Transformers Age of the Primes Megatronus the Fallen

The War Within comic series was one of the stronger titles from the Dreamwave era of Transformers comics. At the same time, many were divisive on the main G1 titles, the prequel series itself was better received thanks to its world-building and more cohesive art quality than the usual with Pat Lee. It also introduced The Fallen as an ancient Transformer who worked for Unicron despite being one of the Thirteen Original Transformers. It was a seed that led to more of his development in other media, from being one of the major villains in the movies to having a reoccurring role in the Aligned continuity; be even got somewhat of a different take in One as a war hero whose face was twisted to be the Decepticons that Megatron leads. While we had a few toys of The Fallen in the ROTF and RID15 designs, the War Within design previously only had the Titanium figure that was decent at best, until this newer version easily trumps it.

Here we have Megatronus in his altmode, a Cybertronian tank not too dissimilar to the style Megatron would go for. It's predominantly charcoal with some purple and orange here and there to add a corrupted deco that befits a fallen Prime like him. It's appropriately more evil in aesthetics than Megatron normally is, with the additions of a few spikes and details that complement the look. In fact, the whole Megatron vibe we have here is present with how the figure transforms, though for now, I will say that the arms becoming the turret as well as the torso and legs becoming the front and back of the tank, respectively, does fit well as a sort of an inspiration for the Decepticon leader. In fact, it's ironic to bring this up since the first ever toy that The Fallen had, even before ROTF came out, was a Titanium figure that used the design Megatron had during the events of IDW's Infiltration and Stormbringer comics, where he had yet to get an Earth mode. It could be possible that Hasbro would have used the older toy for Megatron as a tie-in to the then-new universe at the time, though the fact that The Fallen never transformed in the Dreamwave comics, combined with them having whatever new control art around at the time, could factor into things. Regardless, the alternate mode we get for the latest toy is a lot more refined than the one Dreamwave came up with for the character's MTMTE profile.

The flame effects can peg onto what will become the inner sides of the forearms, while the weapons combined with each other and the flame effects can go on the side of the altmode. It's nothing too mindblowing for storage, but the flames do make sense with where they are placed (at least for the ones that will go on the altmode. 

For a size comparison, here he is with his fellow Primes, Prima and Solus. I'm happy to see the alt mode variety we have going on between these three, and it makes me wonder what other alt modes we have coming soon. I know Alchemist Prime will turn into an armored car while Onyx Prime will become a beast, so what's next after the three we got and the upcoming two?

And here we have him with Earthrise Megatron in tank mode, which is retooled from the Siege version. Megatronus is slightly bigger than Megatron is; that may not be enough for many who want a larger-scale Leader Class figure, but that will change when we get to the robot mode.

Transformation feels like a more intricate version of Siege Megatron, which mostly includes having a different hand transformation that keeps the forearms from having gaps from the inside, while the front treads transform differently with added hinges and swivels to make them more compact. The feet are a little more involved this time around, and the chest is more segmented due to the way it transforms in altmode. The resulting robot mode is very inspired by his appearance in the War Within comics. The furnace-vent look to the character goes well with how much the Fallen is constantly on fire due to his corrupted abilities, and they are painted appropriately with these yellow lines that are said to glow in UV lighting. Also, the right shoulder piece is on a ball joint and hinge while the left shoulder's missile pod is on a 5mm post and hinge.

The head sculpt has this ancient knight-like look to it, combined with the elements of the Decepticon logo and an Optimus-like head design that gives this Fallen a unique identity, much like with the ancient Egyptian influence for his Bayverse counterpart, as well as a less evil Decepticon logo mask that he had in TF One. Simply amazing, and props for having the paint apps aligned in the crevices. The articulation consists of ball joints at the neck and wrists, rotation at the shoulders (moving front and back) as well as the biceps, waist, universal hips, and thighs, and hinges for the arms (moving in and out) as well as the elbows, fingers, knees, and ankles. With the flame effects on the shoulders and back, as well as the Requiem Blaster, he can just about recreate the box art effectively. Also, the tank barrel can peg on the back to have a sort-of G1 Megatron back-barrel look, only pointing forwards.

Weapon storage has the spearhead and the machete peg on the backs of his kibble, while the Requiem Blaster can go on the back of the shoulders. If you want your Megatronus to fight without him using any range weapons, he can hold them in his hands without issue.

Of course, both weapons can combine to represent the Spark Fuser used in RID15. Once again, his older Titanium figure instead used the pre-Earth Megatron design, but the new Age of the Primes version makes for a much better resemblance to the Dreamwave appearance, and it is arguably his best G1-related look yet.

Here he is with the other two Primes in the line so far. I think The Fallen could easily be the best figure of the line already. 

And here he is next to G2 Grimlock. He is slightly shorter than the Dinobot leader, but he is thankfully not to the point of practically being a Voyager with benefits.

And here we have him next to Megatron once again, showcasing how much influence the Deception leader took from the diabolical traitor of the Primes in terms of design cues. Many would probably complain that Megatron took influence from someone else, but it's preferable to the inconsistent G1 backstories. Also yes my copy's parts are annoyingly discolored.

And finally, here he is with his Movieverse counterpart! Though the two deviated greatly from each other, their designs do make sense for the time periods they were from. The Fallen was more inspired by Egyptian culture like the Dynasty of Primes were, while Megatronus instead fits well for being medieval with the fiery vents and somewhat knight influence. Megatronus the Fallen, as far as figures go, makes for a huge recommendation; if you're someone who wants a version of the character that isn't the ROTF or RID15 design (which I am currently missing), better matches the design he has in War Within better than the Titanium version, or are excited to have the Primes as proper figures, get this dude ASAP. He's got flame effects, a handful of weapons, dense plastic, and has more going on than Siege Megatron in terms of transformation. We'll see if other Primes will dethrone him later down the line, but the best part? HE'S NOT A PRETOOL FOR SS86 MEGATRON!!!!!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