The Energon Pub

Seems to be a running thing with Starscream taking counsel from the ghost of Bumblebee.

It doesn't seem to be "all in his head" per-say, although I am okay with the insane Starscream concept. But why would bumblebee - if he is indeed a sentient ghost - be acting as a sort of guide for Starscream.

Have I missed anything important to indicate this is actually what is going on?

I did notice Starscream musing that if they fail in their battle on cybertron maybe he would be lucky enough to haunt Megatron.

I do not recall if there was a scene where he first encountered the ghost and all in all Starscream does not seem the least bit phased about it.

I kinda like that Starscream interacts with the dead, even if he himself is still alive. As we've seen in other incarnations, in which Starscream has an immortal Spark, he doesn't "die" when his body is destroyed, he becomes a ghost. I like to think that IDW Starscream is the same, that he wouldn't die he'd become a ghost, but that he also has a sort of connection to the dead, tieing together with his whole ghost-spark thing.

There was no meeting scene, we just saw Starscream talking to himself for a number of issues before it was revealled to the readers that he's actually talking to Bee.


Honestly, I view it as Bee is not really the ghost of Bee, but the personification of Starscream's conciounce. Being in his position of power has finally had an affect on him and he's thinking of others. Subconciously, he respected Bee, or his attempt at being a leader anyway, and his mind subconciously manifested his conciounce in the form of Bee. That's my take.

Actually the clip of the upcoming issue is giving me that impression in a strong way.

Because the way Bee is targeting his deeper more subconscious thoughts. I dare say it, it struck me as if Bee is suggesting he may have actually developed some sort of attraction for windblade and he's kicking himself for having behaved in a manner that causes her to suspect his motives rather than trust him. So he's irritated with himself for staying back and being safe while she risks her life (again) for him. And perhaps he is taken by that and hopes she (and the others) gets home. In regards to him remaining behind - I see it as something a commander sometimes has to do. Stay out of the heat and be able to direct his fighters where they are needed.

I want to speculate that he may develop more emotions for Windblade in future. I'm perfectly fine with the guy being a lone wolf. But I would not be opposed to it was I was the sickening megatron & starscream pairing B.S. over the years.

So yeah, the Bee as a personification of Starscream's good side - I can get behind. Because, Starscream respected him and I feel Starscream also trusted him. I think he trusted Bee more than he trusts himself. He murdered the one guy who'd been his friend. He went to his friend's grave to have "discussions" and gain answers. He realises he's a jerk.

coincidently I wrote a fan fic once - 2003-4 (Seeker of Vengeance (bad grammar but a good learning method for that sort of thing))where Starscream had a personality schism - where he was often arguing with his pre-war scientist self over matters. (He was insane.. or was he? One half was being logical to his irrational self. So I have always been able to see him reverting to a peaceful state in this manner. I also plan to use this again in a future fic.

In general, I feel Starscream has always had a strong love for his world.

Well, they repeated the trick with Cyclonus talking to his dead friends in IDW's 2nd continuity. It's only to be expected with so much death on Cybertron.

I finished the 2005 IDW continuity fairly recently, and I loved the Starscream-Bumblebee dynamic. My only complaint is that the two characters did not interact at all after Bumblebee "came back to life." In fact, Starscream seemingly never had a moment of realization that he had been talking to the real Bumblebee, and not just a hallucination.

I'm guessing that Starscream is one of those people who lives in the moment and doesn't do too much reflection on the past, at least not in the comics panels or cartoon reels. He does what is necessary, moves on and hardly looks back at all.