If I Know You

	; "Am I even in this issue?"; "No, but you are mentioned once."
	"If I Know You"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	July 5, 2017
Cover date	June 2017
Written by	Mairghread Scott
Art by	Sara Pitre-Durocher
Colors by	Joana Lafuente
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

While Windblade fights for her life inside her own head, Starscream finally gets to be alone in his.

Synopsis

After Blast Off plays the role required of him, feeding Onslaught Starscream's lies about "memory loss," Starscream himself enters the room to welcome Onslaught back to the land of the living, and to let him know that Swindle, too, is on the road to recovery. He takes some sadistic delight in offering the pair time off before returning to work, telling Blast Off he has "earned" the break, then heads out to get back to work himself, only to be immediately caught between a doctor who wants to speak with him, and Rattrap with a stack of briefs that need reading. Trapped in the crossfire of their arguing, Starscream elects to give the doctor a moment of his time, but immediately regrets it when he is led to the room containing the comatose Windblade. The doctor explains that, rather than being brain-dead, as was initially believed, Windblade's body has actually shut down because her brain is being overloaded—a result of the fact, Starscream and the doctor independently deduce, that Vigilem downloaded his consciousness into her mind before his own brain module was destroyed. The doctor is unable to separate the two brain patterns and believes a mnemosurgeon may be able to help, but Starscream refuses to delegate the resources and stalks off.

The hallucinatory form of Bumblebee appears at Starscream's side to chastize him, and he finally loses his patience. Why, Bumblebee demands, is Starscream so intent on clinging to the outdated image of himself as a schemer and a betrayer who stands alone, when he is now surrounded by 'bots who believe in his leadership? Starscream screeches back that he must cling to that idea of himself, because every time in the past that he allowed himself to believe otherwise, everything came crumbling down around him. As others in the med-bay turn their heads at the sound of their leader apparently arguing with himself, Starscream lowers his voice, and tells Bumblebee to just leave if he finds his behavior so reprehensible. No response comes... and when Starscream looks around, Bumblebee has vanished.

Within Windblade's mind—represented as a decaying cityscape—Windblade hides among the ruins from the towering form of Vigilem, who urges her to merge with him so that they can both survive. Believing that Vigilem will try to merge with Metroplex if he is released back into the world, Windblade refuses, and fights back, her mental "body" growing larger and more ornate with every blow she strikes against the evil Titan, until she stands level with him. His own form shifting to resemble a dark reflection of Windblade, Vigilem tells her that he has no such plan; he will never be strong enough to take over Metroplex, but if Windblade merges with him, he will share dark secrets with her and give her the power she needs to depose Starscream and become the rightful ruler of Cybertron. Through their mental link, Vigilem has seen Windblade's past—her dedication to her mission to help Caminus, and the moral greying she has had to go through in the name of that greater good since coming to Cybertron—and invites her to wonder: has she compromised her idealism, or has she just come to realize how the world really works?

Days and nights pass as Starscream goes through his routine, still occasionally speaking aloud as if Bumblebee is there to reply before realizing the specter of the little yellow Autobot has not reappeared. At the end of Onslaught's first day "back" at work as head of Starscream's personal security, Blast Off and Starscream are left alone, and Blast Off demands to see Swindle, who is still in recuperation. Starscream refuses, but Blast Off warns him that he can blow the whistle on his scheme at any time, so Starscream relents and takes him to Airachnid's lab, where Swindle is conscious once more, and quite chipper about it. While Blast Off and Swindle reconnect, Starscream takes Airachnid aside to discuss a "delicate matter"; Airachnid thinks he is talking about his hallucinations, but he angrily explains he is actually referring to Windblade, and how she might be healed. Airachnid has familiarized herself with the situation, and has the answer, but it is a dangerous one: a third 'bot would have to connect themselves to Windblade's brain and help her destroy Vigilem from within, but would only have a short time to accomplish the task before the strain of a third consciousness destroys her mind and all three of them together.

Starscream retires to his quarters for the night, still speaking aloud to the Bumblebee who isn't there. He claims he only asked Airachnid out of curiosity, and wouldn't be so foolish as to risk his own life in such a stunt. He doesn't care about her, he protests, and he doesn't need her—what he needs is someone who can help him sway public opinion away from Elita One and back in his direction. A real hero, someone with real good will... and then, of course, he realizes that Windblade is exactly who he needs. Realizing what he has to do, Starscream mutters a final curse and shuts down to recharge for the night... whereupon the shadow of Bumblebee falls over him...

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Bumblebee (hallucination, 4) Windblade (7) Chromia (10)	Onslaught (1) Blast Off (2) Swindle (12)	Starscream (3) Unnamed doctor (5) Rattrap (6) Vigilem (8) Mistress of Flame (9) Airachnid (11)

Quotes

"Do you really think Blast Off isn't going to try to hurt you for this?"
"You assume he wasn't going to try to hurt me anyway."

