The Transformers: Windblade concluded with the founding of the Council of Worlds as Cybertron has finally come back into contact with its sister worlds: Caminus, Velocitron, Devisiun, Eukaris, and Carcer. Inevitably there's strife and tension. Starscream is the duplicitous dictator he always is, Windblade struggles with her principles and what needs to be done in the new age, and the fledgling government chafes under dozens of problems that seem to pop up every week. Can peace be achieved or is strife inevitable?
The third Transformers Ongoing alongside The Transformers: Robots in Disguise (which relaunched as The Transformers: Optimus Prime) and The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (which relaunched as The Transformers: Lost Light). Mairghread Scott chose to end her run on Windblade and relaunch under Till All Are One in order to change the spotlight from Windy and bring an ensemble cast like the other ongoings. Art duties are handled by Sara Pitre-Durocher.
The series concluded with 12 issues and an Annual.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Heroism: While Breakdown was probably one of the more noble Decepticons back in Prime he was still a violent brute with a love of hurting things. Here his IDW version is a lot calmer and kinder; he tries to have Knock Out act nicer to Moonracer because he feels that KO takes her for granted.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In most Generation 1 fiction, Bruticus is typically portrayed as incredibly unintelligent, at times requiring someone else to give him basic commands before he would even move. Here, due to Swindle being brain-dead, Onslaught being occupied with combing through Swindle's memories, Brawl being terrified of both Bruticus' power and the circumstances of Swindle's "death", Vortex reveling in Bruticus' power, and Blast Off trying to keep all the Combaticons focused, the resulting Bruticus was formed incredibly unstable and madly rampaged uncontrollably through Iacon in a manner not unlike Menasor.
- Ascended Extra: Blast-Off was easily the least important of the Combaticons within the IDW comics and missed out on a few of their big moments like their time in the Ongoing. Here he's probably the most important.
- Big Bad: The first 4 part arc features Onslaught as the main antagonist threatening to uncover Starscream's schemes and bring the government down.
- Blood Knight: Vortex is happy to get back to violence since he loves a good battle. Of all the Combaticons it was he who embraces the destructive power of Bruticus while Brawl and Blast-Off chafe and Onslaught goes hunting through Swindle's memory.
- Boom, Headshot!: Bruticus, a combiner is taken out by a well shot missile through the visor.
- Brains and Brawn: Obsidian and Strika's dynamic has been retooled into this. While Strika is still fairly smart and Obsidian fairly strong Strika's characterization revolves more around her brute force whereas Obsidian's revolves more on his intellect.
- Decomposite Character: Prime Breakdown was G1 Breakdown's direct counterpart in his home series, but is a completely separate character here. It helps that he was already fairly distinct from his G1 self in the show.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Swindle's disappearance and "death" is what fuels the Combaticons' actions in this series, as they are convinced that Starscream killed him and covered it up. While Onslaught, Vortex, and Brawl want revenge against Starscream, Blast Off has a more moderate goal and wants Starscream brought to justice. Later, their merger into Bruticus was initially motivated by Onslaught wanting to pick the brain-dead Swindle's memories for evidence to use against Starscream. However, when Onslaught discovers that Starscream did shoot and render Swindle brain-dead, he, Vortex, and Brawl are outraged, becoming determined to use Bruticus to confront and kill Starscream over Blast Off's protests.
- Vigilem's Undying Loyalty to his master is reciprocated. When Liege Maximo is brought back at the cost of Vigilem's life, he sincerely thanks his fallen warrior and promises to avenge him.
- Fake Memories: In a throwback to the G1 cartoon, the Combaticons are reprogrammed to serve. Though in this case rather than changing them, Starscream merely alters their memories to make them think they were always loyal to him rather than after revenge.
- Fastball Special: When Vigilem enters the fight he does this by grabbing Devastator and pitching him at the nearest Titan giving the combiner an extra boost to take the bot down.
