Editing Rewind (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

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[[File:BeforeandAfter-Rewindisold.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2]]
A dedicated chronicler, '''Rewind''' is [[Conjunx Endura]] with [[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]].

{{first|[[Chaos Part Three: Kings|''The Transformers'' vol. 1 #28]]; [[Slaughterhouse|''More than Meets the Eye'' #32]] (quantum duplicate)}}
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==Fiction==
===Joining the Autobots===

[[File:BeforeandAfter-TheWorseTheDeath.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66]]

'''Rewind of [[Lower Petrohex]]''' was extremely old: he could remember when [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] switched to the [[New Calendar]], and he predated the rise of the [[Functionism|Functionists]] and their [[Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy]]. Within the new caste structure the Functionists imposed upon Cybertronian society, Rewind's memory stick [[alternate mode]] saw him labelled as a member of the [[Disposable class]], who were little better than slaves. Fortunately, Rewind was lucky enough to wind up working as a data receptacle for [[Dominus Ambus]], who treated him with respect and eventually became his friend, and then more, even fighting for civil rights for the Disposable class. Seeking a cure for the disease [[Cybercrosis]], Dominus departed Cybertron to search for [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], and Rewind accompanied him; their quest ended in failure, and when they returned to their homeworld, they discovered a [[Great War (G1)|civil war]] had broken out in their absence. Rewind joined the Autobot faction, but the war soon became a distant second concern for him when Dominus mysteriously disappeared. Rewind began a lifelong search for his friend, but when no sign that he still lived could be found, the archivist eventually started investigating the [[Relinquishment Clinic]]s, thinking that his friend may have committed suicide, and that he could at least gain some measure of peace by learning his fate. It was while visiting such a clinic, where he was confronted with failure yet again, that Rewind was approached by [[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]], another Autobot waiting to die who had found something inside himself touched by Rewind's anguish. Together, the pair gave each other a reason to live and began a relationship that lasted for millions of years, but Rewind never stopped searching for Dominus. With a camera mounted to his head at all times to record anything and everything around him, Rewind even began to plumb seedier and seedier depths, procuring footage of deaths of all kinds, in hopes of one day finding something that would reveal Dominus's fate to him. Despite being named Rewind's [[Conjunx Endura]], Chromedome resigned himself to the fact he would only ever be the ''second'' most important person in Rewind's life. {{storylink|Before & After}}

Half a million years ago, around 6th Cycle 351, Chromedome and Rewind were posted in the [[Manganese Mountains]], fighting [[Scorponok (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Scorponok]]. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

[[File:LiarsAtoD1-Rewind.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|"Did you know that I have a camera attached to the side of my head at all times so that I can record everything?"]]
Rewind was among the Autobots stationed at the [[Kimia Facility]] at the time of the [[Chaos (IDW)|Chaos event]], and escaped an attack by [[Cyclonus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Cyclonus]] and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s by fleeing in an escape pod with several other survivors. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}} Returning to Cybertron, he was tasked with putting his mastery of language to use translating the inscription found within the [[Matrix of Leadership]], but even he struggled with it. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} When it was determined that the Matrix contained a map believed to lead to the long-lost [[Knights of Cybertron]], Rewind elected to join [[Hot Rod (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Rodimus]]'s crew aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]'' in following the map. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} Though Rewind's primary motivation was to see if somewhere along the way he could learn what had happened to Dominus. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

Some time before Rodimus made the announcement, Rewind and Chromedome attended the [[Festival of Lost Light]] together. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

===The ''Lost Light''===
Before the launch, Rodimus approached Rewind with a quest to film everything he could, as a travelogue, though [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]] would have say over what entered the final cut. {{storylink|Little Victories}} On the craft's launch day, Rewind purchased some more death footage from [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] before joining Chromedome and [[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ratchet]] in crossing the [[Mitteous Plateau]] to the ship, causing some grumbling from his partner that they were being forced to walk because of Rewind's non-mobile alternate mode. Upon launch, a malfunction of the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s quantum generators damaged the ship and hurled it into deep space; {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} once the ship was set down on a planetoid, Rewind helped Chromedome and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] recover the damaged Cyclonus, who had been clinging to the hull. Returning to the ship, they met with [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] and [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], and then witnessed a battle between the newly arrived amnesiac [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] and a group of [[Legislator|mysterious robots]], which Rewind gleefully recorded. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}}

No sooner was the ''Lost Light'' airborne again than Rewind was called upon to help investigate the death of [[Shock (G1)|Shock]], identifying the murder as the work of a [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]]. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

