Low Light and Stalker are in France, heading for the Mammoth Caves (?) where the second source of the Dragonfire energy is to be found. Cobra is there and using the Dragonfire energy to shield the caves where the energy is as well as their weapons. All in all, the Joes are getting their asses kicked. BOOYEAH! We find most of this out because Lady Jaye is talking to Low Light and Stalker and providing us with exposition.
Scoop is still hanging around and Low Light still doesn’t trust him. Which is rather nice to see since the other Joes all seem to be smitten with the new guy. I’m all for the heroes being accepting and all but...c’mon, this is a guy who was ripping them apart in the beginning of the first episode and now he’s everybody’s bestest bud? Sure, they don’t know he’s a spy but geeze, show some kind of sense especially since Scoop transmits his position to Cobra while sitting in a JOE VEHICLE! With other Joes within earshot. Where do they hire these people?
Oh yeah, the monk/Crimson Guardsman from episode one is now an Alley Viper. Apparently, he decided that he wanted to transfer out of Cobra’s most elite unit into the urban assault forces ‘cause…I dunno, he wanted to be able to get ‘down with the street’ or something. He will be known for the rest of the episodes simply as “Alley Viper” which has got to be confusing to the other umpteen bjillion Alley Vipers out there. (Actually, it was most likely a cheap way to lose the CG from the first episode, introduce the Alley Viper character/toy and use the same voice actor, but that’s just my cynical side talking.)
It’s somewhere around here that we learn that there are cave paintings that will point to sources of Dragonfire energy. This continues the theme of “Wisdom of the Ancients” from the first episode, which will continue throughout this mini-series. It’s not as cloying as it could be, which is a good thing.
Stalker finds a way into the caverns through an underground stream and takes Lady Jaye, Low Light and the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Scoop with him to infiltrate and stop Cobra from gaining the second site.
Okay, this is where it gets a little confusing since everybody kind of splits up. Stalker is going through the underground stream in a kayak (and is dressed all in white with a white kayak, since camouflage happens to other people). Low Light and Lady Jaye are together and Scoop is off on his own. Stalker gets shot at by some Cobras and the Alley Viper jumps on Stalker’s kayak.
Meanwhile, on the Cobra side: the Baroness and Gnawgahyde are walking through the tunnels heading for the Baroness’s DNA Converter where Cobra Commander is being kept as part of the effort to turn him back into a man. At one point, they duck back to dodge either the Joes or some Cobras (probably Cobras, I wasn’t looking up at the time, doh!).
“I know Destro and I are no longer a couple, but don’t you think you’re being a little forward Gnawgahyde?” says the Baroness as Gnawgahyde gets a bit too close for comfort.
The DNA converter isn’t powerful enough to undo Cobra Commander’s mutation. Luckily, the Baroness and Gnawgahyde find a Dragonfire etching and a deer skull/helmet with some sort of crystal doohickeys on the antlers. The Baroness quickly (and conveniently) deduces that this skull helmet is something the ancient men of the site used to focus the Dragonfire energy to make animals into men.
The Baroness puts on the skull hat and getst he energy to transform the Commander. She’s only able to bring him to a man-snake form before she collapses from the strain and then Low Light shows up. Low Light and Gnawgahyde threaten each other but not much really comes of it before Lady Jaye shows up and starts a cave-in so that she and Low Light can escape. They decide that right now, Destro and Serpentor are the greater of two evils and go off to get rid of them rather than going after the commander.
Cobra finds the main Dragonfire resevoir and prepares to link up with Tibet. Lady Jaye and Low Light attempt to stop them but are unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Scoop’s been meeting with the Alley-Viper. Stalker spots the two of them meeting and assumes that Scoop is in trouble. He kayaks to Scoop’s rescue and shoots it out with the Alley-Viper while outside the Joes attack Cobra’s command center and destroy it. This doesn’t stop Cobra from accessing the Dragonfire reservoir and successfully transmitting the power back to Tibet via satellite, multiplying their power.
Meanwhile, back in the tunnels: Cobra Commander, the Baroness and Gnawgahyde are floating along boatless in an underground river while CC berates the others.
Scoop, Stalker and the Alley Viper are also in the river though in a different part of it. Stalker tells Scoop to swim for the kayak while he struggles with the Alley Viper. The fight ends when the Alley Viper gets knocked cold on a stalactite. To Scoop’s surprise, Stalker saves the Alley Viper’s life.
“A life’s a life and every single one’s worth saving,” Stalker says. Even if they are a piece of Cobra scum, like the Alley Viper.
Cobra wins the battle, since this is still the second episode and it’s better to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat if the enemy wins most of the battles. It’s the same basic plot we saw in The MASS Device and Pyramid of Darkness (which makes sense since several of the Sunbow writers worked on DIC episodes).
The Alley Viper wakes up and tries to kill Stalker, even though he saved the Viper’s life. The Alley Viper gets knocked off the kayak and for a moment it looks like he’s gone for good, but conveniently he survives to dog the Joes’ heels for the rest of the mini-series.
Scoop and Stalker get out safe and the Joes celebrate the fact that their people at least are alive even if they’ve lost the battle. Scoop asks Stalker if he thinks the Alley Viper, if he were to be given the chance, could ever reform. Stalker says reform is possible and that someday that (hypothetical) Alley Viper could show up on the GI Joe team. Low Light, on the other hand, disagrees saying that once a Cobra, always a Cobra.
Cobra Commander kvetches about not having a uniform, demanding to know if he’s expected to lead his troops dressed only in his scales. He then finds out from the Baroness and Gnawgahyde that his uniforms were made into Halloween costumes and given away. For this and other wrongs, the Commander now plots his return, promising that Cobra Commander is reborn!
End Day Two
Commentary: The episodes I have are all condensed without commercials. Still, it’s amazing how much action has been packed into each 20-odd minute section. Several scenes aren’t summarized here simply because they’re too short to really do anthing with other than “Scoop meets up with the Alley Viper again, they talk, then action cuts to Baroness and Gnawgahyde talking then we get a bit of exposition otuside then..*pantpant*”. It makes for a difficult time taking notes and summarizing, but to watch, it’s nice because things are always happening on screen, giving the show the impression of being a whole lot longer.
The story is very similar in set-up and purpose to the Mass Device and Pyramid of Darkness episodes. Cobra finds Ultimate Doom Thingy. Joes find out about Cobra finding out about Ultimate Doom Thingy and try to stop them. They fail for four of the five episodes then manage to win in the end. Meanwhile, we get lots of battles in exotic locales and meet a whole hell of a lot of characters (and get show a whole heck of a lot of cool toys...err...vehicles and such). Cartoons of this era and before came under fire for being half-hour toy commercials and watching GI Joe, it’s easy to see why. Luckily, both writing staffs did their best to try and tell an actual story in between shilling for Hasbro.