Reinforcements, Part 5
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 Cover may not accurately reflect contents of issue. | |||||||||||||
| "Reinforcements, Part 5" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing, Ted Adams | ||||||||||||
| First published | April 12, 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | March 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chris Ryall & Christos Gage | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Alessandra Alexakis | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Editorial assistant | David Mariotte | ||||||||||||
Rom's clash with Orphion and Livia comes to a climax.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Below: The Wraith Sorcerers detect the death of the Wraith Soldiers much to their alarm. The Absence however overrules their desire to head to the surface to fight the Space Knights as it claims they have an unexpected ally: Rom the Space Knight!
Above: Again failing to appeal to Livia and Orphion, Rom tackles the latter before engaging him in (rather futile) melee combat only for Orphion to simply wrap him in his tail once again. At Orphion's instruction, Livia reluctantly unleashes a barrage on Rom. Much to her horror however, Rom does not move afterwards but she nonetheless joins Orphion in adding her energy to destroy Earth. No sooner has she agreed does the Absence make itself known by phasing his arm through Livia's chest draining her energy. Recognizing the legends of the Absence, Orphion attacks in an attempt to avenge his fallen brethren only for his attacks to phase through the creature. As he slowly begins to drain Orphion's energy, Rom attacks from behind and fires his Neutralizer within the being, dissipating it for the time being. After Orphion thanks Rom, he highlights the dilemma they find themselves in. Orphion wants to use their energy to destroy Earth while Rom wants to resuscitate Livia and both tasks require the energy of at least two Space Knights.
In Pawtucket, Darby has brought Ruan back to her grandmother's who insists on seeing his true form. Ruan complies and reverts his head to its true form. Though shocked, the elderly woman listens to Ruan's desire to end the war and excuses herself...to collect a suitcase filled with firearms which she insists Darby and Ruan take with them.
On the oil platform, the stalemate continues. Rom's energy is insufficient to revive Livia while Orphion continues to send his down the drill shaft. Though his Neutralizer energy is insufficient to destroy the core, it slays the Wraith Sorcerers below. Reforming, the Absence can only smile at the energy Orphion is giving the Wraiths. Rom then lays into Orphion calling his blind adherence to Solstar protocol an excuse not to feel claiming that if he follows through on destroying Earth, Rom will hold him to account for letting Livia die and saying he is no longer a Space Knight or even a man. Heeding Rom's words, Orphion adds his energy reviving Livia. Alas, the female Knight is not grateful beliving her own life expendable in the face of containing the cancer that is the Dire Wraiths. Orphion disagrees and says they can always destroy Earth later. Until such a time comes, Rom now has Orphion's attention who is prepared to listen to Rom's case about why Earth should be spared asking Rom to guide him to the spots that make the planet so special.
Deep below, the Absence reflects that though this was not the promised day it is coming and the Space Knights only delay the inevitable. The Presence will awaken.
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Space Knights | Dire Wraiths | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You...should have been a lawyer."
- —Orphion reacts to Rom's "The Reason You Suck" speech
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Earlier issues seemed out of sync as to whether the Absence was male or female. This issue reveals those dialogues to be about two super Wraiths: the male Absence and the female Presence, the latter of whom is presumably the pitch-black Wraith-looking shape seen on the last page of issue #6.
- As said three issues prior, Darby's grandmother saw giant robots on television. Upon her revival, Livia fears the Cybertronians will arrive to investigate and stop Earth's destruction. Livia's encounter with Cybertronians would be explored in Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor.
- On the outside shot of the house of Darby's grandmother, there is a poster for "Friends of our Enemies", the cult Kagan Knight oversaw in issue #7.
Other notes[edit | edit source]
- Solicited for release in March, this issue arrives a month late in April.
- Dire Wraiths are capable of partially transforming, in this case, Ruan reverts his head to his natural Wraith form while the rest of him remains human.
Covers (5)[edit | edit source]
- Regular cover: Rom flies out of reach of Wraith tentacles by Tony Shasteen.
- Subscription cover A: Rom vs. Orphion and Livia by Nelson Daniel.
- Subscription cover B: Rom guards a vault door by Johnny Desjardins.
- Subscription cover C: Rom in a cosmic vortex by Hal Laren.
- Retailer incentive cover: Rom flies past an alien by Joe Sinnott and Paolo Villanelli.