Shortly thereafter, Rewind and Chromedome attending the grand opening of [[Swerve's]]. {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}} Rodimus later called Rewind up to give Tailgate a history lesson about the war: having been in stasis throughout the conflict, Tailgate had decided that he wanted to be a Decepticon, but a super-compressed summary of the villains' actions during the war beamed straight into his head by Rewind quickly disabused him of the notion. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}}

Rewind was sitting with Chromedome and Skids at Swerve's when the former managed to snag the latter's gun. Skids didn't notice. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

After the ''Lost Light'' was impacted by a discarded thumb from [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], and was subsequently repaired, Rewind attended an award ceremony honoring [[Brainstorm (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Brainstorm]], Chromedome, and [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] for their part in saving the ship. Later, Rewind along with nearly everyone on board of the ''Lost Light'' were frozen in place due to one of Brainstorm's experimental weapons accidentally going off. After he recovered, he was awarded a [[Rodimus Star]] "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity." {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}}

When [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] discovered the footage Rewind had bought from Swindle and brought on board, {{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}} he dubbed them "snuff movies" and punished the little 'bot by having him replace rivets on the ship's hull. He was soon joined in his task by Swerve, and the pair were then pressed into action when [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Fortress Maximus]] took [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] and [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] hostage. Rewind projected footage of Max's torture at the hands of [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] at [[Garrus-9]] through a window from outside in order to distract him, while Swerve took a shot at him, but wound up grievously wounding Rung instead. {{storylink|Interiors}} 

[[File:MTMTE2012Annual-RewindDataSlug.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|"Did you know that although I appear to be flying in [[data slug]] mode in these panels, this is not in fact possible for me to achieve?"]]
Against Rewind's wishes, Chromedome had begun using his [[mnemosurgery]] skills again, resulting in him reliving the experience of [[Skyfall (G1)|Skyfall]]'s death. After helping calm his partner, Rewind accompanied him to Tailgate's Autobot Initiation Ceremony, during which Rodimus was seized by a strange compulsion and drew some ancient Cybertronian on Tailgate's chest, which Rewind translated as "let me out". Shortly after, Rewind was among those teleported to the planet [[Theophany]] by the [[Galactic Council]] to investigate the abandoned [[Crystal City]]. Beneath the city, they found [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], a [[Titan (group)|Titan]] whose psychic emanations were revealed as the cause of Rodimus's trance. The words, Cyclonus explained, were a plea from the Titan that actually said "set me free". When the Autobots shrank the titan so it could teleport away, it sent them back to their ship and quantum-jumped them out of the Council's reach. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

Rewind hosted a movie night in his hab suite, projecting "[[Proteus's Promise]]". Tailgate, Swerve, [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]], and [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] joined him in watching the film. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}
 
With Rung's body repaired after the hostage ordeal, Rewind determined to heal his comatose mind by gathering together a group of other Transformers to tell stories of their shared experiences that would notionally help Rung's unresponsive mind form connections. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} Though Rewind's intentions weren't entirely selfless, as he wanted to have what he felt was a long-overdue conversation with Rung about Dominus. {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}} The first two attempts didn't work out, {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} so for the third try, Rewind got Chromedome, Ratchet, Skids, Drift, and Whirl to help him tell a story about events set during the [[Clampdown (event)|Clampdown]]. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} The story didn't appear to be having any effect, {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} but Rewind was determined to keep going, having discovered that Rung was strangely ubiquitous in Cybertronian history, having been presented for virtually every major event in the planet's span. In the end, it was not the story, but Skids's deliberate mispronunciation of the psychiatrist's name that awoke him. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

[[File:MTMTE12 time's up.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95|Did you know that I nearly oiled myself at the realization that I was about to be blown up?]]
Rewind took part in an attack on a Decepticon battalion on [[Temptoria]], which kicked off with an argument between him and Chromedome, as he had previously promised his partner that he would not put himself in danger in this manner any more. The argument was cut off when Whirl dragged Rewind away to take footage of him during the attack; while Whirl and Cyclonus took care of the combat end of the mission, Rewind and Tailgate explored the Decepticon base and discovered the villains were using [[pink alchemy]] to drain [[energon]] from the natives. A bomb was wired to the chamber, so Rewind helped Tailgate to defuse it, but when the process went wrong, he wound up locked in the bomb chamber with Cyclonus. The larger 'bot shielded Rewind from the explosion, but the archivist was still badly damaged. He was returned to the ''Lost Light'' by Chromedome who reminded First Aid that Rewind was allergic to Crude Energon and ultraviolet light. Rewind would have died had not Whirl (secretly responsible for locking them in as part of a deluded attempt to kill Cyclonus) volunteered to take part in jumpstarting his [[spark]]. {{storylink|Before & After}}

