Due out Wednesday, March 5, 2008.

Well, I felt the issue read more like one really long Mosaic than any of the usual plot-relevant Spotlights.

Guido's art was delicious, though.

Yeah, quite a thin read.

Not polarizing or impacting either way, just kinda...there.

At least no one's grossly out of character and there's no useless fanwank.

Guidi and Josh handle the art quite well, as expected.

I enjoyed it. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Shattered Glass, but this was just as good. Sure it probably had no relevant impact on the mainline story. But it's nice to have true one shots like this and Ramjet every once in a while.

Also, it did kinda bug me that this seems to take place in the 'future' of the IDW storyline, what with Mirage being on Earth there at the end. And if bringing Mirage into the main story is what it takes to get Hound to quit the overbearing drill seargent routine, I say bring him in ASAP.

This was well NOT bad not good. Just kind of there. So is this after Devastation? I have not read that arc I was waiting for trade paperback.

can we get a summary?

SPACE FOR SPOILERS












OKAY, ENOUGH


Mirage is dreaming... but in his dreams, for some reason, he's an Autobot.

A Decepticon Mirage is in contact with Megatron, arguing over a deal... Mirage has promised to hand over the Autobots and help Megatron earn a decisive victory in exchange for a majority share in all energon mining operations.

In the Pegasus Star Cluster, Ratchet is tending to an unconscious, wounded Jetfire while Prime and Hound discuss a cross-dimensional energy source they're observing, called Zodiac Energy. A figure trips the security perimeter alarm -- it's Bumblebee reporting that the Decepticons ambushed and killed his team. Once Hound confirms that "we're all that's left," Bumblebee blasts the security grid computer... and reveals himself as Mirage.

Starscream, Soundwave, Blitzwing and Astrotrain burst in. Mirage asks Prime to surrender -- Prime, of course, doesn't -- and the battle begins in earnest. In the heat of battle, Prime and the Autobots put down the triple changers but Mirage points a gun to the unconscious Jetfire's head and has Prime surrender on the condition that the Autobots won't be harmed. Hound voices caution, but relents.

Mirage observes the Zodiac Energy containment field -- "nothing; an empty mirror," Hound retorts -- and contacts Megatron reporting the surrender. Megs, of course, demands that Mirage kill his captives. The reluctant Mirage considers awhile, then knocks Hound down and points a spear at him -- while being called to by an indignant Prime, who says "we were friends once, before the war," and asks Mirage to reconsider as he's not a murderer.

Prime doesn't know what Mirage is.

Mirage runs Hound through, at which point Prime breaks free from the Decepticons holding him and knocks Mirage through the Zodiac field and causes an explosion.

Hound waked up a blasted and bruised Mirage, who takes some time to recuperate in a chamber. He reflects that the dream is always the same, with time shifting back and forth, with the most disturbing thing being that in the dream... he's a Decepticon.
======

the rest of the issue contains a one-and-a-half page interview with Chris Ryall about Reign of Starscream [TFTM], and ads -- including the kickass Scarface-style Focus On Decepticons ad [with Don art].

Mirage has a dream of an alternate reality where he is and has always been a Decepticon.

With his help, the Cons hunt down the last remaining Autobots, Prime, Hound, Ratchet, and Jetfire.

They fight.

Mirage points a gun at the wounded Jetfire's head, and Prime surrenders to ensure the safety of his remaining troops. Mirage agrees.

Only Megatron orders the Autobots executed. Prime pleads with Mirage not to do it, he doesn't think Mirage is a killer at heart.

Except Mirage apparently IS and executes Hound.

Enraged, Prime knocks Mirage into an energy source the Autobots had been refining and everyone explodes.

Except it was a dream.

This wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought Mirage would get knocked into a parallel dimension where he was a Decepticon, play-act the part of his double for a time to see "how the other side lives", but ultimately realize the inherent depravity of the Decepticon cause.

This...I don't know WHAT this was. It starts with some completely random alternate universe where Mirage is a Decepticon and ends with...something. Did "Evil Mirage" and "Heroic Mirage" somehow pull a Mirror, Mirror switch? Did some of each Mirage's memories get lingeringly mixed with the other's? And who was "Heroic Mirage" anyway? Is this the future of IDW? Is it some other universe entirely?

