@Background Pony #70DE
Well, Flint Dillie states in his opinion that Cyclonus has once been Skywarp. Well, the debate about who became Cyclonus either Skywarp or Bombshell still rages on and you can possibly just forget about the debate and make up your opinion. However, the character bios of Cyclonus and Scourge which were written by Bob Budiansky states that they along with the other Heralds of Unicron for Galvatron to command were all built by Unicron from the wreckage, parts, and remnants of dead Decepticons. Also, Skywarp is actually loyal to Megatron but he wasn’t intelligent like Cyclonus because he was an air-head to the Decepticon cause. Bombshell always betray Megatron a lot prior to his demise in the movie despite being loyal to the Decepticon cause. And finally, Cyclonus is loyal to Galvatron and the concept of Cyclonus having identical troops like Scourge is featured in the original script and storyboards of the film but didn’t make it into the film… Or didn’t it? Because in the beginning of the second act of Five Faces of Darkness Part 5, we see Six Cyclonus Armada jets flying over Cybertron and either Five or four more of them flying away fromCybertron retreating back to Chaar at the end of the third act of the episode. Also, the Marvel UK comics state that he was created from the carcass of a Decepticon named “Life Spark”, a misunderstanding about the identity of the dead Decepticon from an early draft of the film. In that early draft, instead of throwing them out to space, the Decepticon survivors returned to Cybertron from the Battle of Autobot City, they brought their dead Decepticon casualties of the Battle of Autobot City to the Decepticon Hall of Heroes to place their life sparks into urns. It should have been call Hall of Tyrants because Decepticons are not heroes. And this where the battle for leadership originally intended to take place instead of inside Astrotrain. The resulting battle would end up causing one of the statues of the previous ancient Decepticons leaders to topple on to Megatron, presumably killing him, sending his life spark, along with the life sparks of the ancient Decepticon leaders before him into space and Unicron who was originally gonna be called “Ingestor” uses them to created brand new Decepticons for Galvatron to command instead of using the remains of deceased Decepticons. While this doesn’t happen in the finished film/final draft, we do see the Decepticon statues during Starscream’s coronation. And those are the same statues of the Decepticon leaders before Megatron/Galvatron. And these Decepticon leaders are Floron, Dery, Ghoulon, Murdon, Bloodron, Devron, Gladiaron, Pinoy, Rapiron, and Cannibaron. All ten of these were once leader before Megatron’s predecessor Trannis who was seen in a flashback scene of Five Faces of Darkness Part 4 and possibly after Megatronus. Yes, it seemed possible that the concept of the Thirteen Primes and Primus could exist in every Transformers continuity. But anyway, to patch this, my opinion would make sense that Cyclonus have been created from the remains of Bombshell while Skywarp became the background Armada jet, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the Insecticons weren’t the only Decepticon casualties of the Battle of Autobot City that were later tossed out of Astrotrain and were rebuilt into newborn warriors fro Galvatron to command, but also various other corpses of unnamed generics who were turned into either some Sweeps and/or Cyclonus’ Armada jets. This would explain the unnamed Seekers as well as the unnamed Reflector-type robots called Photons and the unnamed generic Cassette Tapes seen in seasons one and two of the cartoon as well as “Five Faces of Darkness” and “Fight or Flee”, the Dropkicks seen in the episode “War Dawn”, two unnamed Decepticons floating lifeless next to Shrapnel and between Bomshell and Skywarp in the film’s storyboards and some unnamed generics seen in the Marvel Comic adaptation of the film being stated as the identities of the Decepticon casualties being tossed out of Astrotrain and were reformatted into brand new Decepticons created by Unicron. And finally, the Insecticons seen throughout the rest of the film and in season three were three Insecticon clones that were sentient and still functioning and were named after the original three as “Shrapnel II”, “Bombshell II”, and “Kickback II” since the Insecticon toys were still active on shelves in 1986, their character names seen in the characters appearance list of Five Faces of Darkness Parts 1, 3, and 5, the Insecticons have speaking roles in the scripts of Five Faces of Darkness, and Shrapnel calling by name in the script of the film menacing Daniel on Junk.