—Bumblebee and Starscream

"How long are you going to cling to this worn-out, narcissistic mask? Starscream the ruthless. The grand schemer. You haven't been that—just that—for a long time now. People expect things of you because they believe in you. And that should be something you're proud of. Not something you're determined to destroy. Why is it so important for you to be alone?"
"Because I am alone! Because the nanosecond I forgot that, life—most often in the shape of Megatron—beat the truth back into me. Literally!"

—Bumblebee and Starscream

"I know how eager you were to become a cityspeaker. You couldn't wait to do everything in your power to help people. I've seen how you threw yourself into your work, even when others told you to hold back. To be less. I know you always wondered why they chose you for your mission. I know the whisper in your spark that it was only to be rid of you. To see you fail at this impossible thing. I remember the moment you refused to do that, no matter the cost."

—Vigilem, to Windblade

"Please, Blast Off. Regale me with your tales of woe. The job, the apartment. Vortex even mentioned something about a date. That must be wretched."
"Don't pretend I wanted this."
"Then don't pretend you didn't. But please. Berate me, intimidate me, moralize at me. Just let me know which you intend to do first. I want to know which expression to fake."

—Starscream and Blast Off

"I hate you."
"I know."

—Starscream and Bumblebee

Notes

Continuity notes

Vigilem's brain module was destroyed in issue #8; a moment beforehand, Windblade's eyes glowed red and Vigilem spoke through her, setting up the revelation in this issue that he has transferred himself into her mind.
Starscream alludes to previous instances where his ambitions led to "the truth" being "beaten back into him." With his history, that's likely happened a lot, but on-panel examples of such experiences have included his original stint on Earth all the way back in Infiltration, where his plan to overthrow Megatron with the help of Ore-13 ended with the Decepticon leader beating the tar out of Screamer, and Spotlight: Megatron, in which his disastrous leadership of the Decepticons during the 2009-2011 ongoing series concluded with Megatron pummeling him to near-death.
Windblade's enhanced form in the mindscape is based on her ceremonial paint job from the Combiner Hunters comic and boxset, and she wields Arcee's "Combiner Slayer" sword from the same theme.
Flashbacks in this issue show Windblade being chosen for the mission to re-establish contact with Cybertron (prior to her first appearance in More than Meets the Eye #26, and to other flashbacks seen in Windblade vol. 1 #1); whispering in Starscream's ear as part of the cover-up of Chromia's crimes (as seen in Windblade vol. 1 #4); manipulating Navitas's components (from Windblade vol. 2 #5); and spying on the Combaticons' apartment (from issue #3).
The fact that Bumblebee is able to "appear" when Starscream is asleep, plus the fact he casts a shadow, certainly suggests he's not just the "hallucination" Starscream perceives him as, and more than a "ghost" as well. In the 2017 Transformers annual, it was revealed that Bumblebee was still alive within the Crystal City singularity that consumed his body shortly after his death in the closing chapters of Dark Cybertron, and implied that he was responsible for the "hallucination" Starscream has been interacting with.
After several issues of obscurity and seeing only his brain dead body, Swindle is finally back online, albeit surprisingly more cheerful and sincere.

Transformers references

The unnamed doctor who updates Starscream on Windblade's condition looks a lot like Ratchet, doesn't he? He's not based on any specific incarnation of the character; this continuity has established that many of Ratchet's features, like his forehead chevron and coloration, are uniform attributes shared among many medics. Two more bots who can be seen turning around when Starscream starts yelling to "himself" carry on the trend.

Other trivia

Solicited for release in June, this issue arrives just a pinch late, in the first week of July.

Covers (3)

Regular cover: Vigilem and Metroplex, by Sara Pitre-Durocher; third in a series of themed two-character covers for this arc by Pitre-Durocher.
Subscription cover: The threat of Vigilem haunts Starscream, by Priscilla Tramontano
Retailer incentive cover: Starscream by James Raiz and John-Paul Bove

Vigilem likes his Generations Metroplex.
Are things going bump in the night, Starscream?
Smirk squared.

Reprints

The Transformers: Till All Are One, Volume 3 (April 11, 2018) ISBN 1684050863 / ISBN 978-1684050864
- Collects Till All Are One issues #9–12 and Annual 2017.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers.
- Trade paperback format.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 76: Titans Return, Part 2 (July 25, 2018)
- Collects Till All Are One issues #5–11.
- Bonus material includes an article on Revolution.
- Hardcover format.

The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Three: Volume 2 (April 6, 2022) ISBN 1684058775 / ISBN 978-1684058778
- Collects Till All Are One issues #9–12, Optimus Prime issues #1–6, and Lost Light issues #1–7.
- Hardcover format.

Till All Are One, Volume 3 – cover art by Sara Pitre-Durocher
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 76: Titans Return, Part 2 – cover art by Don Figueroa (Metroplex) and Sara Pitre-Durocher (retro)
The IDW Collection Phase Three: Volume 2 – cover art by Sara Pitre-Durocher