[[File:MTMTE13 Rewind's holomatter avatar.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Did you know that my holomatter avatar is adorable?]]
After the crew and Rewind had recovered from the battle of Temptoria, Rewind was one of those invited with Swerve and his "gang" to the tourist planet of [[Hedonia]] for a night of R&R. Rewind was one of the group who had the opportunity to scout the organics-only bar using his [[holomatter]] avatar, a 20-something human called, appropriately, ''Joe Human''. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}}

At one point during the night, Rewind witnessed Skids and Whirl's meeting with a bunch of [[Ammonite]]s, eerily similar mechanical lifeforms stuck in their own civil war. He also presumably witnessed the arrival, and subsequent murder by Whirl, of their arch-foe [[Imperius Drax]]. {{storylink|Little Victories}}

While Swerve babysat a drunken Ultra Magnus, Rewind joined the others in the gift shop. Rewind suggested to them that if they were already in trouble with Ultra Magnus, they might as well get into some serious trouble by searching for the "dark secret" of Hedonia. He later convinced Rung not to buy any Hedonian tourist memory sticks, as he was recording his own version. {{storylink|Signal to Noise}}

Rung bought an ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark-1]]'' model instead, which led Rewind to an impromptu showing of some ancient footage of the real ''Ark-1''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s opening ceremony. Before he could roll footage, an apparently drunk Cyclonus flew into a rage. With only twenty minutes to spare, Rewind helped the others to get a comatose Ultra Magnus back to the shuttle. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}}

Shortly thereafter, the ''Lost Light'' had the pleasure of crossing paths with the legendary [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]], with Swerve managing to save him from an Ammonite spy (it turned out the Ammonites were the bad guys of their particular war). In the meantime, Rewind got lots of footage of Rodimus desperately trying not to be his usual self. Afterward, Rodimus expressed the thought that maybe giving Rewind complete access to everything wasn't such a great idea. {{storylink|Little Victories}}

Unknown to Rewind, Chromedome was busy interfacing with the secret Decepticon prisoner, Overlord, who would later use Chromedome's memories to escape from his [[slow cell]] prison. Rewind suspected something was going on, and visited Brainstorm to relay some of his suspicions. At that moment, Overlord killed Pipes and the ''Lost Light'' was alerted to their emergency. 

He followed the rest of the crew to find Overlord crippled by [[Trepan's Trigger]], the mnemonic process Chromedome had installed in the [[Phase Sixer]] as a failsafe. Rewind felt betrayed by Chromedome's return to mnemosurgery, a dangerous practice which Chromedome had previously promised Rewind he would no longer do. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} [[File:TheGloaming-iloveyou.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Did You Know that I love you?<br>Or were you not aware?<br>
You're the smile on my face<br>
And I ain't going nowhere]] Rewind angrily told Chromedome that they would talk later, but the chance never came. When Fortress Maximus managed to put Overlord back into the slow cell, the doors had been wedged open by one of Drift's swords. The only way to close the cell was for Rewind to get into the cell and remove the sword from the inside.

As the ejection countdown began, Rewind apologised to a distraught Chromedome for things not working out. As the cell fell away from the ship, Rewind turned to find Overlord looming over him. What was said between the two is not known as Chromedome, only too aware of Overlord's depravity, rushed to blow up the ejected cell rather than leave Rewind to a sadist's mercy. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

In that short time, though, Overlord had already killed Rewind; tearing off three of his limbs before biting off his head to stop him from screaming. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}} After the missile struck all that remained of Rewind was his camera unit, drifting through space next to a fully intact and not-quite-dead Overlord.

===Memories===
Unknown to Chromedome, Rewind had the foresight to compose a message to his partner and eject it from the cell prior to the door's closing. After his ''in absentia'' funeral, Rewind's data slug gave a grieving Chromedome a final message through a series of edited clips, finishing with the words "I Love You". {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

In the aftermath of [[Solomus|Tyrest]]'s scheme to kill all the [[Reproduction#2005 IDW continuity|Constructed Cold]], Rodimus removed the garish decorations of his office, and installed a memorial to all the fallen, Rewind included. {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} Meanwhile, Skids tried to convince the [[Circle of Light]] to join up with the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew by showing them Rewind's film. For some reason, they only came away convinced that the ship was filled with maniacs, and went looking for Thunderclash instead. {{storylink|Little Victories}}