@Background Pony #70DE
Well, I don’t know what happened to Cyclonus’ Armada after his birth/creation. He only appeared in one shot of the movie and he was never seen again. Also, according to the script and in storyboards, Cyclonus has an army of troops that are identical to him but with the same paint job that are possibly brighter than Cyclonus’. But unfortunately, in the finished film, there’s only one troop of Cyclonus. And that lead many fans of either Skywarp or Bombshell became either Cyclonus or the unnamed guy. And multiple Cyclonus jets were possibly animation errors in “Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5”. But unfortunately, an animation error in the film has when Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the Insecticons were being jettisoned out of Astrotrain to death, there are more than five lifeless Decpeticons being tossed out of Astrotrain too. Including a blue one that reassemble Relfecgor that fall all the way down. But this is some technical glitches because we saw only five of them being jettisoned out of Astrotrain. So to patch this, I believe or think maybe that some of the unnamed generic Decepticons including some Air Warriors and Photons whose wounds were fatal were tossed out of Astrotrain along with Thundercracker, Skywarp, the Insecticons, and the still functioning Megatron and the wreckage of their corpses were floating behind Megatron and the five dead bodies of Thundercracker, Skywarp and the Insecticons offscreen and were reformatted into Galvatron’s new troops as the Sweeps and Cyclonus’ Armada while some of them were killed by the Autobots’ blasters and the Dinobots’ fire breaths while the Autobots board the shuttles and some of them were killed by the Autobots on the Planet of Junk offscreen, or some of them killed offscreen by Unicron or survived inside Galvatron’s ship that was crushed by Unicron’s hand when the chaos bringer attack Cybertron. And maybe all of the Cyclonus jets died offscreen during the events of the film. Despite any animation mishaps. Not to mention that Cyclonus complains that his own personal troops Unicron promised to provide for him never materialized but actually created just one troop as either his Lieutenant or Commander in the IDW comic titled “Rodimus vs. Cyclonus” which is set during the movie but after the death of Ultra Magnus and after Hot Rod, Kup, Wheelie, and the Dinobots escape from Quintessa and before arriving on Junk.

@Background Pony #70DE
Well, let me sort this out. When Unicron created new Decepticons for Megatron/Galvatron to command and possibly grow the number of the entire Decepticon Army, from the corpses of the Decepticon casualties of the Battle of Autobot City, this is how I saw it. Scourge was created from the corpse of Thundercracker, the first two Sweeps were Shrapnel and Kickback, and to me, Cyclonus has been created from Bombshell, while Skywarp became the Armada Lieutenant, since Cyclonus’ Armada went missing in action after his birth, the IDW Comic Adaptation of the film revealed that he as killed by Grimlock after Grimlock and Sludge killed a Sweep when the Decepticons attack during the Autobots’ shuttle escape. And even though Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the Insecticons showed up alive during Starscream’s coronation, the attack on Junk, Unicron’s attack on Cybertron, and the events of Five Faces of Darkness as animation/continuity errors, I would agree that the seekers seen during Starscream’s Coronation and Unicron’s attack on Cybertron were unnamed generics and the Insecticons seen throughout the rest of the film and in season three were three specific clone basic sentience without the need for the originals clones beams over time that were created by the original Insecticons’ clone beams and were identical to their original counterparts with the the same color schemes as the original Insecticons and were named after the original three as “Shrapnel II”, “Bombshell II”, and “Kickback II” since the Insecticon toys were still on shelves in 1986, and their names are listed in the “Featured Characters list on the official Transformers Wiki pages of Five Faces of Darkness Parts 1, 3, and 5, and Shrapnel was called by name alongside Scavenger to attack Daniel on the planet of Junk. So to me, Cyclonus has been created from Bombshell because he was seen on the forefront floating lifeless towards the camera before his corpse was turned into Cyclonus.