The whole issue was a great big "Huh?!"

I was thinking it was that too. I haven't gotten it yet it sounds really weird.

Hmm... Sounds like what their trying to show is that Mirage is curious with what it would be like if he joined the other side instead. Probably because of how he lost his wealth. I doubt it's any alternate universe kind of stuff. Just what Mirage is subconciously wondering about if he had made a different choice. Which seems to fit the character.

I'll be disapointed if this turns into some alt reality switcharoo thing. Really hope this just sets up for the character betraying the Autobots in the future and then learning his lesson from it or something.

This was just bad.......really, really bad.......I don't even think this isssue is worth discussing, is was that bad.

Anyways, save your money I'd say.

People seem to be missing that Mirages seem to have actually been swapped. The Zodiac field has "cross-dimensional qualities" or whatever. Mirage gets shoved into it, lands into an alternate universe. In "our" universe, he was a Decepticon in the other, but got shunted over here. But he's damaged, and he has these dreams.

That's what I pulled away from it, anyway.

The Mirage in "our" universe used to be a Decepticon.

I'm pretty sure that's what everyone was expecting...the fact that it's not is surprising.

Why is it this make total sense to me, while not making sense to me?

I actually wondered if that was what happened... But then, they weren't very clear in some aspects. Most notably seeing both Mirage and Hound on Earth. If Mirage had been found by, say, Bumblebee... and if Bumblebee expressed confusion on Mirage suddenly popping in out of nowhere... That I could've dealt with. It would take no effort at all to say that this happened between Escalation and Devastation, and that Mirage was in the CR chamber for the whole...what? 4 hours Devastation takes place in? Yeah, I'd say that was completely believable.

I'm not so sure they've been swapped. In the end, Autobot Mirage is seen driving while still thinking he's an Autobot (no realization that he's a Decepticon from another universe). Plus the dream is recurring..... Unless Mirage is in what's called a causal loop. This is where one event causes another, but the event won't happen unless the being goes back in time to cause it (only this would be cross dimensionally as well), and the completion of the event is him going back in time to cause the event in another universe (over and over again)....

This could be why we don't see him in the ongoing. He's stuck in a causal loop and affectively disappears. Now that would truly be a sucky existence. Although, in such a situation, one would continue to age, because the person / being would still be going forward, and sending himself back.

SLAG you Walky! I was thinking the same thing ... and wanted to say it first...
Then again I am only going off of LastMaximal's summary because I haven't read this issue yet.
The Idea hit me when he added "Prime doesn't know what Mirage is."

I think that line will still hold true in this "verse"

I don't think that's the case. Both Mirages seem to have perfectly normal memories of the universes they're supposed to be in. I think that Deceptirage's contact with the Zodiac field just caised his mind to touch his alternate counterpart's mind for a moment. Some things were transferred through the bleed, and that's why they're having these dreams.

I liked the idea a lot, but there's basically no delving into the characters' motives. Why would Mirage join the Decepticons? Why would he join the Autobots? I can immediately think of a very plausible explanation for each but it should be in the story. Moreover, we get no information about Autorage at all. Grante,d yes, the target audience knows him, but since he's never even appeared in IDW before I would have liked... something. This is a good standalone story without that, but I kind of wanted more.

When could this even be set? Well after the next -ation, I suppose. Weird.

I looked back over it, and it's definitely autorage encountering his own universe's side of the Zodiac on page 2. He's got his shoulder-mounted disruptor, and neither he nor Hound have their shoulder things in the other universe.

Unless Walky's theory is correct, we got a Spotlight without ANY character development for our Mirage beyond the fact he has dreams.

...yay.

Mirage didn't have his shoulder weapon in Spotlight: Blaster...

Okay: Let's break it down clearly: Two Mirages, one Autobot, one Decepticon, are dreaming about life experiences the other has had, most likely due to them coming into contact with the Zodiac energy at some point (D-Con Mirage on his mission, A-Bot Mirage on...who knows when?) and swapping memories across dimensions.

