Episode Synopsis
We don’t waste any time as the Joe team starts off within Cobra’s underground transportation system, deftly avoiding detection as high speed transports zip along the tracks. But these tracks are very secure, so the Joes (and Ripcord) think outside the box just a little bit to get themselves inside. Disguising himself as one of the rest of the Bio-Vipers, Ripcord easily infiltrates them and unlocks the door.
Deep within the Cobra mansion facility, Destro, The Baroness, and Dr. Mindbender are in the final testing phases for the MASS Device, but so far every Bio-Viper they try and transport explodes upon arrival. There is apparently an issue with the frequency at which the crystal vibrates.
Back underneath, it doesn’t take long before a difference in opinion already starts to divide the small team as Scarlett wants to find the MASS Device to try and save her father (who she suspects is trapped in subspace) while Tunnel Rat wants to call in the cavalry and wipe out the whole place. Ultimately, they all decide to go together.
Cobra realizes that security cameras are offline, so they begin locking things down, which means the Joes must move fast. Ripcord changes into a Bio-Viper to hold a door, but as the Joes slip through, he gets grabbed by one of the hoses which was taking the other Bio-Vipers. He is quickly frozen on a conveyer belt and prepped for testing for the MASS Device. Mindbender doesn’t seem too bothered by it, but Destro, in an effort to impress the Baroness decides to take care of the problem personally.
Making their way into a motor pool, Duke wants to find Ripcord while Scarlett is more determined than ever to try and find MASS. Turns out, neither one of them gets their wish as an explosion sends them scattering and Destro shows up in a prototype HISS Tank!
The Joes return fire, but do absolutely no damage whatsoever as the HISS waltzes through the motor pool, sending Joes flying in all directions with its cannons. Snake Eyes points out a pile of rockets stacked within some crates, and suddenly the Joes have a weapon of their own. With a few well aimed tosses and well placed plasma fire, the HISS spirals off the edge of a platform and explodes down below. As the Joes see the wreckage, they notice an entire arsenal of HISS Tanks!
Duke sends Snake Eyes and Scarlett off to locate the MASS Device, while he takes Tunnel Rat and Roadblock with him to try and locate Ripcord. What none of them realize is that Cobra Commander himself is watching their every move…
Moments later, Scarlett and Snake Eyes are in the MASS Device control room, with The Baroness and Mindbender at the business end of their weapons. Scarlett sees the frequency code that Mindbender is having such trouble with on the screen behind him, and she immediately knows what her father has been trying to tell her. However, Mindbender sees the flicker of recognition on her face and unleases a battalion of Bio-Vipers down from the ceiling.
Back in the MASS Device test preparation area, the other Joes are breaking into captivation crystals, trying to locate Ripcord, but they are located first, thanks to Cobra Commander, now equipped in a fully powered MARS Battle Suit!
In the control center, Snake Eyes and Scarlett are having their way with the Bio Vipers, using speed and ruthlessness to dispatch them with extreme prejudice, but they are both eventually outnumbered and taken down.
Roadblock, Duke, and Tunnel Rat trade offensive fire power with the mech-powered Cobra Commander, but are no match for his enhanced strength, speed, and firepower. As Duke and Roadblock try holding the Commander off, Tunnel Rat scatters and manages to find (then free) Ripcord. They end up, however, walking right into Cobra Commander’s path.
With Snake Eyes and Scarlett captured, The Baroness and Mindbender are attempting to figure out the frequency code to finalize MASS. Scarlett initially refuses to reveal the information, so the two insidious COBRA agents slowly lead Snake Eyes to the MASS device, hoping that convinces her. It does.
Ripcord, meanwhile, goes fist-to-fist with Cobra Commander himself, using his Bio-Viper abilities to try and overpower him, but it does no good. The Commander fries Ripcord and is just about to do the same to Tunnel Rat when the rest of the Joes come together and focus their attack on his mech suit.
In the control room, not only is Snake Eyes safely transported to the other size of the MASS Device, but Scarlett’s father emerges from subspace, none the worse for wear, something that obviously makes Scarlett insanely happy. Her reunion is short lived as Cobra launches a renewed attack. Quickly emerging from MASS again, though, is Snake Eyes, and Scarlett’s father’ instructs them to focus their blasts on the MASS reactor, in hopes of creating an unstable reaction with subspace. Snake Eyes complies and as the reactor starts breaking down, they escape through the Bio-Viper hoses.