For months after, Chromedome sat in his room playing the message over and over (and felt guilt over ''not'' searching for Dominus Ambus as he'd promised). One day, the end of the message was simply an anguished scream and he went to [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] for aid. The detective realised it wasn't just Chromedome imagining things when Rewind's ''ghost'' showed up for a second. Nightbeat called it a "[[data ghost]]", theorising it was the impression left on the physical world by the metaphysical weight of the data that Rewind carried. All this took a back seat when the ship began to disappear. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Only a few hours after that, the remaining Autobots came across a duplicate ''Lost Light'': the one massacred 18 months prior by the Decepticon Justice Division. The only survivor, hidden and unconscious in the Magnus Armor, was this ''Lost Light's'' Rewind! {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} 

===Rewind 2.0===
[[File:TheRoadNotTaken-ChromedomeRewind.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|Did you know that if you did not cry at this scene you are a heartless monster?]]
Unknown to everyone else, the explosion at the ''Lost Light's'' launch had created a quantum duplicate of the ''Lost Light'' and its crew, including Rewind. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

This crew also faced the Sparkeater, but the incident ended with Rodimus's death. Assuming command, Ultra Magnus promptly canned Rewind's travelogue. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

Around the same time that the crew of the other ''Lost Light'' found [[Metrotitan]], Ultra Magnus suffered an attack of [[Nanocon]]s. In order to combat them, he was infected with a swarm of [[Scraplet]]s. This incident revealed to that version of the ship he was [[Minimus Ambus]], Dominus's brother. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} Rewind confronted Minimus, angrily accusing him of withholding this fact from him. Minimus emphatically stated his brother was dead, and Rewind retorted that there was no way he could've known. It took Chromedome intervening to separate the two after that. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

At some point around or after that, Brainstorm led the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to the ''Lost Light'' with the promise of giving them Overlord. While they had been intending to keep their word of not harming anyone, the sight of [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] set them off, and they began killing everyone on-board. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} They spared Rewind, forcing him to film them doing their dirty work in exchange for letting Chromedome live. Then they changed their minds, telling the two they'd let them live only if Chromedome used his mnemosurgery skills to erase all his knowledge of Rewind. Chromedome refused, and was violently killed for it. Rewind managed to get away, hiding inside the now abandoned [[Magnus Armor]], where he passed out. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

Upon his awakening, he was shocked to see Nightbeat, [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]], and ''[[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]]'' among the Autobot ranks. Skids and Nightbeat attempted to question him as to the catastrophe that had befallen the ship, but the traumatized archivist broke down at the prospect and silently offered them a data slug instead. The video, containing the beginnings of his travelogue, confirmed Nautica's belief that this wrecked ''Lost Light'' was one of two created by quantum superpositioning during the [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|launch accident]]. Rewind went on to describe how an unknown mole had tipped the Decepticon Justice Division off to Overlord's location, their massacre of the crew, and how they forced him to tape the affair in exchange for Chromedome's survival, followed by their subsequent change of mind. No sooner had he finished his tale when mutated quantum foam leaking from the quantum drums began spreading, threatening to cause a cataclysmic explosion. Rewind offered to help shut off the drums and reinstate the others' ''Lost Light'', and set about the task with a mass-displaced Megatron. He asked Nautica, directing the pair from the [[Rodpod]], if shutting off the quantum drums would lead to the cessation of his own existence in addition to the wrecked ''Lost Light'', but her affirmation did not deter him, as he saw no further purpose in life with Chromedome dead. After Megatron falsely assured him that the two were still going strong on his ship, they shut off the quantum engines, causing all of the duplicate ''Lost Light'' to disappear... except, for unknown reasons, Brainstorm's [[Time case|briefcase]] and Rewind himself! Though Rewind was disheartened at the thought of life without a Chromedome of his own, his sadness ceased as he and Chromedome reunited, embracing silently on the outer hull of the Rodpod. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

However, the reunion of sorts was far from perfect, as Rewind wanted to ease into the relationship with someone who was, to him at least, another person. Not helping was Domey not seeing why immediately giving him the ''other'' Rewind's stuff was such a big deal. Within two hours of meeting him. So Rewind moved into a different hab-suite.

While resting, Rewind suffered a flashback to the [[Dark Dawn]], crying out loud enough to draw Chromedome's attention. The two briefly tried working past the awkwardness, before Rewind brought up the Dark Dawn, and when it was. Except the story his databanks were telling him didn't match what history said happened, at all, talking about the long-dead [[Functionist Council]], and [[obsolescence chip]]s. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}} Meanwhile, Brainstorm had turned out to be a Decepticon agent, and not only that had built a time machine, with which he'd fled into the past to apparently kill [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] and prevent the war. When informed about this by Rodimus, Rewind guessed this was responsible for his databases changing. In order to determine where Pax was, Rewind was called upon. Working out he would have likely been in or around [[Alyon]] on 1st Cycle 502, Rodimus chose a team of those who had spark types compatible with the time machine, in order to find Brainstorm and "punch some sense into him". Rewind was one of those chosen.