At the beginning, the Decepticon Mirage is dreaming random snippets of the Autobot Mirage's life while in stasis (For instance, I guess we can look forward maybe to Starscream stabbing Prime in the chest. ^ ^ Ouch! Like the Decepticon says, these memories span a large period of time and are disjointed. ) Then he wakes up and goes on his mission. At the end of the issue, it's revealed that his memories of his experiences on this mission were being dreamed by the Autobot version of Mirage. So to each of them, these memories are just a dream, when in reality, they're memories swapped from their alternate universe counterparts.

So each of them is carrying a piece of the other inside him now. This means that the Mirage who's a Decepticon has the potential for good (Maybe his hesitation at first to off the Autobots despite Megatron's orders was evidence of this) and the Mirage who's an Autobot has been tainted by his counterpart's memories and thus has the potential to do ill. So they haven't crossed over physically, but rather psychologically mingled.

The first time I read it, I went "That was interesting, but huh? Pretty art! ^_^). Second time I read it, I think I got it.

From what I can tell, this probably takes place in the near future, since Mirage isn't on Earth yet in the current storyline.

Neat read. One thing I found cool was how there were parallel experiences in both universes, but they weren't quite the same. For instance, Mirage stabbing Hound in the chest vs. Starscream stabbing Prime. ^ ^

But hasn't "Autobot" Mirage (i.e. G1 Mirage) always had the potential to do ill/evil, because of his want to abandon the Autobots? He's always been depicted as selfish, and that has been the root of his weakness as an Autobot.

This sounds like an interesting story, but if it's supposed to be a new explanation as to why Mirage may not be the best of Autobots, I don't think it's necessary.

What I'm really interested in are Ryall's comments of All Hail Megatron, Reign of Starscream, and Focus on Decepticons. Someone please fill us in on that!

my bad; it's actually mostly about Reign of Starscream [art by Alex Milne]. All Hail is only mentioned peripherally when they say Megs' absence from the TFTM comic doesn't affect [extend into, likely] their other titles.

basically, Ryall and Mowry say it'll delve into the personalities and interaction of Screamer and "a few so-far-unnamed others" -- a Screamer who is "smart and lethal... VERY lethal."

Promises of more action than was in the movie and prequel, and a possible look at what "how the Decepticons [got] to Earth before the Autobots." [eek, i hope it's not a THIRD way as compared to the already-conflicting prequels.]

In response to a question about new characters, Mowry notes that some familiar and all-new characters will appear.

Well, I didn't mean that he was a pure being and coming into contact with the good/bad version would make him good or bad. I was more thinking that he has the potential to be either, as the 'two Mirages who made different choices' scenario suggests, and suddenly having memories of a life where he chose the route of the Decepticons might tempt or confuse the Autobot one into following some of his less noble instincts. Or alternately, dreaming of a life where he did good might encourage the Decepticon one to rethink the decisions he made to a certain extent, or at least hesitate (As he does briefly in the story when he seems not-so-thrilled with the idea of Megatron having the last handful of Autobots in existence murdered.)

The Con one is hardly written as pure evil. It seems the implication is that Mirage was between factions in terms of morality, and in one universe went for the Decepticons because he was pursuing his greed. (His interest in monetary compensation is driven home when he tries to negotiate terms with Megatron, asking for a share in Energon mining and such, and he hunts Autobots for bucks.)

He's portrayed (In his Decepticon form) as a very mercenary character, and hesitant to go to the extreme lengths that Megatron as a devoted Con, wants (Exterminating ALL of the Autobots.), meaning he's neither pure bad nor a hardcore committed Con.

In fact, the Prime from the evil Mirage's universe gives him a heartfelt plea to reconsider his ways, saying that Prime knows this isn't Mirage's genuine character and tempting him to join them. (What I liked in that scene was that after hearing that plea, Mirage stabbed Hound in the chest anyway, saying Prime knew NOTHING about him, instead of, say, turning on the Decepticons and becoming an insta-good guy, which wouldn't have rung true. I got the impression that there was a great deal of bitterness in Mirage's stabbing Hound, too...like he'd really felt misunderstood by the Autobots and thus alienated.)