@Ichijoe
 
@Zerowinger
 
@Ichijoe
 
@Background Pony #70DE  
Well, we still know that Thundercracker, Skywarp, and all three Insecticons: Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback all died from many fatal wounds by Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, and Kup during the Battle of Autobot City, jettisoned out of Astrotrain because the healthy Decepticons tossed out/sacrifice the weaker ones into deep space, and their remains were reformatted into newborn troops. The original film’s script did not mentioned which Decepticons are thrown out of Astrotrain and had their remains reformatted into the new Decepticons until both the film and the script was fully finalized. And the both the original and final versions of the scripts actually refers to not them but the corpses/remains/dead bodies of them as dented, dinged, and dead as they are floating though space. It then states that their dead bodies are removed into the new Decepticons created by Unicron. But do you know in the original version of the film or in the original script that Cyclonus was original gonna be like Scourge. Do you know he’s originally gonna have an army of Decpeticons that are identical to him as his “armada”? Well, this concept in the script was dropped during production. And for whatever reason, the movie was changed. And the idea of Cyclonus having the same body type as duplicates known as his “armada” was taken out of this film. But while the storyboard of the film shows Bombshell became Cyclonus, the instruction underneath says “Long shot on other Decepticons.” meaning more than one. But final film doesn’t let Cyclonus have an army of duplicates like Scourge. So, the final film has Cyclonus having just one duplicate to him as his “armada”. But unfortunately, one robot doesn’t make an armada because Unicron should have called the second jet as Cyclonus’ Armada Commander or Lieutenant. However, Cyclonus’ Armada disappears throughout the rest of the film and the rest of the tv series. And that just lead to the fans wondering, Who became Cyclonus? Skywarp or Bombshell. Some believed that Bombshell’s remains are reformatted into Cyclonus while Skywarp’s became Cyclonus’ Armada. I am one of the fans who believed at this because Bombshell is the one floating towards the camera lifeless before his remains were being reformatted into Cyclonus while Skywarp’s remains was at the far right before it was turned into Cyclonus’ Armada. And I would say that Skywarp became Cyclonus’ Armada because an armada actually means a fleet of jets, warships, or airships because both Cyclonus and Skywarp are jets. Bombshell became Cyclonus and Skywarp became his Armada also happened in the IDW Comic Adaptation of the film. Other fans believed that it was Skywarp who became Cyclonus while Bombshell became his Armada because we know that the toy catalog has Cyclonus replaced Skywarp and Scourge replaced Thundercracker because Skywarp and Thundercracker’s toys were discontinued which causes them to be killed off in the film and had their remains rebuilt into brand new Decepticons. Speaking of which, in Japanese Continuity, the e-HOBBY comics, “Transformers United: Macrocosmic Seekers - Chapter 7” imply that Cyclonus was created from the scraps of Skywarp instead of Bombshell because Cyclonus regains his ability to teleport which Skywarp used to have. But Cyclonus would never teleport like Skywarp in fiction and Cyclonus teleporting doesn’t happened in the American Continuity. Some other fans who thanked Cyclonus is created from Skywarp believed that Bombshell became a Sweep because like the Insecticons, Sweeps could replicate themselves to grow their number of troops. While some fans believed that the Insecticons were still alive appearing in the rest of the film and in “Five Faces of Darkness” while Insecticon clones were the ones to be dead and reformatted into Sweeps, Cyclonus, and/or Cyclonus’ Armada since the Insecticon toys were still active in the 1986 toy line. But later on in the original film’s script, Shrapnel was called by name alongside scavenger to attack Daniel Witwicky on the planet of Junk even though the specifics were not given for which dead Decepticons were supposed to be killed off in th film by being jettisoned out of Astrotrain after their fatal wounds by the Autobots and had tier remains rebuilt into newborn Ones by until both the film and the script was finalized. But because of an animation/continuity error in the finished film, it was more confusing when the Insecticons were present at Starscream’s coronation and on the attack on Junk. Both of these scenes technically took place after they’re floating dead towards Unicron and they’re remains were reformatted into the newborn Decepticons. The Insecticons also appeared throughout fathers season three premiere five-parter, “Five Faces of Darkness” as they were seen among the other fighting over Energon on Chaar in a heated feud, assisting the Quintesson-planned attack on the Autobots on the planet of Goo, and among the other Decepticons (Soundwave and the Combaticons) on Earth attempting to stop Sky Lynx, Blurr, Wheelie, and Marissa Faireborn from delivering Metroplex’s new transformation cog but got squished by Sky Lynx injuring or wounding them. Yes. I’m not gonna lie to you. Because in the film, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the Insecticons were taken offlined and had their remains reformatted into newborn Decepticons created by Unicron. But unfortunately, the Insecticons seen several times in the movie later along with appearances in the cartoon’s third season were all considered animation/continuity errors. Because is something that is brought up here. We know that the film only showed two Sweeps reformatted form the remains of Shrapnel and Kickback. Over the film and the rest of the cartoon, however, more Sweeps would appear because the Sweeps could replicate themselves to grow their army just like the Insecticons do. And the origins of the Insecticons seen in their debut are indicated as the source of their increased numbers. However, the Insecticons’ appearance in both the movie and season 3 are the subject of much fan debate. In most cases, the Insecticons were specifically called for, by name, in the episode script s, while conversely, the script for the movie did not call for them to be recreated by Unicron until the film was finalized, indicating that in actually, it is the movie, rather than all subsequent material, that was at fault in its depiction of the fates of the characters. In an attempt to make some sense of things, many fans turn to the Insecticons’ cloning abilities for possible explanation, suggesting it was either clones that were jettisoned/killed and had their remains transformed, or clones that were seen later. Neither theory really works: only the original Insecticons were seen laterseen during the battle at Autobot City, and the Insecticon clones had never been displayed any sentience (as did the the Insecticons on Astrotrain prior to being jettisoned and died in space and had their remains recreated into newborn troops created by Unicron, and the Insecticons that were shown later on). The idea does provide a cute canon explanation for the seemingly-endless supply of Sweeps, though. So, since the Insecticons died in the film and reformatted into new Decpeticons and appeared alive in the rest of the film and in season 3 as animation/continuity errors, we would or could agree that the Insecticons seen in later on in the movie and in season 3 we’re simply three leftover clones that were barely holding on to life because it could be explained that the power of the Insectic-Shells gave three specific clones basic sentience without the need for the originals’ clone beams over time. Or maybe the Insecticons seen later on in the movie and in season 3 were possibly the Insectron Clone Army that were in an e-HOBBY exclusive 3-pack in 2004 reissuing the original G1 Insecticon toys in their Diaclone colors that were named, Salvo, Shothole, and Zaptrap but in the original Insecticons G1 color schemes. And even two Shrapnels was animation error while trying to prevent the Autobots from delivering Metroplex’s transformation cog and one replaced by Soundwave, I would agree that Zaptrap is possibly the one who attacked Daniel on Junk in the film instead of Shrapnel because of Shrapnel fighting alongside Scavenger was considered an animation error or continuity error. So I would agree that the Insecticons seen in Starscream’s coronation, on Junk attacking Daniel, and in Five Faces of Darkness were the Insectron Clone Army that were created by the original Insecticons’ clone beams but in the color schemes of original Insecticons. And like Starscream, the Insecticons had their toys still active in toy shelves until 1987 despite they were killed off the film. And also, because multiple Cyclonus jets seen in “Five Faces of Darkness - Part 5” was considered an animation error., I believed that Cyclonus’ Armada twin was present with Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps interrupting Starscream’s coronation with the other new Decpeticons created by Unicron and killed by Grimlock offscreen while the Autobots are boarding their shuttles while Galvatron and his troops attack them on Autobot City sense it was featured in the featured in the IDW Comic Adaptation of the film. So I would agree that Bombshell was the one had his remains recreated into Cyclonus, while Skywarp’s became Cyclonus’ Armada who interrupted Starscream’s coronation helping his master overthrow Starscream and take back his leadership and later killed offscreen by Grimlock’s fire breath after Grimlock kills a Sweep, the two Seekers seen in Starscream’s coronation were simply unnamed generic Seekers from the “More Than Meets The Eye” pilot, and the Insecticons seen throughout the rest of the movie and in season 3 were simply the Insectron Clone Army but in the original Insecticons’ color schemes created by the original Insecticons.