- Foreshadowing: During the title's Revolutions tie-in, Pyra Magna notes that a Titan being loyal to their Prime isn't necessarily a good thing, mentioning the previously unheard of Vigilem, Titan of the Liege Maximo. Soon enough, Windblade finds out Carcer is Vigilem.
- Godzilla Threshold: The second storyline has Cybertron attacked by a horde of undead Titans, with the situation getting bad enough Windblade demands Elita transform Carcer. She refuses, meaning Windblade decides to do it herself. This turns out to be a very bad move.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Sentinel Prime becomes this for issues 4-8. While he did appear in the Titans Return tie in, 4-8 take place after the main events of the story which have him MIA or dead. His machinations of sending the Titans to Cybertron are still in effect and the Cybertronians must stand against them.
- Hidden Depths: Brawl, The Brute of the group who loves killing, is the only Combaticon to visibly fear Bruticus's power. In contrast Vortex is the only one to whole-heartedly embrace what they've become.
- Mad Oracle: In a roundabout way, Airachnid has been reimagined as one. She's an oracle much like Blackarachnia but while most Oracles use bits of memory to adjust their predictions, Airachnid would Mind Rape people, fatally, to try and craft a more accurate prediction. For these reasons she was expunged from the order and it's very clear she has an obsession with digging through peoples's headspace.
- Meaningful Name: Carcer is Latin for "prison". He turns out to be the can in which the Liege Maximo has been sealed.
- Mind Rape: The series starts with the suspicion that Starscream has a Mnemosurgeon on his staff and is using them to probe Decepticon memories to find Swindle. Issue 9 reveals this to be Airachnid, a disgraced Eukarian who invaded minds as part of her mad obsession with knowledge. None of her patients survived.
- Not Quite Dead:
- Inevitably Swindle though he's brain dead.
- Vigilem undergoes this twice. The first time it's from Elita shooting him in the brain and he uploads his mind into Windblade. The second time it's when Windblade defeats and absorbs him she explicitly states that he won't die from the process, but that it will change him and hopefully burn away some of his negative traits.
- Number Two: This series establishes Blast-Off as the second in command of the Combaticons.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Council of Worlds are a mixed bunch. Starscream tries to be this, but he's outmaneuvered by Obsidian so he has to resort to old fashioned blackmail to get his plans back on the rails. Obsidian inverts this by being one of the council members most adamant in changing the tense climate of Cybertron. Windblade throws her support behind Obsidian when he tries to straighten out the police department.
- Police Brutality: A common problem with the Badgeless and their disproportionate targeting of Decepticons, even if it was all to flush out an informant. Though the death that sets off the plot was part of a False Flag Operation.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Obsidian sees right through Starscream's charades and from his position as the head of the justice department is one of the main figures trying to force a positive change on the corrupt police force.
- The Reveal: Who is Carcer? Upon his awakening he declares himself not to be neither Tempo, nor Carcer, but Vigilem Titan of Liege Maximo.
- So Last Season: Bruticus, who's defeated in only a few panels vs the huge fights it took to bring down the previous Combiners. Justified given that Ironhide is probably the single most experienced 'bot on Cybertron when it comes to fighting Combiners and Bruticus was newly born, not syncing well at all, and had a member who was brain-dead.
- We Need a Distraction: When sneaking onto Carcer the Cybertronian fleet opens fire on them. Since that isn't enough they send out their trump card, Devastator, to go and wreck up the place.
- Your Size May Vary: The Titans in this series are tiny, barely being taller than a Combiner. In the past a small spaceship could fit inside the eye socket of one and think it was in a trench, while here Airrazor is as big as an eye. It could be their size-changing powers at play, but Metroplex himself comes back into the fray at full size and he's as tall as the rest. It get's especially wonky in issue 8 where Devastator gets picked up by one and he's quite a bit smaller in hand than he was previously when he was whaling on one in vehicle mode. Concept art for issue 8 and solicitations for issue 11 suggest however that the extensive rebuilding and modifications Vigilem has undergone over the years have made him larger than his brethren.