What's a bit odd is that we now know a relatively large amount of info about the 'Con Mirage, and little to none about how he is as an Autobot, except for a few flashbacks. But I'm guessing he's going to join the main story very soon (In his Autobot form), so we'll get to see that side fleshed out. If anything, should be more interesting to see him in that capacity knowing that there's more going on in his head than outward appearances would suggest.

I re-read it and I'm still confused... paralell universese? 2 Mirages?

I'm just gonna go with Mirage was dreaming about being an Autobot who was dreaming about being a Decepticon. That's slightly less confusing. Maybe Mirage hasn't sworn alliegance to either side yet.

So there was no Mirage in our universe prior to this one? Ummm...this issue left me feeling like I had watched an episode of Lost...and not one of the good ones.

There's good episodes of Lost?

I said absolutely nothing of the sort.

So will the universe implode when Blaster shows up and reveals that the other Mirage is still working at the space station?

Yeah, but I'd chalk that up to different body and different artist. I don't think any actual universe-swapping is implied in this story.

Finally read it and I'll agree with some of the earlier comments that this feels more like a Mosaic piece than adding to the current IDW-verse. UNLESS Zodiac Energy (Huzzah for a Zone reference) gets mentioned in the main line. I like how Hound compares the energy like trying to eat a reflection, or they have better luck trying to eat a hologram.

On Mirage, mildly intriguing on a Mirror-verse-esqe concept, but nothing quite new. I do like how one of the limbs is covering his faction symbol near the end while he's in repair with the red speech bubble frame before him in alt-mode with the Autobot symbol at the end.

Yeah, I'd say you pretty much nailed it right on the head. Zodiac Energy must come into play later, perhaps in Revelation, and I'd bet we see A-Bot Mirage's part of the story then. His mission that we see snippets of in the Spotlight, I mean, where he ends up half dead. It's almost like this is a sequel to a storyline that hasn't even happened yet. Kind of neat. (If I'm right, I mean...)

I'm a little interested in Prime's line toward's the end, though.



Now, that was Prime talking to D-Con Mirage. I wonder which Decepticon (if any) says a similar line to A-Bot Mirage when/if we see the rest of his side of the story? I really want to...

Picked this up. All somewhat confusing, but interesting.

Interesting to note that in the Regeneration cycle panels, Mirage is being tended by the aliens from Spotlight Galvatron.

(Similaly, one of the reapers in Devestation #3 is the same race as the guy Kup kills at the start of his spotlight.)

Hmm--the aliens in the Galvatron issue are similar, but not *quite* the same things. Comparing them, Mirage's look more like they're just repair bots. But Guido did the art in both issues, so good catch on their being similarity between the two designs. ^ ^

I'm more interested in reading this than I was Arcee...

I was somewhat enticed by the idea of the zodiac being in the IDW-verse. But it was all a dream. If there was any sort of dimensional imprinting or whatever going on, that would be quite nice - but if such is the case, then the story did a poor job of showing it.
Guido's art was sharp as usual - but Mirage's design simply isn't as suited to his style as the current design of Galvatron.

Nothing especially bad or wrong with this issue.
But nothing jumped out at me either - nothing of consequence anyway,

not just yet

Judging by the way the Spotlights serve in large part to introduce/foreshadow future plot developments, I doubt it was really just a dream. Saw some intriguing seed-planting here as I did with the other Spotlights. (Well, except for Ramjet...although that issue was just plain fun. ^ ^) Every little thing seems calculated to have a point, in this verse. Sure, the fact that it's a dream is Mirage's interpretation of events, but we're being told the story from his perspective and not from that of an omniscient third-person narrator, so naturally he'd write it off as such, if only because it's the simplest way to explain events to himself and ease his mind.

For instance, critical stuff like Starscream stabbing Prime in the chest (Random memories across Autobot Mirage's lifetime) has yet to happen...since hey, they're in their Earth forms. And it seems like a big enough deal that they wouldn't overlook it in future storylines. Similarly, the so-called "Zodiac" energy reminded me somewhat of the portal Nightbeat found.

