Hardened by his "death" and betrayal at the hands of those he once thought loyal, the resurgent Commander was even more ruthless than before. His first act was to eliminate those who tried to murder him or came to know of the act subsequently: Fred VII, Raptor, Firefly, Mindbender, Zartan, Billy, and numerous unnamed Cobra personnel, all of whom he had buried alive within a volcano. Later, he established a brainwashing program to compel allegiance from those around him, including Destro, the Baroness, Zartan, Storm Shadow, and Billy. The returned Commander was far more willing to kill, pulling the trigger himself rather than relying on others to kill for him, as when he murdered the Borovian rebels Magda and the White Clown.