Meeting Pax and his brigade of outliers defending a [[hot spot]], it was Rewind who realized (thanks to his databanks being overwritten) that the [[Senate]] was messing with it to try and create their own outliers. Fortunately, Pax was able to prevent them from destroying the sparks to cover this up by being impressively heroic. With that done, the team went off to another time-period to find Brainstorm. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

Arriving in the time of the Clampdown, Rewind was positioned on an airship, to watch out for Brainstorm. He soon saw him fleeing towards the [[Dead End (place)|Dead End]], but he jumped away before anyone could catch him. Following after the mad scientist, the team arrived in 4th cycle 499, outside [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's]]. Splitting up, Rewind and Chromedome positioned themselves outside [[Rodion]]'s police headquarters to play a game of stargazing. But Rewind's mind was on other matters, namely Dominus, and whether it would've been possible to use Brainstorm's time case to try and find him, and if he was killed, try and prevent it. Chromedome raised the point that, altering the timeline aside, if he did that their own relationship would never happen. Then Whirl interrupted when he realized they were present on the day he nearly killed Megatron.

Later, Rewind and Chromedome were unable to intervene as Senate goons murdered Orion Pax's fellow cops, despite Rewind really wanting to. Then he noticed some new arrivals: the [[Heavies]], and some new guy, which set Whirl off. As Whirl dealt with some personal revelations, [[Perceptor (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Perceptor]] realized Brainstorm hadn't been after Pax at all. He'd been after Megatron. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} Managing to track Brainstorm to the [[Con Facility 113|Con Facility]] Megatron had been built in, everyone tried preventing him from destroying the future Decepticon, which worked. However, as Rewind saw the revised, Megatron-free version of history falling into place, he came to a conclusion: While life on Cybertron would suck, it would be infinitely better for everyone else. So, spurred in part by his regret over not acting when the D.J.D. had attacked, he blasted Megatron's spark to pieces.

This didn't change Chromedome's opinion of him in the slightest, as he offered the upset archivist a supportive hug. However, his actions soon proved for naught when Whirl stole a [[Point One Percenter]] spark Brainstorm had been carrying on his person, and installed it in the body as an act of spite against the Functionist Council for ruining his life.

Afterward, as everyone looked for a way to get back to the present, Rewind talked with Brainstorm, thanking him for looking after Chromedome. When Brainstorm mentioned his own personal loss, [[Quark]] of Rodion, Rewind looked him up in the database, only to find he'd died at [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore]]. Meanwhile, everyone else went looking for a quantum generator, travelling to [[Unitrex]] to find one, while Rewind filled Tailgate in on where that was, finding a surprisingly familiar shot in his databanks. Fortunately, everyone managed to get back to the present intact. The next day, Rewind and Chromedome were sharing a hab-suite again, holding hands as they rested. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

In the aftermath, Rewind attended Brainstorm's hearing. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

After a chance encounter with Thunderclash, and a mess involving [[personality tick]]s the ''Lost Light'' threw an EarthDance party at Swerve's, where Rewind and Chromedome strutted their stuff together. {{storylink|The Frail Gaze}} The party went south when it turned out Swerve had actually been locked in his room for months, and was now dying from an infection. And the ship was being chased by a planet. As it turned out, that was a holoprojection of Swerve's. Scrambling to find out the cause, the crew started projecting themselves over to "[[Swearth]]", as it was dubbed, Rewind included. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} It turned out the infection was because of a bullet wound inflicted by the Autobot [[Dominus Ambus|Agent 113]], who as part of his duty as a double-agent in the D.J.D. had found out something about the mysterious [[Mortilus|Necrobot]].

Rewind "West Wing"'d Rodimus about said being as the ship's captain made his own discovery relating to his desk, and had in fact been unconsciously drawing a map to [[Cyberutopia]]. Discussion ensued between the co-captains and Ultra Magnus about whether to follow up on 113's intel or not. Then Rewind, encouraged by Chromedome, spoke up on how he wanted to try and find the Necrobot, to see whether he could learn anything about his former lover. Megatron decided to go along with the idea.

As the ship detoured, Rewind had a talk with Minimus about his brother, and how it was even difficult looking at him given his resemblance to Dominus. Once the ship reached the Necrobot's [[Necroworld|home planet]], a nervous Rewind was one of those who went down to the planet. On arrival, everyone noticed the holographic statues of still-living 'bots. Mainframe and Chromedome analyzed them, and determined each plinth was connected to a database, which could be used to determine who was still alive.