There was Guido art? I couldn't see it through all the glows. Seriously, I don't like to be overly negative, but the colors in this issue were pretty awful. They were actively making the art worse.

I agree with this post

Yeah, the unusual brightness would be my one criticism of the art. It really didn't suit the dark tone of the story, either.

Ah yes ok. Misread that. Still feels like an episode of Lost though.

Brightness isn't bad. I'll take bright over overly murky any day. It's the fact that eyes, random panels on bots' bodies, screens, lasers, explosions, energy blasts, and even freaking IMPACT starbursts from people punching each other is glowing. It 1) doesn't make any sense because light doesn't work that way with most of those things and 2) is distracting because your eye has so much stimulus it doesn't know where to look and the flow of the image is compromised. Still, I don't think this issue was quite as bad as the latest Devestation issue where there was apparently a nuclear explosion happening just out of view in almost every panel.

Yup, pretty much what I meant by "brightness," though "glow" does describe it better.

underwhelming and disappointing. not what i wanted or expected at all. i kept expecting the twist to come like the on in Kup's Spotlight but the twist was barely one at all.

its disappointing because if even if it did eventually take place in the main idw universe, the majority of it just didn't happen and offered little insight on mirage's character and motives. it just wasn't deep enough like say, Kup's.


The real Mirage, the one i think of of what the character should be is not a traitor. He's upperclass, fighting in a war he doesn't want to be a part of. He's an Autobot by circumstance more than any desire to put a stop to the Decepticons - he fights only for the quickest way back to his old lifestyle. He may be tempted to go against his morals but he does have his own moral compass to set him right. He's not a team player and often acts on his own but that doesn't make him a traitor.

Mirage is not the Autobot equivalent of Thundercracker. Whereas Thundercracker has the capacity for good which is stifled by fear of Megatron and contempt for those not being able to fly, Mirage doesn't have the same capacity for evil. Some say Mirage is fueled by greed, I disagree. Thats a personality aspect more suited to Swindle and Mirage isn't anything like him either. A man can enjoy living the life of luxury without being fueled by greed, which is who I say the real Mirage is.

But IDW Mirage... its tempting to dismiss it completely. Its not how I want Mirage to be written and it has no apparent ties to the main universe. But I wonder if Decepticon Mirage would have been who he could have been if events happened differently and certain outside forces exerted pressure where elsewhere they did not.

I think this issue would have read better if I wasn't already familar with the character, much like Ramjet's. What I expect the character to do conflicts with what I am reading which makes for a unsettling experience. Whereas I should feel the same towards Arcee's Spotlight, I didn't. Maybe it was because this Arcee was so far removed from what I knew before of Arcee that all expectations went out the window.

Heh, they've rebooted Transformers so many times that at this point, I'm able to just take any new incarnation of a character at face value and enjoy it for what it is. Could also explain why I seldom complain when the toy designs change. ^ ^

It would've been nice to have more page space devoted to what the Autobot version of Mirage thinks, but at the same time, I find it entertaining and unsettling to meet what amounts to the antagonist first, when you're expecting him to (Because he's an Autobot) be the hero, and then reveal that his memories and thoughts have wormed their way into the head of the "good" version of the character. I guess I just love the dramatic irony that we know Mirage is actually being, in a way, inhabited by part of his counterpart, whereas he'd just dismiss it as a dream...perhaps, until it starts influencing his actions.

In terms of this Mirage, I found it interesting that he was motivated by a desire for wealth, which prompted him to be amoral/immoral. I was fearing it would be some "pure evil" deal, but it seems that he was torn between avarice and having an actual background in morality and some remaining moral qualms. (As seen in Prime's discussing his past and his being hesitant at first to kill.)

In terms of his background, I could see the Autobots calling for greater sacrifice in the face of war, and Mirage being so unwilling to give up his lifestyle that he'd end up working with the Decepticons out of promises of retaining his position. Sort of like war collaborators when a hostile power takes over a country in a way. Vichy Mirage? ^ ^

It also seems there must have been some BRUTAL split with the Autobots. That "You don't know me" bit where he does in Hound really read, for me, like it was fueled out of bitterness; certain it wasn't done in cold blood or pure hatred.