Cobra Commander is not accepting defeat from the Joes, either. Fighting back tooth and nail, he brings them to the brink of defeat even as Baroness and Dr. Mindbender are swept up into the ruptured subspace field! Using a powerful electrical cable, Duke zaps Cobra Commander’s armor, knocking it backwards into a vat of radioactive Bio material…the Commander barely escapes, clinging to Duke for dear life, but he cannot hold, and the Commander plunges deep down into the vat, screaming the entire way down. By this time, too, the DeCobray mansion is threatening to implode from the ruptured subspace tear, so the Joes hijack one of the HISS Tanks and narrowly escape.
Bringing the hijacked Cobra vehicle to the doorstep of the nation’s capital, the Joes find a defense force lining the streets, weapons drawn. Duke proudly displays the evidence against Cobra on one of their stolen PDA’s, and General “Hawk” Abernathy smiles, offering up his new intelligence officer “Breaker” to debrief them.
The End.
…or is it? Back at the DeCobray mansion, Cobra Commander is pulling himself out of the rubble, vowing to come back to fight another day…
Episode Review
It seemed like just yesterday…and in fact, in an ironic sense, it was almost exactly one year ago today… San Diego ComicCon, 2010, we got our first look at footage from G.I. Joe: Renegades, and from that point one, I was pretty sold on it.
Here, throughout the last twenty-six episodes and about eight months it has been a roller coaster ride, and now that it’s finally over, what did we end up with?
A series that was way too short and had some mixed signals along the way, but the end result was an intensely satisfying and enjoyable trek through yet another new G.I. Joe mythology, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this final episode was probably one of the most important episodes of the entire first season.
Up to this point, many Joe fans were questioning how long the whole “Renegades” thing would go on…would it be resolved somewhere down the line? Would it extend beyond the season? Well, with one single episode, the writers of G.I. Joe: Renegades, brought pretty much everyone’s fears to rest with an action-packed 22 minute thrill ride that took the entire season and culminated into one major final assault on Cobra. We saw Destro ditch his trenchcoat and don a very cool Iron Grenadier themed uniform (red collar and all!). We saw an awesome prototype HISS in action…Cobra Commander stepped off of this throne and into a suit of armor to take the fight to the Renegades.
The episode ended with one climactic battle after another, and one even wonders whether Destro, The Baroness, or Dr. Mindbender survived. Of course, they could easily be written back into the universe if necessary, but at this point, the episode served as a fantastic ending as well.
As we’ve grown accostamed to, the writing was fantastic throughout, the pace of action was flawless, and the dialogue was spot on. The Joes were determined to take the fight straight down Cobra’s throat and they were not shy about telling it that way.
The best part of all had to be the final shot at the end with the entire “Falcons” team standing ground by the Pentagon as the Renegade Joes rolled up in the HISS to present their evidence. Seeing all of those cameo characters brought back together as one large unit was an awesome sight, and it became pretty clear right then and there that the Renegades’ names were cleared, and the G.I. Joe team was born.
Excellent. Really, this episode was only another fantastic episode on top of a score of fantastic episodes this season. Great action as I mentioned, great dialogue, suspense, and a terrific conclusion. I honestly cannot think of a better way they could have ended it.
Cool thing to me as well was seeing all of the little ways they kind of tied it in to the movie universe. Duke’s scar on his eye, Cobra Commander’s sickness leading into his disfigurement. The cast of characters with Duke, Roadblock, Snake Eyes, Flint, and Lady Jaye… don’t get me wrong, I still hold some significant doubt that whatever next animated series we see based on G.I. Joe will bare any resemblance to G.I. Joe: Renegades, but at this point, if they do retool it for a movie feel, I think they could make the transition nicely.
Kudos to everyone involved with the series. It went out with a BIG bang, and even though it ended before its time, at least it was given its due at the end.
Great series that was far too short, but was an excellent ride while it was here.
Screenshot Gallery
Episode Details
Original Air Date: July 23, 2011
Writer: Michael Ryan
Director: Kevin Altieri & Patrick Archibald
Easter Eggs
Being a new, unique show, I enjoyed it a lot. It’s not my old ’80′s story line(s), but there’s enough of that old familiarity and “easter egg” components that made it that much more enjoyable.
Now when is that Hasbro going to make that prototype HISS?
The new figures will be so DREAMY (literally) when they come out! I guess they are considered as part of ARAH now. Thankfully, the nightmare that Duke had explained the unrealistic Bio-Viper Ripcord. I wonder why Duke dreamed of Wallace Weems (Ripcord) being African American when he was Caucasian in ARAH?
I enjoyed the finale of the “Renegades” portion of GI Joe. Scarlett got her closure and her Dad, Cobra Industries is destroyed or is severely crippled, and the Average Joes got enough evidence to clear their names.