Rewind hesitated to search for Dominus's status, terrified of learning what had happened to him, but at the same time terrified of giving up the chance to learn. As Chromedome told him they'd find out the answer together, Rewind checked. Dominus was listed as deactivated. For some time afterward, as everyone else met the Necrobot in person, Chromedome continually offered to just erase the memories of what they'd learnt. Then an exited Nightbeat showed up, leading them both to a large memorial stone, one dedicated to everyone who the Necrobot hadn't found. And right at the very bottom was Dominus. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

Some days later, Rewind and Chromedome were at Swerve's. The sight of them holding hands put Cyclonus, upset at his growing distance from Tailgate, in a bad mood. {{storylink|The Lopsided Triangle}}

Around the twenty-fourth of December, by human reckoning, the ''Lost Light'' passed into [[Mauler (G1)|Mauler]] territory, and had to take to [[Biometric Envelopment Device]]s to avoid them. Right up until the big snooze, Rewind pestered Minimus about being allowed to share a B.E.D., to which he had to be told repeatedly "no". {{storylink|Silent Light}}

Once the ship was out of Mauler territory, Rewind was one of those who used the "time fissures" present in Swerve's to look back at the past, before joining in a toast to "surprises". {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

Some months later, after movie night got too populated to keep in Rewind and Domey's hab-suite, they held it in what had been the ship's exhibition hall, with a showing of Rewind's documentary about the fate of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], one commissioned by Optimus himself. Megatron arrived late, then dared to question the accuracy and fairness of Rewind's work, even calling it biased. Then it turned out Rewind had made a mistake by saying Megs was responsible for the apparent desecration of Sentinel's corpse, which he wasn't. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

===Discoveries===
A few weeks afterward, Rewind was one of several crewmembers who experienced a psychic attack, which in his case made him see Dominus accusing him of "giving up" on looking for him. Among with the other afflicted, and the rest of "[[Team Rodimus]]", Rewind went aboard the Rodpod to find the attack's source, which led them to the Necrobot's planet. They were promptly attacked, and the Rodpod destroyed, meaning Domey had to carry Rewind to safety as they fled into the Necrobot's house, where they found Censere's corpse.

As everyone else analyzed the deceased's tech, Rodimus got Rewind to try and call the ''Lost Light'' for help. What they got was [[Getaway]], telling them the news: The rest of the crew was fed up with Megatron, anyone who supported him, and Rodimus, and this was their way of getting rid of them. And the bad news just kept on coming, as a battered [[Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ravage]] appeared to tell everyone the D.J.D. were the ones attacking them. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} Rewind manned the cameras, showing the D.J.D. blasting the word "sunset" into the ground before leaving.

Rewind was present when Nightbeat declared he'd found the teleporter Censere had used to get around, and when [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] announced what she and Swerve had found in the basement, which was dozens upon dozens of people in life-support pods. With that, everyone came to the conclusion to stay. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight}} Shortly thereafter, Rewind and Chromedome argued about the other electing to stay behind.

As sunset approached, Rewind went outside to examine the list of the disappeared, trying to work out whether there was some order to the list, in part to keep his mind away from the D.J.D., while Chromedome recovered from the last time he'd injected. He also conversed with Nautica about the list, and the nature of Conjux Endura. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} With six hours before sunset, everyone began recording last wills, which Rewind sent out once completed. As Chromedome injected once more, without Rewind's knowledge, he decided to reward himself by rummaging through the Necrobot's archives, at least before he got distracted by Minimus and Brainstorm. Minimus and Rewind began talking about Dominus again, and how he'd actually been a loadbearer, all the time.

Looking through the Necrobot's records, Rewind found a copy of the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, the original and unedited version. Soon, he found page one-hundred and thirteen, depicting Dominus' true alt-mode, a [[turbofox]]. Then, Rewind got a call from the returned Drift: Chromedome was injecting again, only it was going wrong. It was at that point both realized the horrible truth.

[[File:it's not your choice to make.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|"Did you know that this was the second time 'Domey lost an arm for me? What a guy!"]]
The D.J.D.'s so-called "pet", the being Chromedome was injecting into, ''was'' Dominus, and Agent 113. Having been discovered, he'd been surgically mutilated and lobotomized. Rushing to the medibay, stopping briefly to uppercut Rodimus for enabling Domey's injecting, Rewind found Chromedome trying to undo what had been done to Dominus, ignoring Ratchet's warnings that doing so was killing him, and Rewind's protests, on the grounds that he felt Rewind deserved Dominus more. Grabbing one of Drift's swords, Rewind sliced off his lover's arm, severing the connection and dooming Dominus, as he told Chromedome it wasn't his choice to make.

