into loyal servant. Here, he is shown brainwashed by Devil Z once more.
• The new BlackZarak Transtector is said to have been built by Beastformers that Scorponok had enslaved. He had previously enslaved them to construct his "MegaZarak" Transtector back in The Headmasters cartoon.
• Katsu Don has been trying to destroy the Legends World for some time now, and finally reveals the reason why in this story: Since the Legends World is full of Shinchōkon, which holds the power to make one's dreams and desires come true, the results would be catastrophic if its power were to ever fall into the wrong hands.
• Devil Z recognizes Grand Maximus as having previously interfered with his plans, which happened in Super-God Masterforce.
• Furthering the big Primus/Oracle/Vector Sigma retcon, several elements from The Transformers, Super-God Masterforce, and Beast Machines are all brought together to created one grand unified ambition of the Oracle. Grand explains that the Oracle wishes to bring peace and harmony to the universe by creating harmony between the organic and the technological, in direct reference to the other Oracle from Beast Machines (who is also part of the big Primus/Oracle/Vector Sigma gestalt). The Trans-Organics from "The Dweller in the Depths" are stated here to be a flawed early attempt at creating such a fusion of the two, while things like Pretenders, Powermasters, and Master-Braces being more refined attempts. The Beast Machines version of Optimus Primal, as well as Lio Convoy and Big Convoy, are depicted as examples of the technorganic life yet to come in the far future, which is here made out to be the ultimate realization of Primus/the Oracle's vision.
• The computer of the G Nebula 89 factory speaking through a Synapse drone was first shown way back in Vol. 35, although it only showed a shadowy silhouette of that drone.
• Grand cries out "Super-Colossal Big Transform!" (超巨大ビッグトランスフォーム！ Chō-Kyodai Biggu Toransufōmu!) to begin the transformation process of his new Maximus Transtector. In Super-God Masterforce, he merely said "Big Transform!" (ビッグトランスフォーム！ Biggu Toransufōmu!) to switch between modes, so the addition of "Super-Colossal" makes this an upgrade of that transformation. Plus, that part also calls to mind how, in Car Robots, Fire Convoy and God Magnus would shout "Super-Colossal Fusion!" (超巨大合体 Chō-Kyodai Gattai!) to form God Fire Convoy—a phrase that was itself an upgrade of Fire Convoy's "Colossal Fusion!" (巨大合体 Kyodai Gattai!) phrase to become Super Fire Convoy.
• Fortress's condition was introduced in "LG31 Fortress Maximus" and its rare cure in "LG33 Highbrow".
• Grand's summoning his own Master Sword to combine with his Maximus Transtector echoes Fortress's own transformation into Fortress Maximus, using his own sword of the same name to fuse with Battleship Maximus, as first seen in The Headmasters episode "Head On!! Fortress Maximus". By contrast, throughout the Super-God Masterforce cartoon, Grand never had to use a sword to transform into Grand Maximus. His original toy did come with one, though, named the Master Blade, and which he only used in the eighth chapter of the Super-Gold Masterforce manga.
• When charging into battle, Grand Maximus tells God Ginrai to hop onto his back, likely in reference to the multiple times when God Ginrai would ride atop Grand Maximus's battleship mode in Super-God Masterforce.
• Grand Maximus announces that he and his united Masterforce allies are the "Super-God Masterforce", an obvious reference to the series of the same name.

Transformers references

• The new BlackZarak's body is a recolor of the Titans Return Twinferno mold in reference to the two-headed serpent mode he used while controlled by Devil Z in "A Battle... and Then...", the Scorponok Headmaster is a recolor of Titans Return Scorponok, and the trident is a red recolor of the one that comes with Hunt for the Decepticons Terradive.
• Grand's Pretender shell is a recolored Waverider/Diver-style decoy armor that would have come with Legends Grand Maximus had it reached enough pre-orders.
• The combined Targetmaster form of Shaoshao Li, Sue Faireborn, and White Lune looks to be yet another one of Hayato Sakamoto's attempts of coming up with new modes after fiddling around with the toys.

Errors

• The depiction of Unicron blasting the Oracle shows the former in his planet mode, when in "Call of the Primitives", Unicron was shown to be in his robot mode when he blasted eye beams at Primacron's lab. Furthermore, Unicron's planet mode is colored solid yellow instead of yellow, gray, and blue.

References

• Complete translation of "LG-EX Grand Maximus