A Stake in the Serpent's Heart
From Joepedia - The G.I. Joe Wiki
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| "A Stake in the Serpent's Heart" | |
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#4009 |
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Everything comes together in this finale to the mini-series as the Joe Team make their big push against Cobra.
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Detailed summary
The shuttle craft Destro is piloting spins out of control. In order to survive, both he and Scarlett have to work together. She instructs him to use one of her arrows and load it onto her crossbow. After some struggle, Destro manages to load the tractor arrow and aim it by the panel, pulling him forward and regain control of the shuttle. They proceed to the Cobra Castle where Destro hadn't thought it would seem like home after the troubles he's been through.
Once there, Destro learns from the Baroness that Cobra Commander attempted to disintegrate New York with what remains of the elements. He becomes upset at the Commander's poorly conceived strategy. The Commander is more happy that they now possess all three MASS elements and victory will be theirs. Unusually at first, Destro wholeheartedly agrees until he takes carte blanche authority to make their plans succeed and, with his bare hand, crushes the scepter head that Cobra Commander holds. The Commander is enraged at the show of insubordination but no one else seems to mind.
Incidentally, Scarlett finds herself sharing the same cell as Selina, the slave girl who helped Duke and sabotaged the MASS earlier. She saw the ring that Duke gave her and realizes who she is. Meanwhile, the military leaders are brought out of their forced duties. They are forced by Destro to make pronouncements of surrender to Cobra and recognize Destro as the leader. Destro tells Cobra Commander that one can only demand respect if one has the power to back up one's speech making. Something to which the Commander agrees though he seems to know something.
Scarlett and Selina are put into servitude soon enough. Selina gave Scarlett the same metallic strip that allows her to overcome Cobra's control. They serve water and food for the other slaves. One slave in particular, the giant Ramar is itching to give some payback.
Back at Cobra's conference, Destro is infuriated at the world leaders' responses such as taking his threats into consideration and somesuch. Cobra Commander is secretly amused at his weapon supplier's frustration. With the MASS at full power, Destro aims the MASS to disintegrate New York. The Joes intercept the signal from the relay satellite and realize Cobra is planning another attack. Gung-Ho suggested using their own MASS against Cobra's and Dr. Vandermeer agrees. Just as the MASS's energy beam is about to hit New York, it is countered by a beam from the Joes' MASS. The Joes rejoice but the joy is short-lived until
Cobra realizes that the Joes must have their own MASS machine and any further display would just as immediately countered. Destro makes another threat, this time taking the military leaders and executing one of them every half hour at a time until his demands are met. He begins by having General Flagg pulled and be the first to be executed.
Meanwhile, Scarlett and Selina start the revolution by freeing the slaves. It was, however, cut short by the better trained Cobras and by Destro's intervention. Both are soon chained to a wall to keep them from doing anything more. At Joe HQ, Doc tries one more session with Duke, placing him in a sensory deprivation chamber to help him remember Cobra's true whereabouts. A monitor feeds out in visual form random memories from Duke's youth to his time in the Cobra Castle. Everyone sees an image of Selina and how Duke gave her his ring. Doc recalls that the ring is really a specially built transmitting device which Breaker deduces they can use as a homing device. In no time, the Joe Team mobilizes their force outside Cobra's mountain castle.
With the aid of JUMP jet packs and spider platforms, the Joes overcome Cobra's initial defenses. Soon, air support from Skystrikers, Dragonflies and Falcon gliders very much renders Cobra's air capability useless. Cobra Commander unleashes his battle robots but the Joes eventually overcome them too. Destro had hoped to still execute General Flagg only to have this action cut short by Gung-Ho and the others finally breaking through the walls. Scarlett and Selina are rescued by Duke and all join in on the action, including Ramar who more than holds his own thanks to his strength and size.
Cobra Commander and Destro flee and barricade themselves. Destro activates the MASS and aims it to the ground, a move the Commander realizes will displace the Earth's core and possibly blow the planet up. Destro admits it was the general idea and leaves the Commander to his fate. The Joes break through the barricade. The Commander tells them what Destro has done. In order to shut down the MASS quickly, Gung-Ho shoots the controls and power supply. The MASS stops running and the Joes stand triumphant.
Later, the Cobras, including the Baroness and Major Bludd, are all taken into custody. Cobra Commander put on a peasant's disguise to make his own escape only to be foiled by Snake-Eyes's pet wolf, Timber. Gung-Ho puts the Commander under arrest and pulls him away. The Commander swears Cobra will survive to defeat G.I. Joe. Only Destro managed to elude capture as he flies away in a FANG helicopter, he swears vengeance.
At the final stage of the mop up operations, Breaker combines what little of the MASS elements they have with Cobra's in order to send the Eiffel Tower back to Paris. Unfortunately, a miscalculation in coordinates send it to London instead. The Joes end up having to tow the structure all the way to Paris. Breaker apologizes for goofing it up and admits nobody's perfect. Duke assures him no one is with the words, "We do okay."
Appearances
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Civilians | Others |
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Featured Vehicles & Equipment
| G.I. Joe | Cobra |
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Memorable quotes
"Well, nobody's perfect."
"No, but we do okay."
- -- Breaker and Duke pat themselves on the back.
Other notes
Animation and/or technical glitches
- After Scarlett's failed rebellion, when the scene switches back to the Joes, Breaker has a blonde beard.
- There's an unusually high number of Cobra Officers, even for menial jobs. Where did all the Troopers go?
- As Cobra Commander calls out his robot cobras, he has little red "eyes" in his faceplate.
- Destro threatens to execute a world leader "every half hour, on the hour." Something about that expression seems wrong.
Continuity errors
- Scarlett is shown at Joe Headquarters when she should be in Cobra's dungeon.
Miscellaneous trivia
- In the same vein as the "proto-S.H.A.R.C." and the "proto-Rattler" from earlier in the miniseries, a three-wheeled ATV, similar to the later Ferret is seen toward the end of the episode.
- Doc mentions Duke as having grown up in Iowa. According to his filecard and Order of Battle entry, he was born in Missouri. Perhaps his family moved to Iowa when he was a kid?
Real-world references
- No references.
