Transformers now has its own version of Star Wars' Clone Wars, except instead of cloning a bounty hunter like Jango Fett, robotic cannibals known as the Insecticons have performed the procedure on themselves and are now swarming a Cybertron that descended into chaos long before their invasion.
During the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, a Jedi Master known as Sifo-Dyas secretly commissioned the creation of a clone army upon learning of the Sith's return and chose bounty hunter Jango Fett to serve as the base. So when Master Sifo-Dyas is later killed, all knowledge of the clones died with him until Obi-Wan Kenobi stumbles upon them accidentally during a separate investigation. The Galactic Republic later takes advantage of this newfound clone army after numerous star systems secede from the Republic and form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, thus beginning the Clone Wars.
In contrast, the clone war in Transformers begins as a result of a group of cannibalistic robots known as the Insecticons feeling as though they had been betrayed by the Decepticon known as Shockwave. Shockwave had originally sought their aide for use during the battle for Cybertron and, in return, promised that he would supply them with endless amounts of food to feast upon. The ever-voracious Insecticons agreed. Shockwave planned on cloning them, but when his testing proved that the Insecticons would become far too powerful, he decides to move on without them. Knowing this would anger the Insecticons, Shockwave continues to provide them with false hope, blaming his lack of action on the fact that he just isn't ready.
Understandably, this only angers the Insecticons, furious that they had been taken from their home with promises of sustenance and fighting, only to be caged away and presented with measly scraps. So, the Insecticons decided to take matters into their own robotic hands by stealing a prototype of Shockwave's cloning machine with the intent of cloning themselves, and soon do so in Transformers: Escape #4 by writer Brian Ruckley and artist Bethany McGuire-Smith. Turns out, Shockwave was right about the Insecticons amassing too much power, as the cloned monsters successfully stave off Shockwave's assassination attempt on their lives before unleashing themselves on Cybertron, which is already in the midst of a war between Transformers.
While Shockwave had the foresight to be wary of the Insecticons, his lack of action ends up being his undoing. Shockwave only looks worse based on a comment he made earlier on, noting at the time that the Insecticons must know how dangerous and capable they are, meaning that it would be prudent for him to keep an eye on them. But it's obvious that he should have sliced them to smithereens before they had the chance to clone themselves. Conversely, the Star Wars universe is inundated with action, as opposed to the lack thereof in Transformers. Master Sifo-Dyas originally took the initiative to commission a clone army and Obi-Wan Kenobi is then later compelled to act on instinct by pursuing his own investigation that inevitably leads him to the very clones that he would use later during the Clone Wars.
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