Hmm, you know I think it fits Mirage well. I agree what Bass said about Mirage's character. Just that I can really see him still joining the cons just as easily as the Autobots. I think the story works just as well if it was just the Mirage we know having a dream of what it would be like if he had joined the other side. In that case I think it makes a good psychological study of what Mirage is all about.

His morals stop him from betraying the Autobots but he wants his wealth back not out of greed but because he enjoyed his privileged status, hates the war, and resents the Autobots because he probably feels like he lost his upper class status because of them. Therefore he is conflicted at heart.

Him turning over the Autobots could very well symbolize Mirages's subconcious thoughts towards what to do to get his old life back.

I mean if Mirage turned Prime over to the cons he would successfully bring the war a lot closer to a close. I'm wondering if this is more an interpretation of whats going on in Mirages subconcious throught the events of the two Mirage's. I think the Decepticon Mirage simply symbolizes the conflicted thoughts Mirage has about joining the Decepticons.

Remmeber that even Decepticon Mirage couldn't do it in the end. I mean betraying the Autobots. I think Mirage just can't break his personal morals but really wants his upper class status. Just that now we know what he would be like as a Decepticon if it were the same character.

Just finally got to read this issue for myself.

I pretty much agree with what Bass said. This doesn't feel like Mirage at all to me as we've known him. Mirage previously was depicted as an upper-class guy who doesn't seem to care all that much for the Autobot cause. Sure, he joined up with Prime because he knows it's the "right" thing to do, but all he really wants to do is go back to his rich and decadent lifestyle hunting turbofoxes. A believable Decepticon Mirage would be someone who simply didn't feel like putting in the effort (maybe Prime didn't hand-pick him for the Ark mission...which of course, didn't happen in the IDW universe, which would make just having a Decepticon Mirage make sense without alternate universe crap) and just got along with the Decepticons when asked.

Instead, we're presented with someone who is actively working for the Decepticons, and coming up with clever schemes to end the Autobots for good. Yes, he's doing it primarily for greed instead of belief in the Decepticon cause, but all that means is that he's Swindle. As Moroboshi said, there definitely seems to be some bitterness in resposne to Prime, which makes me think a good backstory would be something like "some Autobots thought Mirage was a good guy, but he was just concerned with wealth, they kept acting like they knew he was a good guy deep down, and he just didn't care and got bitter in their attempts to make him something he wasn't."

Hard to tell if Decepticon Mirage and Autobot Mirage's memories/experiences just got swapped, or if the the two Mirages actually got completely switched as Walky said. Based on the effort they went to cover up his symbol in the rubble, I'm thinking Walky's interpretation is correct - we originally had Autobot Mirage in the IDW Universe and Decepticon Mirage in the alternate universe, and they got switched upon touching the Zodiac energy. So at the time this issue takes place in (following the 'Cons attacking Prime/Jetfire/Hound/Ratchet) the Mirage in the IDW universe is a Decepticon who forgot he was one, and assumes he's an Autobot because everyone else thinks he is.

If that's true, it's a strange payoff...considering this story basically won't have any link to the IDW mainline story until much further. Since everyone in the story is in their Earth modes, it seems that Prime will hook up with Jetfire and Hound's crews at Garrus-9, eventually return to Earth, and get the crap beaten out of them by the Decepticons (also, guess we can count on Soundwave hooking back up with Megatron). All this probably won't happen until after the Revelation stuff, but I guess is nice to think there are plotlines to follow after that.

As for art...eh. The coloring was bland in places and destroyed by all the glowy effects in other places. And as much as I love Guido, his art just didn't seem to jive well with the IDW universe feeling this time around. I think it was because he was doing the Earth-mode Autobots instead of cybertronian guys in Spotlight: Galvatron, and it looks weird since we're used to Su/Roche's art. But other places just seemed like Guido was a bit stuck in the G1 Cartoon rut. A lot of it looked like he was drawing G1 Cartoon characters with some IDW changes (Starscream's intakes/wings, Blitzwing's shoulders, Ratchet's shoulders, Bumblebee's shoulders).

