WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Christopher Cantwell, Salvador Larroca, and Cory Petit's Doctor Doom #7, on sale now.
Doctor Doom is many things -- villain to many, a hero to some, and a god to others as Doctor Doom #7 makes apparent. But above all else Doom is an intellectual, he tries to read the situation around him if he is not in control and that applies to his position as ruler of Latveria. He understands that to rule Latveria his people must have a mixture of love and fear, but above all else, loyalty.
Doom knows that he will not be able to remain ruler of a stable Latveria if the people are in open rebellion or if his own government is not completely loyal to him. And in Doctor Doom #7, Latveria's one true leader returns to bring order to his house.
At the start of the series, Doctor Doom had been framed for an attack on a program called the Antlion Project that sought to open a black hole on the moon to correct climate change. Doom believed this was a terrible idea and openly opposed it. Unlike his previous efforts, Doom did not attempt to directly intervene but instead voiced his opposition to the project. Unfortunately, a missile attack on the project left clues pointing to Latveria as the perpetrators.
Doom was forced out of Latveria and has since come to the conclusion that Latveria's neighboring country, Symkaria, was responsible for framing him. Trekking back to Latveria with Kang the Conqueror at his side, the duo fought off Symkaria's forces as they made their way back to Doom's homeland. Kang eventually betrayed Doom, but not before Mr. Fantastic told Doom that Blue Marvel was the key to closing the black hole. Now, Doom has returned to Latveria and is ready to reassert his control.
After finding his inner circle, Doom puts them through individual interrogations where he questions their motives and feelings regarding him. For the most part, they reaffirm their loyalty and devotion to him, all except for Doom's general, who is revealed to be the traitor, having an affair with a Symkarian monarch. After Doom dispatches the traitor he returns to his castle to retake control.
While this may seem harsh, what Doom did was necessary, from a ruler's point of view. To rule Doom would need to have a stable inner circle that he can trust to serve him. He would need this even more so to successfully retake his country. And as for killing his traitorous general, treason is punished differently in different countries, but at the same time, Doom couldn't risk letting him get away and warn his enemies. Everything Doom did during his tribunal was for the end goal of taking back Latveria and proving his innocence. A house divided cannot stand after all.