Serpent's Shadow Conclusion
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| "Serpent's Shadow Conclusion" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 29, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | August 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Robert Atkins and Atilio Rojo | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Juan Castro and Atilio Rojo | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Simon Gough and Joana Lafuente | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber and Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
Ambushed by Cobra, the Arashikage must escape from the Commander's mansion.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Though the forces of Cobra have Storm Shadow and Rika surrounded, Snake Eyes watches from above, and drops multiple smoke grenades down to give his fellow Arashikage members the chance to escape. With the distraction of the smoke, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes are together able to wipe out the Vipers holding them prisoner, while Rika deals with her own captor, Savane.
The young Snake Eyes arrives at the Soft Master's dwelling, and on entry, is treated to a barrage of insults and goading words from his new teacher. In response to the master's dismissal of his abilities, Snake Eyes hurls a pair of knives at him, only for his target to be revealed as a dummy, the Soft Master being elsewhere in the hut. The boy throws another knife at the real master, who catches it out of the air, pledging to instill in Snake Eyes some sense of guile. Some time later, the Soft Master gives his student a puzzle: two jars, one containing acid and the other a neutralizing agent. The Soft Master commands the boy to drink from both jars, finding the truth of their nature and the correct order to drink in the Soft Master's words... but the boy instead throws both jars in the man's face, burning him horribly.
In the temple of the Coil, Cobra Commander marvels at the sword of Genghis Khan, lying on an altar. Genghis Khan is, indeed, the man whose rule through fear the Commander wishes to emulate; and to do so, he requires a force of assassins, a role in which the Arashikage previously served, but now must be provided by the fanatics of the Coil. Serpentor pledges his men to Cobra Commander as assassins, and is warned not to disappoint him, for those that betray Cobra Commander do not live long.
Having brought a set of coordinates to Dial-Tone, Agent Helix is informed that they belong to a Khamiristan mansion previously owned by the Romanovs. Dial-Tone offers to find out who owns the place, and notes that Scarlett — who isn't on board with Helix's side adventures — will have more questions... but Helix has already left.
The three Arashikage ninja aim to escape the Commander's mansion, but are cut off by Vipers before they can reach their intended exit. Storm Shadow orders Rika and Snake Eyes to find their own way while he pursues a different exit, but Rika — still believing that Snake Eyes is a traitor — intends to kill him to ensure her oyabun's survival. Instead, though, he simply knocks her out and carries her to the mansion's docks, killing the guards and stealing one of their hydrofoils to escape in; and though Rika, on regaining consciousness, accuses him of abandoning Storm Shadow, he turns the boat around to retrieve the Arashikage leader, who is coming out the front door — though Rika is shot by a Viper in a Flight Pod before they can escape. As she lies dying, Rika asks Storm Shadow to tell Snake Eyes that she is sorry, something that troubles him during her funeral.
And elsewhere, Rika's son Tomo recieves her letter, along with her robe and a pair of ancestral swords. Having read the letter, he now wishes to take revenge on Snake Eyes... as does his teacher, the badly-scarred Soft Master!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Arashikage | Cobra | G.I. Joe |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You have speed. That is good. You lack guile. That is bad. Can I teach you guile? Can I instill in you the complexities of intrigue? Can anyone turn this rough child into a lethal weapon? Well, if anyone can, it would be the Soft Master."
- —The Soft Master
"Have you changed your mind? Or was this all a ruse from the beginning? We shall see at the end, eh? Are you truly Arashikage? Or have you only returned to see us all at the mercy of our enemies? What does your silence conceal, Snake Eyes?"
- —Rika
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The sword of Genghis Khan, along with the body of its owner, was found by Dice back in Snake Eyes #4; though Dice hasn't been seen since then, he apparently gave the sword over to the Coil — something that makes sense, as the Coil considers Genghis Khan one of the "champions" of their divine Serpent, as established in Cobra #6.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- The Moray hydrofoil that Snake Eyes steals is based on a 1985 toy.
- The Soft Master makes his first appearance in IDW continuity here; he's very different to his Marvel counterpart, who was a short, fat and kindly mentor to Snake Eyes rather than a skinny, manipulative sadist.
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes come out of a window fighting, by Alex Cal and Aburtov.
- Cover B: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in the outline of Cobra Commander's cape, by Lee Ferguson, Sal Buscema and Joanna Lafuente; this cover was apparently intended as a retailer incentive cover for the previous issue.
- Cover RI: Snake Eyes vs Zartan, by Robert Atkins and Simon Gough.