@Background Pony #70DE  
You know that one robot does not make an armada because in the original film’s script before it became finalized, Cyclonus was originally gonna have an army of identical robots of him known as his “armada” just like Scourge. But this idea was dropped during production. And multiple Cyclonus jets seen in “Five Faces of Darkness - Part 5” was considered animation errors. While the storyboard of the film shows Bombshell’s corpse, the instruction underneath says, “Longshot on other Decepticons” meaning more than one Cyclonus jets. And Unicron should have said, “Cyclonus the warrior, and his armada commander.” And after being created by Unicron, Cyclonus’ Armada disappears throughout the rest of the film. We see Cyclonus, his armada, Scourge, and now four Sweeps flying after being born because the Sweeps could replicate themselves to add extra minions just like the Insecticons do. And then, after Galvatron boards his ship and says, “To Cybertron!”, We can see Cyclonus, Scourge, and now three Sweeps because an extra Sweep replaces the second Cyclonus jet. Which is why the fourth Sweep and Cyclonus’ Armada possibly went inside Galvatron’s ship first before Cyclonus, Scourge, and three Sweeps went inside Galvatron’s ship. And since Cyclonus’ Armada went missing throughout the rest of the film and in season 3 and 4, the IDW comic adaptation of the film shows Cyclonus’ Armada being burned and blown up by Grimlock’s fire breath after he burns and killed a Sweep in an explosion. So I would agree that Cyclonus’ Armada died offscreen when the Autobot are board the shuttles when Galvatron attacks Autobot City again in a new form and new troops because one Cyclonus jet which is Cyclonus himself appears throughout the rest of the film and in seasons 3 and 4.