Of course, if I were writing it Flint and Lady Jaye would’ve had a bigger part, Scarlett would’ve gotten her “Inigo Montoya Moment”, and Cobra Industries would’ve been exposed PUBLICLY, and the Joes would’ve been court martialed but found NOT guilty. But scintilating court room drama wouldn’t make for a good action, adventure cartoon, so I understand.
Oh those Average Joes they continue to have a 100% perfect record of destroying wherever they go (75% chance of NOT destroying one of their own homes though).
After the credits rolled I realized THE JOES JUST GLEEFULLY TURNED THEMSELVES IN FOR THE MURDERS OF DR. MINDBENDER, THE BARONESS, AND DESTRO!!!!! among other things. I mean they are soldiers so there should be some sort of indemnity to protect them. But they’d gone rogue and acted on their own. Of course if the government wanted to take credit for the Average Joes’ actions, it might be okay. Seriously, Roadblock, Duke, and Tunnel Rat straight up take out Destro (and considering he didn’t come back for The Baroness which he would’ve if he could’ve), Scarlett activiates the MASS Device to save her Dad & Snake Eyes, but they don’t stop it and it sucks up Mindbender and Baroness (though thats equal parts Hoisted By Their Own Petard” too). Even if they came out on the other side, they would’ve been crushed by all the equipment in the lab. And if they weren’t, they’re trapped in sub-space with all the Cobra Troopers they doomed during MASS testing. And who cares enough to get them out? A fitting end. Only The Commander is still alive and nobody knows it.
Considering that whatever happens in Joe 2 will be reflected in GIJoe:_____________ the sequel series, maybe Mindbender, Baroness, and Destro are really dead! I wasn’t expecting that.
Snake Eyes’ obligation to The O’Hara is officially complete! He helped defeat Cobra Industries, guarded Scarlett’s body, assisted in the rescue of Patrick O’Hara, and he’s not in the military, he doesn’t have to be in GI Joe:_______. But he will. But why? To follow Scarlett around like a love sick puppy?
I was hoping you had the “All Just A Dream/Newhart” clip. It only aired during the original 7:30PM showing. I had to catch it on the internet, but here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAznMVCdBcg&feature=player_embedded
I’ll miss Renegades and am mad at Hasbro for making us wait until at least 2013 before we see another Joe toon!
Fantastic end! So glad they bothered to put all this work into something they’re just gona abandon.
But hey, I don’t really KNOW that yet, so I guess I better curb the complaints. I’m just glad the season actually finished in a satisfactory way! By now I’d be really looking forward to the next season, but oh well. This was damn cool, and I LOVE that Cobra Commander got to do something. I knew he would, but I’m just glad it was down and dirty (even if it was in a mech suit; but honestly, what else would he do?) I’ll be looking forward, at least, to this coming out on DVD. I did what I could to show I was interested, so next I’ll do the same with my money.
Having watched all 26 now, I have to say they all amount to one really long, well-produced first episode of a show. We saw the Joe team form. We introduced the members of Cobra Command. The Commander swore that the war had only begun. I’m excited…wait. I mean I’m sad that I will probably never get to see where this story was supposed to go next.
Glad everyone seemed to like the final episodes. Cutting Edge was my favorite, as it had some nice moments with Jinx.
Best wishes,
Mark T Collins, Picture Editor, G.I. Joe: Renegades, Hasbro Studios
Personally I LOVED Renegades and wish they’d do another season or two. This was way too short and it would have been nice to have been told that this was it without having to search online all over to find out. I grew up with the 80′s version (not the comic books though) and the only other complaint I have is that the original MASS device was not created by Patrick O’Hara. Patrick and his 3 sons ran a dojo in Atlanta that Scarlett would visit when on leave. Now, they could have said her mother worked for Cobra and died as a result since the original series never mentioned her. I just think it was a real disservice to the fans to have the season either (1) be so blasted short, or (2) to end the series after just the first season with no mention that it’s the end other than everyone turning themselves in, but things could easily go on from there anyway if they just wanted to put the effort in and satisfy the fans. Talk about disappointing and a big let down.
I loved this show. thanks to your updates here on Generals Joes I learned about the “Hiatus” and was greatly disappointed. I thought this series was far superior to Transformers Prime. I like both but Joe had more character development and a real story, but that always the way that G.I. Joe and Transformers have been. Ever since the first Hasbro movies on each. Transformers the Movie was great and then Hasbro got cold feet and put a turd with G.I. Joe the movie. The same thing happened with the live action versions 20 some odd years latter. I’m glad to hear that there is another movie chance for Joe to be decent. I hope to see a close connection to G.I. Joe Renegades with the “new” Joe series that will come out next fall.
Thanks to Hasbro for making this quality series and for generalsjoes for making it even more enjoyable.