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Three Monologues

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Dark Cybertron Prelude
RID20 cvrB.jpg
"Three Monologues"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published August 7,2013
Cover date August 2013
Written by John Barber
Art by Andrew Griffith
Colors by Priscilla Tramontano
Letters by Shawn Lee
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2013)

A blackout, a do-gooder, and an opportunist which are all more than they appear make Starscream's first night leading Iacon a difficult one, as the former Decepticon finds that the only way he can speak without being reproached at every turn is to speak to those who cannot talk back.

Contents

Synopsis

1: Long Night

AsMetalhawk's remains lie in state,Starscreamvisits his once and former friend to thank him for all the advice he gave him during their tumultuous attempts to forge a government alongsideBumblebee,and apologizes for killing him. He laments the lack of friends he has had in his life, but remarks that he knew Metalhawk would not have been any better at leading than Bumblebee was; now,Cybertron's destiny lies in the hands of someone who can and willdosomething.

Starscream ventures to the wreckedMaccadam's Old Oil Houseand petitions ownerBlurrto use the bar as a meeting place to connect with the common Cybertronian. Blurr laughs in his face: as far as he is concerned, he did not pick Starscream as his leader, but merely chose not to be part of the war anymore, and wants nothing to do with the former Decepticons. Just as he is kicking Starscream out, the entire city is blanketed in darkness as a blackout knocks out power across the polity.

Circuitbroadcasts a special report from the med-center onScoopand his Construction Patrol, who are working diligently to help repair the damage caused by the previous night's battle and are now endeavoring to solve the blackout problem. Starscream drops in, more than a little miffed to see his spotlight being stolen away; medicFlatlineassumes he's come to check on the status of the new body he's working on, but he's actually come to seeDirge,hoping theSeekerwill stand at his side. Instead, Dirge slugs him good and hard. Starscream turns on his former subordinate, whispering threats of death, until he realizes that privacy is a thing of the past for him: Circuit is filming him, and he spins a quick lie. Power suddenly returns thanks to Scoop's efforts, and Circuit hands his broadcast off toCloudraker,who is interviewing the hero of the hour. A sulking Starscream is then approached byRattrap,a stinky little former Autobot who has previous experience with Scoop and has always distrusted him, calling him jealous and greedy. Rattrap shows Starscream the damaged power coupling responsible for the blackout, and points out thephosphexburn that makes it clear the power loss was no accident: it was sabotage.

2: Young Evening

Starscream gives himself a pick-me-up by visitingMegatron,still held immobile in the forcefield that was responsible for his defeat. He gloats over his victory and the new horizons he will lead the people towards, and then, feeling suitably reinvigorated, heads out to the city's comm array, which Scoop's team are about to start fixing, finally restoring Cybertron's communication with the galaxy. Rattrap points out Scoop's suspicious, ever-present toolbox, which he and Starscream figure would be a good place to stash anything incriminating, so Starscream calls Scoop over before he climbs the array... only to be suitably taken aback when Scoop dramatically genuflects before him. The engineer expresses his disillusionment in his former Autobot brothers, and his new faith in Starscream born of the words of theTitan,leading Starscream to realize that the Construction Patrol are actually following him because they're religious fanatics. Decidedly disarmed, Starscream can stall Scoop no longer and he leaves to head up the array, but his words prompt a line of inquiry from Circuit, who chats with Starscream about the divided opinion on his first few hours of leadership. In short order, Scoop has repaired the array, but as he descends, Rattrap deliberately gets under his feet and causes him to drop his toolbox, which spills its contents for all to see... including a canister of phosphex. As Circuit broadcasts live, Starscream reveals Scoop's deception and has him carted away for incarceration, assuring the viewers thathe,at least, will not let them down.

3: Early Dawn

Some time later, as Rattrap returns to the dingy little den he calls home, he finds Starscream waiting for him. Being a professional liar, Starscream calmly explains, means he can alsospota liar quite easily. Scoop was no liar—he genuinely wanted to do good. Rattrap is the prevaricator here, the one who was always jealous of other 'bots, and the one responsible for the sabotage and for planting the phosphex on Scoop. Rattrap wants to know what this means for him: a self-serving, out-for-number-one response that Starscream applauds. With a grin, he offers Rattrap a job in his government.

Later still, Starscream retires to a tower elsewhere in the city and watches as the sun begins to rise, even if it does feel a little early. He speaks to an unseen listener, ruminating on the lessons he has learned about the nature of power, and the fact that, really, the people are just looking for someone to blame. What, he wonders, will the listener do when he is better, free of theCR chamberin which he now heals? Starscream hopes he'll stand with him, since he trusted him when they began the city. But for now... Starscream bidsWheeljackgood night.

