of Ratbat's specist beliefs about humans (as Scorponok was now partially human himself) and witnessing the capture and torture of Buster Witwicky (ironically, the brother of the human he earlier harassed). When Scorponok's attempt to leave was met with an assault by the Predacons, that was all his troops needed to wage a civil war against their fellow Decepticons. The battle came to a close as Autobots responded to a distress signal (attached to a freed Buster) left by Starscream and again as Starscream's Underbase-powered fury was waged against them all. Scorponok added the Earthbound Decepticons to his own forces after he destroyed Ratbat. His ship now destroyed, he quickly set up a new base of operations beneath the New Jersey swamps. Morale was low due to their recent failures. It only worsened when he accepted Starscream back into their ranks, after the recently rebuilt Decepticon had again assaulted them (this time being controlled by Megatron). In issue #69, "Eye of the Storm", Mindwipe and Triggerhappy (key members of Scorponok's inner circle) abandoned him after his re-inclusion of Starscream—a final straw for the two, injured by Starscream's previous assaults. They were then forcibly recruited by Shockwave, Starscream and Ravage to take part in an attempted coup. The coup came to a close when Scorponok attained the surrender of Optimus Prime just prior to the climactic battle with Unicron. During that battle, Zarak's courage wavered and he began to flee until realizing that honor demanded him to stand and fight. He was destroyed by Unicron during one final attack, after which he was told by Optimus Prime that he had "done good". While that would be the last the U.S. comics saw of Scorponok, he put in one additional appearance in the U.K. comics. In a possible future (told from the perspective of an aged Rodimus Prime) Scorponok battled against Shockwave and Megatron for leadership of the Decepticons. Losing, and attacked by the Micromaster Air Strike Patrol, Scorponok surrendered to Hot Rod – only to manipulate him and his comrades into defending a human settlement from the Decepticons while he escaped. This would be his last appearance in the Marvel timeline. Animated series In the English cartoon, Scorponok and Lord Zarak only appeared in the three-part episode "The Rebirth", comprising the entirety of the show's fourth season and concluding the American run of the original cartoon era. Lord Zarak was the