The End of Commander Red

Goku continues his rampage through Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, cutting through soldiers with devastating efficiency. Commander Red, watching from his office, calls his own troops idiots for failing to stop one child and blames Staff Officer Black for inadequate training. As Colonel Violet raids the army's vault and stuffs her pockets with cash, declaring it her severance package, the base descends into chaos. Soldiers begin evacuating, but Red orders Black to demand they stay, insisting it is not a democracy.

Rather than face Goku himself, Red forces Black to fight in his place. Black confronts Goku with genuine resolve, vowing to deliver the boy to Commander Red in pieces. The fight is competitive, but Goku proves superior and punches Black through a window. Red, believing both threats are handled, activates a trap ceiling to crush Goku. Celebrating what he thinks is Goku's death, Red reveals his true motive for collecting the Dragon Balls: not world domination, but a wish to become taller.

Black, having survived the fall thanks to Goku's punch sending him clear, overhears everything. Furious that hundreds of soldiers died for one man's vanity, Black confronts Red directly. The Commander justifies himself, claiming to be the Red Ribbon Army and insisting his size has cursed his entire life. Black shoots Red dead, declares himself the new leader of what he renames the Black Ribbon Army, and offers Goku a chance to join. Goku refuses, and the two prepare for a final battle, with Black climbing into a massive Battle Jacket mech suit.

Commander Red's true wish is one of Dragon Ball's most darkly comedic reveals. An entire global military organization, countless deaths, and a war across multiple continents, all for one man's insecurity about his height. The sheer absurdity of it is matched only by how seriously Red takes it, ranting about being a "pebble in a land of giants" and demanding to know what is wrong with wanting to be taller.

Black's Breaking Point

Staff Officer Black's execution of Commander Red is both justified and shocking. Black has been the loyal second-in-command throughout the entire saga, enduring Red's insults and absorbing his abuse. Learning that his men died for a wish to grow a few inches, combined with Red's attempt to crush him alongside Goku, pushes Black past his limit. His single gunshot ends the Red Ribbon Army as it existed and births the Black Ribbon Army in its place.

Commander Red's death concludes the Commander Red Saga and ends the leadership of the Red Ribbon Army. His hidden motive subverts every assumption the audience has held about the organization's goals since its introduction. Colonel Violet's escape, raiding the vault and fleeing with the army's funds, makes her the only Red Ribbon officer to walk away with a profit.

The Battle Jacket makes its first appearance here as Black's trump card, introducing mech combat to Dragon Ball. This episode also marks Staff Officer Black's transformation from background player to primary antagonist, setting up the true final battle of the Red Ribbon Army arc.