Featured characters

For this list and all others going forward, we are assuming that anyone who has stayed in Iacon of their own free will has discarded their faction in the process, as per Starscream's decree. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"I'm not... Iwasn'tused to havingfriends.Accomplices,and people in my way, sure. But there have not been manyfriendsofStarscream."

—Starscreamsets the ovaries of fangirls far and wide tingling


"I need somebody I can trust. I mean, even if youhateme, you're still aSeeker,right? "
"You knowwhat?"
(Dirge decks Starscream with a mighty POW!)
"Huh.I thought you'd at least give me a snazzyone-liner.'Seek this,' or something."

—StarscreamandDirge


"Altruismisunpredictable."

—Starscream

Notes

  • This is the first issue ofRobots in Disguisetonotfeature narration in the form of an internal character monologue delivered through caption boxes. Instead, Starscream—the one character who is so rarely legitimately truthful when interacting with others—gets to actually speak his true thoughts aloud, without being suspected, rebuked or second-guessed, but only by talking to the dead, the paralyzed, and the comatose. He mighta killed that dude, but it's actually sort of tragic.

Continuity notes

  • Scoop has made a brief entry into IDW continuity before now, battling alongside the Wreckers inStormbringer.Whether he was a member of the group wasn't clear at the time; his personality as portrayed doesnotseem like Wrecker material.
  • Mentioned in passing inissue #18,Flatline makes an on-panel appearance this issue. Artist Andrew Griffith designed him as a retool of theGenerationsTrailcuttertoy, but did so on his own initiative without instruction fromHasbro,so don't get too excited.
  • Rattrap ofBeast Warsfame debuts in his semi-regularRobots in Disguiserole in this issue. He previously made a brief appearance in the pre-war era inMore than Meets the Eye#9,though in hisBeast Machinesdesign, not hisBeast Warsdesign.
  • Phosphex is the primary chemical component of the assorted variations ofglass gas;"cold phosphex" was mentioned inLast Stand of the Wreckers #4,whileBulletsgave us "black phosphex".
  • Starscream references his disastrous previous attempt at leading the Decepticons, as seen during the2009–2011 ongoing series.
  • Judging by Rattrap's presence, thecold-constructedStarscream feels the effects ofTyrest'suniversal killswitchbetween pages 20 and 21 of this issue, as seen briefly inMore than Meets the Eye#20.
  • Wheeljack appeared to die back inissue #14.He lives! Yaay! He will be completely healed, conscious, and ready to repair some combiners inissue #33.
  • The reason why the sunrise feels early is probably because it's not a sunrise, as shown inissue #18.

Transformers references

  • Scoop's got a newGenerationstoy coming up soon, hence his slightly surprising prominent role here, alongside his fellow "Double" Targetmasters Quickmix and Landfill. His Targetmaster partnersHolepunchandTracerappear too, redesigned with construction vehicle alternate modes rather than weapon forms; logically, they're Cybertronians here, rather than Nebulans.

Errors

  • Blurr is still wearing his Autobot symbol when he should have abandoned it if he was staying Iacon. However, given that every single other character is devoid of a symbol, and Blurr appearsconsistentlywith his symbol in every panel he appears in, coupled with his comments about staying and allegiance, this might not actually be a mistake.
  • Holepunch and Tracer are miscolored asTakedownandGroundpounderrespectively, two members of theoriginalMicromaster Construction Patrol.

Foreign localization

Japanese

  • Title:"Mittsu no Monologue"( tam つのモノローグ," Three Monologues ")
    • "Nagai Yo"( trường い dạ," Long Night ")
    • "Yoi no Kuchi"( tiêu の khẩu," Early Evening ")
    • "Yoake Mae"( dạ minh け tiền," Before Dawn ")

Covers (3)

  • Cover A:Starscream stands over Metalhawk's remains, byAndrew GriffithandJosh Perez.
  • Cover B:Starscream (with crown) poses dramatically, while Scoop and Rattrap hang back in the shadows, byCasey CollerandJoana Lafuente.This image would later be used for the fifth TPB volume.
  • Cover RI:Starscream byLivio Ramondelli,in the first part of a three-part image formed with the RI covers of issues #21 and #22.
  • (thumbnail)

    Need a hand, Metalhawk?

  • (thumbnail)

    This is bad comedy.

  • (thumbnail)

    Retailers' Incentive cover

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