Destro Must Die, Part 4

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G.I. Joe: Special Missions #13
SpecialMissions13-CvrB.jpg
"Destro Must Die, Part 4"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published April 2, 2014
Cover date March 2014
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Paul Gulacy
Colors by Aburtov, Joana Lafuente, & Elmer Santos
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Editor Carlos Guzman
Chronology Before "Threat Matrix"

Urso and Copperback are unleashed on Castle Destro while G.I. Joe and Cobra run afoul of the Russian government.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

With the now-uncontrollable Urso dropped into the glass terrarium that houses Castle Destro and local military forces approaching, the Joes prepare to evac before things get too hot. However, as they begin making preparations, their prisoner Copperback makes a break for it. In trying to take the fast-rope out of his hands though, Copperback pushes Beachhead out of the Buzzard with her. As they both hit the glass, Russian attack helicopters arrive, forcing the other Joes to leave Beachhead behind when one of the choppers cuts his rope with its blades. As if things couldn’t get worse for Beach, Cobra Flak-Vipers begin shooting up at him and Copperback, causing the glass they’re standing on to shatter and send them falling to the ground below! After getting himself and Copperback to safety, Beach surprises her by deciding to let her go, believing she's served her purpose to the Joes. Now only interested in finding a way out, Beachhead sneaks and shoots his way through the castle but is ultimately knocked out and captured by a team of Vipers.

Within the castle, Destro insists to the Russian generals that the situation is under control and warns them that he will not tolerate their meddling in the affairs of his land. Whether it currently sits on Russian soil or not, Destro feels his ancestral home is a land unto itself, and he will defend it as his forbearers have countless times before! When the generals continue to raise a fuss, Cobra Commander agrees that Destro may do as he will and warns the generals that to expose Cobra's presence within their borders to the world would implicate themselves in a criminal conspiracy.

As Urso rampages through the castle, killing Vipers left and right, Destro finally catches up with him as he finishes off an Incinerator. As flames fill the room, Destro draws his sword and charges at his creation. Though Urso manages to get some good hits in and tears away pieces of his former master's armor, ultimately Destro manages to slay Urso by driving his sword through his chest. Before he can bask in his victory for too long though, a familiar voice calls his name. Copperback has finally found him and unloads an assault rifle into Destro's metal body but, surprisingly, he does not go down! Since he and Copperback last met, Destro has made his armored skin bulletproof. Now able to withstand her bullets, Destro grabs Copperback by the throat and tells her that her appearance has just made this horrible day a lot better...

Believing them to be with Cobra, the Russian gunships order the Joe-controlled Buzzard to land. And considering their craft is a giant, damaged troop transport that is hopelessly outmatched by the maneuverable attack copters, the Joes don't have much of a choice but to comply. Surrendering themselves to the Spetsnaz soldiers who meet them on the ground, Scarlett explains that her team is in Russia under special U.S. authority in pursuit of war criminals residing within the country. Though Tripwire expresses worry about what's going to happen to Beachhead, Mainframe is more worried about the rest of them, as the Joes are going to have to use up just about every favor they have to escape Russian captivity...

In the wake of the siege on Castle Destro, the Russian government demands Cobra to vacate their country, leaving the terrorist organization without a home base. As the country's collaboration with Cobra comes to light, reporters hound Russian president Vladimir Putin with questions about what they were doing in his country. Putin, however, takes a rather hands-on approach to avoiding their questions by punching out a particularly pushy journalist. As for the Joes, this scandal has proven beneficial for them, as they've been able to get off thanks to the Russian government wanting to avoid more potential bad press. However, there's still the matter of Beachhead, who along with Copperback has been made a prisoner of Cobra. No matter what happens though, Scarlett vows to not leave him behind.

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

Characters in italic text only appear in flashback. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes[edit | edit source]

"I give ye life, Urso. And ye return my gratitude with destruction."
"Life? Lih-lih-Life? You gave me hell! You gave me endless pih-pih-pain!"
"Life is pain. I know as well as any man. I gave ye both, aye – and I will end both for ye!"

-Destro confronts Urso.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • With Cobra being kicked out of Russia at this issue's end, Castle Destro's relocation to it's native Scotland in G.I. Joe vol. 3 "Threat Matrix" arc beginning in issue #7 is set up.
  • Speaking of G.I. Joe vol. 3's "Threat Matrix" arc, Beachhead's presence in that arc also indicates that it takes place after "Destro Must Die". With one issue left in Special Missions, you may think the final issue will detail the daring rescue of ol' Beach, but... hey... about that...
  • Destro, since first being trapped in his metal armor in G.I. Joe vol. 1 #6 and fusing with it permanently in G.I. Joe vol. 2 #8, has modified it to be bulletproof in the interim, which it notably wasn't before.

G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]

  • If you're a fan of weird Viper permutations, then this is the issue for you! The anti-air Flak-Vipers attempt to shoot down the Joes' commandeered Buzzard, the Elite Vipers of the Rise of Cobra toyline pilot Flight Pods to attack Urso (likely because they were packaged with the RoC line's Flight Pod), and an Incinerator tries to light Urso up! In the case of the Elite Vipers and Incinerators though, their usual colors were dropped for a more standard Viper blue.

Real-world references[edit | edit source]

  • Real world Russian president Vladimir Putin appears and is questioned about Cobra's presence in his country. In response, he punches out one of the reporters, referencing Putin's... let's say questionable behavior and policies towards the media.
  • Beachhead refers to Urso and Copperback as "Motorhead" and "Lady Braveheart" respectively.

Covers (3)[edit | edit source]