Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

And it works.   He makes them dance just like he wants them too, and the consequences of this will be enormous.   I think this ties into The Royals and what happens post IvX, but everything is about that nowadays at Marvel.   Almost everything. 

Maximus is a manipulative dick - and a lot of fun!   I'm just glad he's back in play because he's the dude you love to hate.   And he's not a cardboard cutout villain: he's been driven insane by his parents death - and his brother's part in that, which apparently actually affected him physically.   He's also been shown to care about his brother at times, and try to destroy him at others.   (I think he's fluid in his alliances because he's just fluid: he likes chaos, mostly, and will help Black Bolt if it causes chaos.   He's willing to do whatever it takes to get in his way and even revels in his murderous way, but he doesn't set out to cause massacres.   When he does cause them, it seems to be all in the name of his goals, not one of his goals themselves.   Unless he's framing someone, or...)

The point is, he's got complex family ties and conflicting emotions about his family.   He's flippant, but that only covers up his manipulations.   He's overconfident, and that tends to be his downfall. 

He's utterly charming, even when he's being a total bastard.   He's absolutely fascinating and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the near future.