@Zerowinger  
But there’s a debate on which Decepticon had his dead body/remains/corpse into Cyclonus in this footage and which of these two jets is Cyclonus? The question remains, Who became Cyclonus? I say Bombshell because he’s the one floating lifeless towards to camera and had his remains reformatted into Cyclonus and Skywarp then became his Armada.

@Background Pony #70DE  
Why Cyclonus’ Armada didn’t appear in the fest of the film and/or the series after being created by Unicron? What happened to him after being created from the dead body of either Skywarp or Bombshell by Unicron when there’s only one Cyclonus jet that is Cyclonus himself in the rest of the film and/or the series? And speaking of these two that were reformatted into new beings, I say Skywarp became the armada because an armada is a fleet of warships, or jets. And I telling you, what happen to Cyclonus’ Armada after being born and created by Unicron?

@Background Pony #70DE  
I say Bombshell became Cyclonus because he’s the one who come close to the camera lifeless before his remains were reformatted into the newborn Cyclonus.

@Background Pony #70DE  
Is Cyclonus’ Armada an identical Decepticon to Cyclonus with the same color scheme, or multiple unnamed troops that were identical to Cyclonus that were possibly replicated by the unnamed Cyclonus jet that Unicron had created?

Yeah I can recall the Toys (more or less), but having marathoned G1 a few months back I guess that was about it for G1. Having missed out on Tank Megs which To me was unwatchably stupid, and Beastwars which was to pig3d disgusting for me. 70s/80s 2D kid, and proud! Though I always felt I was missing something from G1, I guess I really wasn’t.
 
To be far Prime was actually good, but the current MotW show we have now is also panfull stupid. I mean like the really special forces of the decpticons. I really hope S2 can pull clear of this though.
 
OT At the moment though I’m most psyched about the return of Rebels it’s always good to see Darth Vader again.

@Ichijoe  
The series was released in North America by Shout Factory (subbed only) relatively recently & most of the toys for it were available at the time at least in regards to molds used, if I remember correctly.

Kinda makes me wonder why Hastroll never imported the G1 Headmaster show?  
Since it seemed to carry on the same theme after they managed to resurrect Jesu Prime again. But yeah it would have really retconed that last arc though.

@Ichijoe  
The answer is he’s either Bombshell or Skywarp, depending on which G1 continuity it is.

Yeah Bombshell? Christ my minds slowly going… What a wonder its been what nearly 30 Years now since that Movie came out. (On a side note happy birthday to me.. T_T)

@Ichijoe  
Most likely it was Bombshell, he was in the foreground transformation when Unicron announced “Cyclonus, the warrior.”

So remind me again was this cat Shrapnel (The Insecticon), or Thundercraker?  
Why couldn’t the Movie had this conversion as clear as Megs to Galvatron?

@40kponyguy  
Maybe it’s actually his armada?

Not badly drawn at all, but a bit… random.
 
Also, I’d have thought Aria would have been quite a bit smaller than that at the side of Cyclonus.