With twenty minutes left before the fortress's shields gave out, Rewind felt the urgent need to talk to Minimus, who'd been absent from the proceedings involving his brother. He then presumably took part in the group hug before everyone went out to fight. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}} During the battle, in which Skids had sacrificed his spark to give them a brief boost of power, Rewind sat on Ultra Magnus's superarmour shoulder and manned the guns. Throughout the battle, he kept trying to tell Minimus about his brother, only to be constantly rebuffed. In the end, when the power-boost ran out, they were forced back to the fort while Megatron covered them {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}} and as Rewind watched, Megatron tore the Decepticon Justice Division to pieces. Rewind played the key role of driving off the other few hundred Decepticons by reverse-engineering the Necrobot's psychic weapon and using it to attack [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]' conscience; the general finally broke down over his dead soldiers and led them home. 

At fight's end, the crew were amazed to find out that the Necrobot had been using [[time travel]] to rescue all the missing in action Transformers on his 'Disappeared' monument. These had been the "organics": disguised by holograms. But Rewind and Minimus could only lament that Dominus had been too far down the monument to be rescued in time, and Rewind left flowers at the monument for his lost conjunx. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}} 

Brainstorm constructed a teleportation "den" to send some of the group back to Cybertron to find transport for the rest of them. When they arrived, however, Cybertron was undeniably changed. Rewind soon recognized it as the [[Functionist Universe]], the alternate history that overlapped on his database when Brainstorm used his time case. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} [[Twelve-of-Twelve]] captured Rewind and the others as suspected members of the revolutionary [[Anti-Vocationist League]]. The real AVL arrived and caused a distraction for the crew to escape. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 2: Anomie|Anomie}} Rewind and his friends were matter transported to "Cyberutopia", the sanctuary city of [[Kalis|Adaptica]] ruled by the rogue Functionist [[Nine-of-Twelve]]. They learned that in this reality Rung was hailed by the AVL as the "Useless One" for his alt mode that apparently stood in defiance of Primus and Functionism. Unfortunately, the Functionist Council chose that day to reveal they had discovered Rung's true use as a mining tank, allowing them to access [[Vector Sigma]] which had been sealed off by the Senate millennia ago. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} 

Rewind and the others traveled to Vector Sigma to confront the Council and rescue Rung. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising|Bad Moon Rising}} They succeeded and stole the Council's flying base, the Cog, to make their way back to Cyberutopia. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} With the help of teleport technology in a weaponized Luna-2 and wand-tech Brainstorm recovered from [[Killmaster]] on Necroworld, they transported the entire world back from the Functionist Universe to their original one. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

Rewind and Chromedome made a special stop at Rung's quarters to tell him about the different life he could have lived. The crew prepared to continue their quest for the real Cyberutopia, and for revenge on Getaway and the mutineers. A Decepticon corpse named Skip was modified and mass-displaced to form a passable space craft, and so Rewind and the others pressed on. {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|After Megatron}}

{{charstubfiction}}

After the ''Lost Light'''s final victory lap and subsequent disassembly, Rewind settled down on 'New Cybertron' with Chromedome, but tragedy struck soon after; the archivist became obsessed with downloading every tidbit of history about Functionist Cybertron, but this new information was incompatible with the knowledge he already had of Cybertron. This caused him to overload and corrupt his brain, contracting the neuro-degenerative disease Delta's Malady; he became trapped in data stick form when he forgot how to transform, but continued to live and love with Chromedome, who gave up his job as a grief counselor to look after him. The two were still able to communicate with each other in a more 'intimate' manner by plugging Rewind into a slot behind Chromedome's neck, although Rewind could still speak in traditional manners.

And far away, in some distant corner of the multiverse, the duplicate ''Lost Light'' materialized with Rewind on it, ready to set sail for an infinity of new adventures. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}

==The Functionist Universe==
[[File:CustomMadeNow-Dominus.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
In a timeline created thanks to Perceptor poking about with Brainstorm's time case, the Decepticons never rose up against the Senate, resulting in a Functionist-ruled Cybertron, where entire classes of alt-mode were "[[Mass recall|recalled]]", the [[Intellectual class]] was outlawed, and all the Constructed Cold were deported. However, Rewind remained Dominus's partner and lover, with Dominus pulling a few strings to get Rewind bumped up to research assistant, which granted him the extraordinary right to talk to 'bots from other classes. On the sly, Dominus continued fighting the Council's increasingly horrific actions, including removing Rewind's obsolescence chip.