Also, can we stop with the super-imposed faction symbols? They look horrible (on Ratchet especially). I did like the one frame of Prime on pg. 13 though, it reminds me of Megatron during the TFTM battle.

I dunno I can't say that Mirage in the Decepticon Universe was really a greedy swindler. It seemed to me more like he was much more transfixed on his wealth than the other Mirage. He didn't seem like he wanted to kill any of the Autobots and felt bad about it. I think Prime was right when he said "This isn't you!". It's just that Mirage still impaled Hound because he was stressed and conflicted in that moment. He's going to kill for his prize and yet his captors are trying to haggle with him. He knows the other Decepticons will kill him and not give him his share of the mining. So out of anger he impales Hound because Prime is just making him that much more confused about where his loyalties lie. Honestly I'm surprised we even see Con Mirage in a repair bay at all. I figure Megatron would have turned on him and would have not rewarded him. Then again I guess that Meg's probably thought rewarding Mirage would be good incentive for other followers that might not be sure with the cause.

Either way Megatron's top guys some of his inner circle were watching Mirage to make sure he didn't slip up. If anything I can see Mirage being trapped in a circle of emotion. His mind revolving between Prime's words, the money he wants, an end to the war, and a group of cons that will kill him if he dosen't perform his job.

If anything I really like the idea that the Decepticon Mirage is Mirage's subconcious resentment towards losing his wealth and his sacrifice for the Autobots. I think their trying to say that Autobot Mirage while a good person and not a killer does feel resent towards the other Autobots on some level.

Yeah maybe there are two entities and two alternate universes. Just that this story was about how Mirage has some of this Greed and resentment in his heart. I don't think he's anything like Swindle. Swindle would not have felt bad about killing the Autobots and would not have given them a chance to surrender. Heck if anything Mirage was pretty naive because he thought Meg's would let them live and keep them as prisoners. Which to me intereprets more like Mirage's subconcious pondering if he joined Megatron instead. It sounds like he want's to beleive Megatron isn't as cruel or callous as the Autobots make him out to be. It's rationalization to justify joining the cons and fighting for his wealth back so he could go back to hunting Turbo Foxes again. If anything this Mirage tried to be in denial that Megatron and his gang are a group of cruel facist bullies and murderers. He knows it to be true but he tried to deny it so he could justify his actions. This Mirage is the same as the other one if he made a different choice. How many of us wouldn't rationalize if we were trapped in a group that pushed us to do cruel and evil things as part of our job pre-requisite. I think Decepticon Mirage rationalized his position.

If anything the Decepticon Mirage is just more of a what if Mirage was still the same turbo fox hunting guy with a good moral sensibility on his shoulders but actually chose to give in to his temptations.

If anything I think this is more if Mirage joined the cons to not lose his wealth instead of sacrificing it to join the Autobots.

I just have no trouble beleiving Mirage would feel very conflicted, and resentful. He dosen't know the cons on a personal level. He just knows what the Autobots think and have seen them do. I can see even the Autobot Mirage wondering what if the cons aren't so bad. Maybe Megatron might have valued my abilities more than Prime and would give me a reward for turning the other Autobots in. Granted Autobot Mirage didn't and probably wouldn't do it. Yet Decepticon Mirage would not really fully know the Autobots. Maybe he knew Prime but he thinks the bots wouldn't give me my wealth and a reward and would just want justified and honorable service. So after joining the cons even if he is the lazy anti war rich guy. He still had to fight to get what he wanted. Killing the Autobots would end the war and as good as Mirage is I can't see how he wouldn't have that temptation in his heart.

So I think both Mirages have good hearts. Their just walking on different sides of the tracks.


So I also don't think Prime is wrong at all. Heck when Mirage looked at the Zodiac energy and asked Hound what it was. It was in such a manner that I didn't see a Mirage that had no love for the Autobots. Just a Mirage that had to follow through on his position. Someone like Swindle, Starscream or most other cons would have reveled in their victory and would have been guns pointed at the other Autobots commanding them creully to know what the Zodiac energy is.