After the Council handed [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]] over to the [[Black Block Consortia|Black Box Consortia]] to prevent war, Rewind met Minimus on his return from serving in the [[Primal Vanguard]]. As the two made their way to Dominus' apartment from the spaceport, they witnessed two [[Functionary|Functionaries]] "recall" the last of the [[Astro class]]. On their return, they witnessed some footage stolen from a [[Sky Spy]] showing an apparently [[female protester]] speaking out against Functionism, and Minimus learnt his brother had been subject to the new form of [[empurata]]. When Minimus left to attend other matters, Rewind asked whether he would side with them, which Dominus couldn't determine.

Then things got worse. In the time Minimus was gone, the Council determined data slugs were obsolete, and began recalling them. Worse, they wiped Dominus's mind, making him incapable of saying things Rewind felt were too important to lose. Then it turned out the Council could "speak" to people through the flatheads. The two realized the council were watching them, through Minimus, having installed cameras in his eyes on his return home, and that with that they were going to do the same to the entire population. Rewind valiantly vowed to stop them, defiantly stating the Council couldn't reach him without his obsolescence chip.

In response, the Council activated the ''backup'' chip, killing Rewind in the arms of his lover. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}
{{--}}

==INSIRT continuity==
[[File:Timeless-EjectChromedomeStylor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Let's have a go at Rewind because he turns into a super space tank and not a... giant memory stick or—or—whatever..."]]
'''Did You Know that Rewind in a small universe orbiting [[Primax 1005.19 Gamma]]...
*Was part of [[INSIRT]] alongside [[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity#INSIRT continuity|Chromedome]] and [[Stylor]]?
*Was obsessed with accessing the contents of the [[Vestigial Cortical Complex]]?
*Enlisted the help of [[Treadshot (G1)|Treadshot]] as hired muscle?
*Successfully found and accessed the Complex's treasure trove of Decepticon secrets?
(<small>''[[Jesse Wittenrich]] & [[Pete Sinclair]]. "[[Timeless]]". Fort Worth, [[Texas]]: [[Fun Publications]], [[2013]].''</small>)
*Died, prompting Brainstorm to set Chromedome up on a blind date with Eject?
(<small>''[[David Willis]]. [[Recordicons issue 27|"Recordicons" #27]]. Fort Worth, [[Texas]]: [[Fun Publications]], [[2015]].''</small>)

==Notes==
* "Timeless" co-writer [[Jesse Wittenrich]] would [http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/99399-post-pictures-of-your-special-arm/page-1044#entry3318823 later reveal] his intention that the Rewind depicted in the story was being projected into Chromedome's mind by Stylor, and that the actual Rewind was deceased. Vestigial remnants of this plot point remain in the published comic, in the form of Stylor's constant physical contact with Chromedome, and Treadshot never acknowledging Rewind. Whether this holds true in the completed comic or is merely [[authorial intent]] is an exercise left to the reader.
*James Roberts' plans for Rewind changed radically. Originally, the intent was to reveal that Chromedome had aided Dominus Ambus in becoming Agent 113, as well as performing mnemosurgery on Rewind so that he had no knowledge of Dominus's fate or the circumstances surrounding it. The pair's meeting in the Relinquishment Clinic would thus have actually been their second meeting, with Chromedome keeping the truth from Rewind during their entire relationship. Furthermore, it would be revealed that during [[Before & After|''More than Meets the Eye'' #12]], Chromedome had confessed all this to the comatose Rewind, unaware that the archivist's camera was still recording.
*The "original" Rewind would also have been revealed to have survived his encounter with Overlord. Subsequently, he would have been found by the Galactic Council, and used as part of an experiment to create a weapon that could punch into different dimensions. When it malfunctioned, he would have been thrown through time and space into another dimension, leading to a universe-hopping odyssey to find his way home, seeking out power sources in each new world to recharge the experimental device. While travelling, Rewind would have discovered the recording of Chromedome confessing his secret, learning the truth of Dominus's disappearance. Eventually, he would have returned to his original universe, leading an issue in which Chromedome and both Rewinds decided which of the two quantum duplicates would remain (with the on-course Rewind also learning Chromedome's secret). These plans were dropped for space when ''Lost Light'' was scheduled to end with fewer issues than Roberts had hoped for, with the writer also deciding that he "didn't like that to be part of their relationship".<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/james-roberts-ama-mtmte-ll-questions-answered-transcript.1164603/ Transcription of 30 November 2018 James Roberts Q&A on Instagram]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:IDW (2005) Autobots]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]